The nursing profession may have looked different back in Betty’s day, but a nurse’s instincts to do everything in the best interest of the patient, maintain a kind disposition and bedside manner and commit to a life and career of learning remain strong in the nurses serving today.
During the National Nurses’ Week luncheon celebration at Country Meadows of Bethlehem, former nurses who are now residents and current nurse co-workers joined together to share stories and bond over their careers in human service. Betty, a resident in the Country Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Bethlehem, started her nursing career in the 1960s and was excited to meet other nurses and share stories she jotted down on handwritten notes about her time in the field.
Betty wanted to be a nurse since she was a young girl. While her friends were playing with dolls and other toys, she wanted to “play nurse” and looked for ways to take care of others. Fast forward to after high school and that’s exactly what she did when she entered a three-year nursing program affiliated with Allentown Hospital.
She shared details of the capping ceremony and the gray uniform they gave her to wear. Betty described living in the nurse’s residence with all the other women in the program. They attended church in the morning before reporting for their shift. The house was across the street from the hospital so there was no excuse for being late. The nurses did three-month rotations with different departments—similar to how medical students do clinical rounds today before specializing. When Betty was in nurses training that meant she got to sample the type of work in the emergency room, surgery, labor and delivery, medicine distribution and even time in the kitchen to learn healthy eating practices for diabetes patients. Ultimately, she found her niche in pediatrics. She recalls going into the nursing program with the intention of entering pediatrics because she liked children very much.
“I liked everything about being a nurse. I was learning something all the time. It was wonderful learning from the different nurses who were teaching us.”
Betty said another big difference with nursing today is that people seemed to stay in the hospital a lot longer than they do now. That meant she really got to know the patients she worked with. She recalled one patient she supported from the time he was brought in by ambulance until his discharge. Before leaving the hospital, he gave her a jar of candy as a thank-you for taking care of him. “That was so sweet,” she described. “It made me feel good.”
Nursing Careers Matter
Nurses go into the profession to make a difference and use their skills and education to help and heal others. In our communities, the nurses help develop care plans to support residents’ needs, oversee the team dispensing the medication to ensure it is taken at the proper time and dosage, educate the residents and their families on care plans, and so much more. They are also investing their time to really get to know the residents as individuals and make meaningful connections. This combination of clinical leadership with compassionate caregiving is what makes our nurses shine. Consider joining our team! View job openings at our communities.