Volume 12│Issue 2│Summer 2021 Carilion Clinic, 1906 Belleview Ave, Roanoke, VA 24014 https://www.insidecarilion.org/hub/nursing -research-evidence-based-practice nursingresearch@carilionclinic.org (540)266 -6216
Reflections on 40 Years of Nursing
Cindy Ward, DNP, RN-BC, CMSRN, ACNS-BC Listening to Dr. Kim Carter’s presentation about nursing history in Roanoke1 for the Week of the Nurse made me start thinking about all the changes in nursing since I became a nurse. I graduated from Virginia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing (VBH SON) in Lynchburg on June 21, 1981, making this year my 40th anniversary as a nurse. VBH SON was a hospital-based diploma program. By the time I started my education, VBH SON was being phased out. Lynchburg College (now University of Lynchburg) was starting its BSN program. I was in the next to the last graduating class of VBH SON. Students were not used as staff for the hospital as they had in earlier years. All the students except those who were married lived in the dorm. Our uniforms were light blue dresses with a white pinafore. Our caps were different depending on our year – freshman had plain white caps, juniors had a light blue stripe across the top of the cap, and seniors had a black stripe across the top. Graduates had a small diagonal black stripe on the right side of the cap with a VBH pin. We took anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, sociology, and psychology at Lynchburg College. The school had a bus that we called the Blue Goose that took us to Lynchburg College for the classes there. Our nursing classes included medical-surgical, obstetric, psychiatric, critical care, pediatrics, and leadership. We did not have any classes in nursing research or evidence-based practice. Clinical experience was a huge component of the nursing classes. We received 24 hours of clinical time weekly. Values were instilled in me that have followed me throughout my nursing career – the patient comes first, advocating for your patients, and nurses provide non-judgmental care to everyone. My first job as a new grad was 3 – 11pm charge nurse (!) on a 60 bed skilled care unit at a nursing home. I was responsible for all the treatments on my unit. I was also a relief supervisor, and sometimes the only RN in the building. After a year I went to work 3 – 11p on a 36 bed med-surg unit and have stayed in the med-surg specialty since then. When I first started at the hospital, we practiced functional nursing. One nurse was the charge nurse, one nurse gave medications for the entire unit, and the other nurses and nursing assistants provided patient care. Nothing was computerized. We did not have medication carts or even a MAR. The patient’s name, room number and medication were written on small cards. The med nurse poured all the meds for the unit, put them on a Styrofoam medication tray, and then moved through the unit passing meds. Heaven forbid if you bumped the tray or tripped! The 1980s were a difficult time to be a nurse. There was a nursing shortage, so staffing was challenging. I routinely had 8 patients to care for on the 3 – 11pm shift. After we started working 12- hour shifts, it was not uncommon to have 12 patients on 11pm – 7am or to be the only RN working with LPNs. HIV/AIDS emerged in 1981 just as I was starting my nursing career. Similar to the beginning of the Covid pandemic there was a lot of uncertainty, misinformation, and fear about HIV. Universal precautions started because of the HIV epidemic. Prior to that, we did not wear gloves for procedures like starting IVs. The one constant in nursing over the past 40 years has been change. There is always something new to learn. Technological advances improved patient safety and put information at our fingertips. Nurses continue to rise to the challenge of embracing these changes, adapting to new and uncertain situations, always learning and striving for better patient care. I’m happy to celebrate my nursing anniversary and proud to be a nurse!
~ Cindy 1. You can view Dr. Carter’s presentation “The History of Nursing in the Roanoke Valley: 1880-1920” on Inside Carilion/Departments & Services/Nursing Services/Main page/click the drop down “read more”.
Carilion Clinic Roanoke Campus
