William Lynwood Montell - Tales from Kentucky Nurses

TALES FROM
KENTUCKY NURSES

WILLIAM LYNWOOD MONTELL

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Copyright 2015 by The University Press of Kentucky

Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.

All rights reserved.

Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky

663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008

www.kentuckypress.com

Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-8131-6071-9 (hardcover: alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-8131-6073-3 (pdf)

ISBN 978-0-8131-6072-6 (epub)

This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

As I have said numerous times to people who come to hear my stories and viewpoints about various topics, I am not interested in writing books about kings, queens, and presidents; my desire is to write about local life and culture relative to professional groups and subregional areas. Thus my professional desire is to help preserve the legacy of local history, life, and culture. To do this, I interview local individuals who can tell their favorite stories about themselves and their work, ranging from humorous to very serious events, or about others in the same profession who serve in various counties across the Commonwealth. Their stories may also be about colleagues now deceased.

My interest in obtaining stories from Kentucky nurses resulted from my work on a number of books published by the University Press of Kentucky, including Tales from Kentucky Lawyers (2003), Tales from Kentucky Doctors (2008), Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes (2009), Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers (2011), and Tales from Kentucky Sheriffs (2011). Since all of these books focused on significant professional groups that truly serve Kentucky statewide or in subregional areas, I felt it was high time to obtain stories from nurses. Readers of this book will come away with a full understanding of the importance of nurses and why doctors, hospitals, and local residents could not do without their services. I offer my thanks for the services and devoted thoughts of nurses and all others whose desire is to help fulfill the informational needs of everyone in the wonderful state of Kentucky.

The bulk of the stories in this book are about nurses during their active years, and most are about their professional practices. Just like physicians, these nurses encountered various forms of sickness, sadness, humorous occurrences, and death, which in some instances brought tears to the eyes of nurses who had strived to help their patients through long periods of sickness. Whether humorous or sad, stories such as these are historically important as a means of preserving valid information about the life and times of twentieth- and twenty-first-century nurses.

The stories range from the very brief to the lengthy, with many in between. The majority provide information about events that occurred within the past twenty to thirty years, but some reach back to the 1920s and 1930s.

The nurses who provided these stories are professionally licensed individuals. Although a few of those who shared stories with me are relatively young, I typically contacted middle-age or older nurses, as they were likely to have memorable accounts of professional nursing services that would help readers understand how healing work-services used to be. They willingly shared their professional memories, and virtually all of them sent their stories and viewpoints to me via e-mail. Very few were verbally tape-recorded or handwritten and mailed to me. Patients names are not revealed in order to protect their privacy.

The nurses and former nurses included in this book, and the area where each worked, are as follows: Evelyn Pearl Anderson (London), Teresa Bell (Wingfield, Edmonson County), Mary Lewis Biggerstaff (Frontier Nursing Service [FNS], Berea), Helen E. Browne (FNS), Jana Buckles (Lawrenceburg), Dana Burnam (Bowling Green), Jenny Burton (Bowling Green), Ruth A. Buzzard (Dawson Springs), Dorothy Caldwell (FNS, Burlington), Rebecca Collins (Auburn), Jean Fee (FNS),Terry Foody (Oldham County), Carolyn Booth Gregory (FNS), Mary Hawkes (FNS), Martha Hill (Glendale), Fredericka Holdship (FNS), Gertrude Isaacs (FNS), Theresa Sue Milburn King (Danville), Mary Lansing (FNS), Georgia Ledford (FNS), Molly Lee (FNS), Betty Lester (FNS), Agnes Lewis (FNS), Elsie Maier (FNS), Marilyn Kaye Montell (Louisville), Chesa Montgomery (Bowling Green), Carrie M. Parker (FNS), Mary Penton (FNS), Nancy N. Porter (FNS), Grace Reeder (FNS), Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer (Harrodsburg), Kay T. Roberts (Jefferson County), Karen Slabaugh (FNS), Patricia A. Slater (Petersburg), Clara Fay Smith (Erlanger), Janet Smith (Irvine), Lydia Thompson (FNS), Jean Tolk (FNS), Charlene Vaught (Portland, TN), Louise Webb (Bowling Green), Martha Webster (FNS), Jo Ann M. Wever (Springfield), Jeri R. White (Lexington), George W. Williams (London), Anne Winslow (FNS), Mary Wiss (FNS, Pike County).

The stories are organized into chapters by subject. The Frontier Nursing Service describes the origins and development of that organization, the difficulties that nurses, doctors, and local individuals faced in traveling to a secluded patients home, and the procedures they followed when they provided medical care. Emergency Room Episodes is filled with all variety of dangerous events. Baby Births recounts inspirational, even surprising, events that may remind readers of births in their families or communities. Humorous Accounts are varied in content and will surprise and thrill readers in various ways. Patient Misbehavior describes activities that range from serious to unforgettable to humorous. Inspirational Tales shows the heart-filled devotion that nurses bring to their services to patients. In Nursing Training and Career Memories, storytellers describe why they decided to become nurses, the types of schools they attended, and their services to both adults and children. Doctors and Nurse Interns is brief, but it provides important information about medical providers who are still in the early learning stages of their careers. Various Types of Stories primarily describes early nursing years relative to things such as thievery and family monetary needs, along with how some nurses tried to help those in need. Governmental and Business Issues considers Medicare and Medicaid, along with numerous other concerns relative to monetary needs. Medications in Earlier Times gathers stories related to pioneer times and the Frontier Nursing Service up to the 1960s, as well as discussing folk remedies utilized by residents in secluded country areas where doctors and nurses were seldom, if ever, requested.