Octogenarian Nurse Beverly Hoffman

[00:00] Michelle: Have you ever wanted to know what nursing was like more than six decades ago? Well, Beverly Hoffman, an 86-year-old retired nurse, gives us a peek inside. I loved everything about this interview. Hearing Beverly's experiences as a new nurse in a pediatric unit and how she got to closely know her patients as a clinic nurse, sharing their family vacations and pictures of grandchildren. She gave us a reminder from the ancient stoics memento mori remember, you must die, and has not let the grass grow under her feet since retirement. Becoming involved in her church and community. The five-minute snippet was so much fun. As I learned about another passion of Beverley's, the Green Bay Packers. I am definitely getting started on the books she recommended. Here is Beverly Hoffman. You're listening to the conversing nurse podcast. I'm Michelle, your host. And this is where together we explore the nursing profession one conversation at a time. Well, hello, Beverly.
[01:14] Beverly: Hi, Michelle.
[01:16] Michelle: Thanks so much for joining me today. I have been really excited to talk to you for so many reasons. So we're just going to jump right in here and talk about your nursing career. How does that sound?
[01:35] Beverly: Sounds pretty good to me.
[01:38] Michelle: Okay, so now I know you were a nurse six decades ago. That is amazing. And there's probably a lot of nurses today that don't know what that was like. So I just want to start off by asking you, when did you know that you wanted to be a nurse?
[02:03] Beverly: I have been so blessed. In the 6th grade, I said to my mom, I'm going to be a nurse when I grew up. And she said, Beverly, you'll change your mind a number of times. But that was always my goal. And so when I got to high school, I took all the classes that were necessary and I didn't have a desire for any other profession. So I feel that I was pretty lucky there.
[02:31] Michelle: Just along those lines, it's like in 6th grade, you're eleven years old, somewhere around there, because what were your options then as far as a career for a girl? What were your options that you could go into?
[02:51] Beverly: I grew up in a small town in Kimberly, Wisconsin, and most of my classmates did not go on to school. I think I was probably the only one. But I know another girl who went to college. I don't remember what her major was, but some who are secretaries and receptionists, that type of thing. But interestingly enough, I know a lot of the nurses before they went into training, did nursing aid kind of thing, worked in hospitals in a different way. I never did when I made up my mind, took the classes and went right into nurses training. So I did maybe have a little bit of restriction because of that,  because the others did have that experience.
[03:49] Michelle: Did you know any nurses growing up, like as a child? Were there any nurses that you knew in your community that made you say, I want to do that?
[04:00] Beverly: No and no. My family had gone into nursing, so it was just, I don't know, just a gift or something.
[04:13] Michelle: Well, I think that's a good point to make because sometimes it is just I'm sure you've heard over the years, many people say, like, nursing is not just a job, it's a calling. Florence Nightingale, when she was 16, she got this call from God to be a nurse. And I think that's entirely possible, that you could have no frame of reference in terms of, like, knowing people in your community or maybe being sick and being cared for by a nurse, and just one day you say, this is what I'm going to do.
[04:51] Beverly: I agree, yeah.
[04:54] Michelle: So you took all the required classes in high school, and were you good at those classes? Did you enjoy them?
[05:03] Beverly: Well, I was a salutatorian. Of course, I came from a very small school, so I'm sure I'd be way down at the bottom if I was at a larger school. But I took Latin and chemistry, geometry, I don't know what geometry helped me, but anyway, I was better at geometry than algebra. I don't know why, but geometry was a lot of memorization of the group and all that kind of stuff, and I'm good at memorizing, so I guess that helped me through that class.
[05:38] Michelle: Okay, well, Latin, I took Latin when I was in high school as a sophomore, which was in 1980. And I loved Latin, and of course, Latin is the basis of many medical terms that are rooted in Latin. And I was so sad because in my second year in Latin, they got rid of the subject. They said there wasn't enough interest in it. So you went on and then you applied to a nursing school, and that was St. Mary's in Rochester, is that right?
