Shirley Nastick Creed
26 Years of Service and Counting
I was hired by Holy Cross Hospital in December 1962. I was at the hospital the day it opened on January 10,1963. We held an open house for the community, and the newly hired nurses helped put pink bedspreads on each bed.
Initially, I was hired as a part-time staff nurse. I helped teach a nurse refresher course to new nurses. Later, I was asked to supervise the Emergency Room and Outpatient Clinics. In those days, the ER was small and very busy. I loved my role of head nurse. After the Vietnam War ended, I hired men who had been medics during that conflict. They were employed as ER technicians and they were a great help.
In the mid 70s, there was an opening on the 3-11 p.m. shift for an assistant director of nursing. By then, my children were in school and it was a proper time for me to make the change. The hospital offered me additional training and I was thankful for it. I learned how to read an EKG and to recognize potentially lethal arrhythmias. A few years later, the same position opened on the day shift covering the Critical Care Units.
Soon after, Sister Jean Louise became the administrator in 1979, and she asked me to think about starting a Patient Representative Program. I joined the local and national chapters for Patient Representatives and attended meetings and conventions. My primary role was to visit each new patient and assist with any difficulties and misunderstandings experienced by a patient or family member during their stay. I continued in this position until I retired in 1988. I moved away from the Maryland area and lived on the Outer Banks for six years, working as a staff nurse at the local medical center.
When I moved back to the Maryland area, I began volunteering in the Gift Shop, which I continue to do. In this role, I still see some staff that I worked with years ago.