[06:13] Beverly: Yes. I did apply to several schools and was accepted, but my pre-send Catholic school, my doctor said, St. Mary's in Rochester, Minnesota. So I fulfilled both of their wishes, and so off I went. And I have to tell you this too. My mom started to cry when she brought me to mom, and Daddy took me to school, and I said, Why are you crying? And she said, I didn't think you really meant it when you told me this, but it was my focus all along. So I don't know why she was surprised, but she seems surprised.
[06:49] Michelle: So this school is an associate degree, is that right?
[06:53] Beverly: It's a three-year program. I don't think they have it anymore.
[06:57] Michelle: Three years, okay. In my town, we have a community college, and it's a two-year program for an associate degree. And then you graduated in 1957, right?
[07:11] Beverly: Correct. A little story about my mom. My mother, bless her soul, she wrote to me every single day for three years while I was in school, and my father was so proud of me that that's really what kept me in school and the days that kind of hard and difficult, I think, of my father and how disappointed he would be. So between my mom's letters and my dad supporting me that way, I stayed in school.
[07:46] Michelle: Well, that's such a testament to the love and dedication of your parents and nursing students everywhere. They need the support of family and friends, colleagues, and instructors. It's so difficult. What was the most difficult thing about nursing school? Like either a subject or what was hard about it?
[08:14] Beverly: Well, that's an easy question. I had microbiology, and for some reason, I don't know if Sister humbled me, I should probably say that if the instructor didn't like me or what, or I just wasn't getting the class. But I remember it was just a really hard day, and I called my mom collect and I said mom, and I started crying, and Mom kept saying, Beverly, what's the matter? And I go, I couldn't talk. And then after maybe four or five minutes, whatever, just talking to my mom, I said, oh, Mom, I feel so much better. And I hung up and I could just see my mom just shaking her head and saying, what just happened here? But anyway, that's a very important part of getting to nurses training, I think is some of those things.
[09:10] Michelle: Okay, so now you've got your nursing school, you've graduated, and you're looking for a job. What happened then?
[09:22] Beverly: Well, I graduated and I had an internship in the newly formed cardiac unit, which I turned down because I did not feel as a brand new grad that I could undertake that responsibility. So they offered me leadership in the pediatric nursery, which was babies under a year were sick babies. And so I took that position for about a year, and I really like that.
[09:54] Michelle: Well, that's really interesting because maybe not a lot has changed in nursing from 60 years ago to today in terms of expecting our new grads to take on a position with so much authority. I think new nurses, a lot of them get trained and kind of get thrown into it, and I say, well, now you're a charge nurse. I like that. You said you didn't take the job because you didn't feel qualified, but you took a head nurse job in a pediatric unit, which to me seems so much more difficult almost because you're working in a specialty with pediatrics and you're a new grad and you're a head nurse. So that's amazing that you did that.
[10:49] Beverly: Well, it was something that I was interested in, and it's already in place, and so I just had to learn a few moves, I guess. And I've always loved children, so again, it worked out just fine.
[11:05] Michelle: What kind of patients did you have in your pediatrics ward? You said they were under a year, right?
[11:13] Beverly: Well, because St. Mary's was so big, we got a lot of cases that came for diagnosis and stuff. We did have a lot of babies in with diarrhea and dehydration and stuff. But two babies that I can recall off the top of my head was one baby came in to be determined for sex. There was a little appendage, and they didn't know if it was a clitoris or a penis or what, so they came in. And I remember that the people chose to raise their child as a female, and I think it was just a little appendage. We moved in another baby that I remember you've heard of probably of two-headed babies. Well, it should have been twins, but the second one didn't develop. And so when you held a baby, we held it in the crook of your arm and then the second one so to speak, in the palm of your hand. And of course, that baby didn't live very long, but I don't know that I would have seen other things like I did at St. Mary's.
[12:29] Michelle: Yes, those are very unusual cases. When you were talking about the child that they couldn't determine the gender, it brought back some memories. Like you, I went right out of nursing school into a pediatrics ward, and this is the mid-1980s and even at that time, we had babies born with what we would call ambiguous genitalia. We didn't know what gender they were. And so sometimes, like you said, the parents would choose to raise them as a boy or a girl. And now, of course, we have all this genetic testing that we can do chromosomes, we can do ultrasounds and all that. But that's so interesting, and it just reminded me of my early days as a pediatric nurse. And also what you said about having a lot of kids come in with gastroenteritis dehydration, like doing a lot of rehydrating. That was our ward was full of kids like that, too. Did you start IVs? This may sound like a dumb question, but did you start IVs in your hospital?
[13:45] Beverly: A lot of intervening stuff. And so they did all the scalp infusions, and so we never had to do that. I don't know if I could have done that.
[13:56] Michelle: Yeah, it's a definite skill that you have to do over and over again to learn it. Oh, my gosh. Scalp veins. Those are just the arch nemesis of every pediatric nurse. Yeah, but yeah. Wow. That's really interesting. Beverly okay, so now you've worked in this pediatric unit for about a year, and then where did you go from there?
[14:23] Beverly: Well, I met my husband, my husband-to-be in Rochester. And so I was married in 1958, and we started our family right away. I had one girl. We had one girl and four boys. And so I stayed home with the kids until after the fifth one and went back to work, and then I did the 3-11 pm part-time on just the medicine floor, and my husband was home to take care of the kids. He was a salesman and so his hours were pretty flexible, so that worked for us.
[15:00] Michelle: Well, when you were talking about the eight-hour shift, 3-11 and I had told you this earlier when I was a nurse's aide, I worked that shift. And it was an absolutely great shift for a young single person because we could sleep in and then we could go to work and get off at eleven and go out and see our friends and then stay out late and come home and sleep in again. So it was great. But as a parent, I think it would be a really tough shift to work in terms of you're missing when the kids are getting home from school, helping them with their homework and dinner time and bedtime and all those times where you want to be together with your family and your kids. But like you were saying, your husband was there and that's great because they had a parent with them all the time, right?
[15:58] Beverly: And I always made the next meal when I had to work the night before, so they always could pop it in the oven or something. That's one of the reasons as the kids got older and got so involved in activities, my longest career was in clinic nursing, and that was a day job. And I worked with fantastic two internists, and this was when we were transferred to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. And so I worked with these two doctors for 23 years, and as far as I know, we have the longest doctor-nurse team. Of course, I've been retired now for 20 years, so maybe somebody took that length of work. But I really liked clinic nursing. You just got to know the patients, you know, in the hospital, they come in and probably never see them again, or maybe you'll see them again, but not as frequently as we do at the clinic. And the patients, they just kind of establish a good relationship because they would share things with you. For example, the grandparents would bring in pictures of the grandchildren and be so proud of them, or they would go on vacation and send back postcards for us. And it was just a neat kind of nursing, I think, because you really got to know your patients then, and if he would call and have a question or need something, you could identify with them right away and know their history and know if they got to come in right away or if they could wait or you just talk to the doctor and get back to them. So you make a lot of decisions that way, too.
[17:39] Michelle: Yeah, so that was a much different type of nursing than hospital nursing. Like you said, you don't see your patients for very long. You don't get to know them very well. What a special relationship! Working in a clinic, especially with really great medical staff and professionalism and teamwork, and then just being able to talk with the patients and for them to feel so comfortable, to share pictures of their trips and their grandchildren. And that's a really special relationship.
[18:15] Beverly: It was. I am going on to another phase of my life. I am planning to go into independent living. And so I saved all my cards and stuff and I was just amazed. Spellbound can't even think of a bigger word with all the retirement cards. I got nice messages from patients and that was just so wonderful, so meaningful, so touching.
[18:46] Michelle: Those kinds of things, they just lift you up. Yeah, they keep you going. I'm glad to know that you save all those cards. I do the same thing. So I have boxes filled with those, and I think it's good in times of maybe where we're feeling kind of low in life or we just need like a pick me up, it's great to be able to reflect upon those times when we felt like we made a difference in someone's life. I think that's so important. One of the things I wanted to touch on because I thought it was so interesting is when we were talking earlier last week about when you were working in rehab, and one of the things he said is that they pulled from your unit all the time. So do you want to talk about that for a second?
[19:40] Beverly: Well, a lot of the patients that we had in rehab, of course, were still patients or accident patients, and they needed a lot more care than some of the other units. But it always seemed like they were pulling from us. But we had a good team up there, and we always got the patients taken care of and everything. But just an observation that I made that we just felt that we weren't that busy, maybe, I don't know.
[20:09] Michelle: Yeah, I think and we talked about this is like the perception, and that's kind of one reason why I'm doing this podcast is we don't always know as nurses what other nurses do. And so sometimes it's a perception of they're not that busy, their patients aren't that difficult or involved. When I was a new nurse in the 1980s and you've probably heard this too, it's like a nurse is a nurse is a nurse, a nurse should be able to go anywhere in the hospital and function at a comfortable level. And that's just not true, in my opinion. And you talked about them pulling your staff from a rehab unit. Those patients are really difficult to care for. You know, they need frequent turning, they need help with eating, they have physical therapy, all of those things. So it's just amazing that because that's still going on in nursing today, 60 years later, we still do that. It's not always fair, and I know life is not fair, but I think we need to be more aware of that. So thank you for sharing that with our audience. One of the things I wanted to go back to as well is how did you meet your husband?
[21:46] Beverly: Well, I was working in Rochester and my husband had already graduated. He had gone to Columbia College on a football scholarship and he was working with Mobile Oil Corporation. And when we started school, there are two huge nursing schools in Rochester, and we were told that be aware that men will come in and take off the wedding rings and want a day so I had no interest anyway, but I went to a singles group and Father introduced a group of us girls to a group of the guys. Well, lo and behold, my to-be husband invited me to a dance, which I accepted. And he had two left feet, but he had other wonderful characteristics that I didn't hear you.
[22:46] Michelle: I love that. Oh my gosh, I love hearing people's stories of how they met their person and I love that. That's great. Thank you so much for sharing that. Okay, so now you are retired, which you've been for a number of years. And again, when I talked to you a little while ago, you had said one of the things that you told yourself when you retired is that you are not going to let the grass grow under your feet. And so talk to me a little bit about what you've been doing since you've retired or since you've retired and what's been going on in your life since then.
[23:26] Beverly: Okay, well, I was still living in Eau Claire when my husband passed away from cancer and my mom was still living. She was like in her eighty's. And so when I retired, I plan to come back here and spend some quality time with my mom and my sister still lived in the area and my brother, so I moved back here. I've never regretted retirement. I love my job, but sometimes when it's time to retire, and what made me think it was time to retire was I had gone to Arizona before I retired, of course, to see my son. And he was still single, and I was going to be this great mom and just leave his house before I went back home. Well, gosh, I just had a recent birthday, but I didn't think it was that many years and I was so tired and so I flew home and some friends met me at the airport and they said, boy, for so many being on vacation, you don't look so very good. Well, anyway, they took me out to eat and I went to work the next day and I was so tired when I got through the day and a couple of days went to work, came home and went to bed, and finally, I decided I would just talk to one of my doctors and see. So I took an antibiotic, it was a new medication called Zithromycin and went up to bed, and I was full of rash, and I thought, oh my goodness, I'm allergic to this. So I got dressed and went through to the pharmacy to get some Benadryl. Well, in the morning my legs were all swollen and the doctor that I worked for lived in my neighborhood, so I called in sick, and then I called and asked him if he would stop over and just check. So he took one look at me and went to the phone and called the infectious disease doctor. Well, I thought I was going to die, so I got in right away. And he was a great doctor. Started off by saying, what you've been doing? Because I like to travel and stuff. So I told him I had been to Arizona. Well, that put up a red flag. And then called Scottsdale and kind of confirmed that it was Valley Fever. So I was sick and off work about six weeks or so, and I never missed work. So the girls would come in and look at me and say, is that really you? So went back to work. But then I got to thinking, there was a gal that I worked with that was in her seventy's and she was still working, and she retired, went to the nursing home and died. And I thought I kind of want to enjoy some retirement. So that's probably what made me decide maybe I'd better retire. And it worked out well. I came back home and it's been good. So now that I'm here, well, I got into a church right away and active in the church and Bible studies and all the stuff that goes with that, which is another funny thing. I was invited to join a book club, and it was for all nurses, and they called it CBC. Well, to me, CBC is complete, blood count right. A year later, all of these girls worked at the community blood center, and that's what CBC stood for. When I told him what I thought it was, they just laughed at me.
[26:52] Michelle: Yeah. So actually getting sick right after retiring was something that motivated you to say, I'm not going to let life get away from me. I have a lot of living to do and I'm going to do all this stuff, and I think that's really great. So one of the things that really touched me when you sent me your bio is the very last line of your bio, you said if I remember.
[27:25] Beverly: I think I said, I applaud the nurses. Did I say that?
[27:29] Michelle: Yes. So you said, I applaud today's nurses with all the technology in place, and a special thank you to our heroes during the pandemic. My blessing to each of you and I just thought that that was so touching that you have reached out as a fellow nurse and you've recognized all the sacrifices that you've made in your nursing career and that nurses are making right now in their careers. It really touched me. And then you also read me a poem, and I hope you will read it for our listeners today. Do you want to talk about that and do you want to read it?
[28:10] Beverly: I would like to share that with the nurses. It was an email, and it stated May 2020. And of course, we were in the middle of the pandemic then. It's called a poem from a retired nurse. The title is A Hand to Hold by Patty Palmer. And it goes like this: lying in a hospital bed, there in the ICU strike to calm her fears, not knowing what to do, the nurse tells her that she's been yelled for quite a while. She holds her hand while she explains with a kindly smile, wondering where her family is since they aren't there with her. She calls out, but the tube in her throat allows her not a word. The kindly nurse explains to her that visitors are not allowed. The virus, spreading rapidly, presents any size of crowd. Feeling so alone as a tear falls down her fevered cheek. She's never been sick before and feeling very weak, the nurse takes a warm cloth and gently washes her face. Don't worry, I'm here with you, and I'm not going anyplace. A soothing bath the nurse gives to her helps her to relax, keeping up a light banter as she finishes up her tab. Her heart is growing weaker, and her color isn't good, but the nurse goes on acting as normal as she could. She brushes her patient's hair and forms it in a breeze. She knows this lady is dying and asks the Lord, let her not be afraid. As this ailing patient's light is heading toward the end, she holds her hand and stinks to her, not as a nurse, but as a friend. The machines show her vital signs are heading for a drop, and her new friend stays with her until they entirely stop. This nurse has done all she could to make the end less cold. No patient should have to die alone. Without a hand to hold, she quietly leaves the room with a tear in her eye. Nurses are strong, but sometimes they still do cry. She dried her eyes and blows her nose, shaking off her heart, heading to the next room, where she again will do her part.
[30:45] Michelle: Well, I think that's a great place to end our talk today. It just embodies so much of who nurses are and what we do for our patients, for their families, all of that. Thank you so much for reading that. And thank you so much for giving our audience just kind of a peek into what nursing was like many decades ago. So I really appreciate it. Beverly, are you ready to have some fun and do the five minute snippet?
[31:26] Beverly: I'm game for anything.
[31:29] Michelle: Okay. So this is just meant to be fun and there's no hard questions. You know the answers to all these questions. It's just a chance for our listeners to get to know you kind of just as Beverly Hoffman outside of being a nurse. So I know some of the topics that you're interested in. So I'm just going to go ahead and set the timer and then we will start. Okay.
[31:58] Beverly: Okay.
[32:00] Michelle: Beverly, tell me about a great friendship that you've had and what made it great.
[32:07] Beverly: Oh, again, I feel so blessed. I have had just great friends and the times that we moved from place to place, I always knew that I could never find a friend as good as I was leaving. And yet, lo and behold, I always find a good friend. I really cannot pick out one off the top of my head. This is something that I've always worked on is friendships. And another thing that I work on is remembering names. And just a cute little sidetrack here. There was a person that I met and he went by the name of CF and I thought, how am I ever going to remember? And his name was Clifford Frederick or something, but he always went by CF and I thought, oh, I probably see BJ or some other initial, so how am I going to remember that? Well, I came up with cold feet and he laughed so hard and, you know, we still called and CF cold feet.
[33:07] Michelle: That's so great. I love that. Hey, however you can remember, I'm the worst. I can meet someone and 5 seconds later I've forgotten their name. I don't forget the face, but I do forget the name. So you have quite a talent there. I know you're a Packers fan because you told me if you live in Wisconsin, you have to be a Packers fan. So do you have a favorite tailgate food?
[33:32] Beverly: Food. Yeah, I like food. All the junky stuff. That this weekend, now five of us are going to get together at a friend's house and the Packers to play Friday night and they're playing the New Orleans Saints. And so we will have our own little Packer party there and you can bet there'll be pretzels and potato chips and popcorn and probably hot dogs and you name it, we'll probably have it.
[34:05] Michelle: You had me at pretzels. Those are my favorite pretzels and they're so quick.
[34:11] Beverly: I'll send you the recipe.
[34:12]Michelle: Oh, my gosh, thank you. Do you have a favorite quarterback that's played for the Packers?
[34:17] Beverly: Well, of course, all of them. Rogers. And I think that Jordan Love is going to be a pretty good Packer too.
[34:26] Michelle: Oh, my gosh, I love it. So, you said you like food. So have you tried a new food lately that you're just really loving?
[34:37] Beverly: I'm not very good at experimenting on food. My brother took me to Rome when I retired and he wanted to try all the food. I just wanted pizza, and hamburgers. He wasn't too happy with me.
[34:53] Michelle: So I brought you all the way here to just have pizza and hamburgers.
[34:58] Beverly: I didn't even like the pizza over there.
[35:01] Michelle: Oh my gosh. What's in your perfect omelet?
[35:05] Beverly: Perfect omelet? Well, eggs, of course. I just like the eggs and the sausage and cheese that's probably I don't like all the other stuff.
[35:18] Michelle: Do you prefer cookies or brownies?
[35:21] Beverly: I like cookies and I make cookies a lot and I write down who likes what. So when I give cookies away, they get their favorite cookie.
[35:33] Michelle: I love that. Do you ever do like Christmas cookie swaps?
[35:38] Beverly: Not the swaps, but I do give away a lot of cookies at Christmas time.
[35:43] Michelle: Very nice. And I know you belong to a book club. Do you have a favorite book and why is it your favorite?
[35:52] Beverly: Well, a book that I have in my own library, and I've had it for a long time and strangely enough, it was given to me or recommended by one of my doctors. It's called The Gift of the Jews by Thomas Cahill. And it was kind of hard to get into it at first, but the more I read, the more interested I got. And of course, early Christianity is what it is in the Jewish faith. And another book that I read recently is called Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner. And this was really interesting. It was for book club and it was during the 1918 Spanish flu and it didn't have to do with nurses, but it talked about the undertakers and all they went through and they just had bodies stacked up all over the place. And we read that during the pandemic and so that was kind of interesting to see what they went through. And just recently I read the secret Orphan by Glynnett Peters, and I've never read anything by her before, but I really like that one. And this takes place during the Second World War. So those are my that I kind of put together.
[37:12] Michelle: Well, they sound very interesting. And I want you to send me those so that I can put those in your bio because a lot of our listeners are avid readers and so I want to check those out and I also want our listeners to check those out.
[37:28] Beverly: I really, really liked and I wanted to promote it, but I can't remember the name. Maybe some of the listeners would remember it was written by hospice nurses. And I read this book maybe seven years ago or ten years ago, and the hospice nurses compiled a book it was their experiences working with dying patients and how the dying patients were trying to tell their families that they were going to die. And the one that I remember real clearly is this gentleman kept asking for his passport, and the family kept wondering if he had traveled a lot, so they just thought he was just asking for his passport for whatever reason. Well, the hospice nurses, as wonderful as they are, decided that he was trying to tell them he needed his passport to get into heaven.
[38:20] Michelle: Wow. Okay, well, that's a question for our listeners. If anybody knows which book Beverly is referring to, go to my website, and you can leave me an email. You can leave me a voice message. You'll find Beverly's bio on the website, and she also has an email. So if anybody knows which book that is, please let us know. And, Beverly, we've gone over the five-minute snippet a few minutes, but it was 100% worth it because you have just given us so much great information, and I love your stories, and thank you so much for being on the show today. I really appreciate it.
[39:08] Beverly: Thank you, Michelle, for giving me this opportunity.
[39:11] Michelle: All right, well, you take care.
[39:13] Beverly: Thank you. Bye, people. God bless you all.
[39:16] Michelle: Bye. Bye, Beverly.
[39:18] Beverly: Bye, Michelle.