WRH Nurse Retires after 47 Years in Family Birthing
12-7-2021
Mary Giswein looks back on her career with fond memories and is content to have spent it, in its entirety, in the Family Birthing Centre.
“It’s a fabulous unit. I love babies and moms and bringing the couple and their families together," she says.
After nearly 47 years on the job, Mary Giswein has retired. Her last day was on Friday, July 9th, although her official retirement date is August 31st.
Although 47 years may seem like a long time for most people, for Mary, the time flew by.
At the age of 66, Mary knows it is time to start a new chapter in her life with her husband who also retired in the past year. She is looking forward to spending more time with her daughter Jennifer who lives in Amherstburg and visiting her daughter Melissa in Texas when she is able to travel again.
Having spent her entire career in Family Birthing, Mary worked in the nursery, in labour and delivery, post-partum and then in the Women’s Health Clinic / OBT.
It’s not surprising that Mary became a nurse. Her mother was also a nurse at Grace Hospital and she followed in her mother’s footsteps. Mary graduated in 1974 from the Met School of Nursing. She says it is a great profession, one that is flexible enough to be able to work and raise a family.
“I love helping people, making them comfortable and reassuring them,” she says. “It has changed a lot in my 47 years. For example, there was only one physician on duty in Emergency from 11pm to 7am daily when I started. Now, we have dedicated obstetricians and anesthesiologists on duty 24 hours a day covering OB. Also, we have a complement of midwives, neonatologists and a perinatologist providing care. “
Modern advances such as continuous epidurals, ultrasound, electronic fetal monitors, MORE OB (risk management) and policies and procedures have added to the excellence of the unit. Windsor Regional Hospital has a level II C NICU with nurse practitioners and social workers.
Mary laughs when she talks about training and adapting to the new hospital information system Cerner, saying retirement just wasn’t in the cards for her when the new system came out.
"The Cerner challenge allowed us to team up with the ultrasound dept., laboratory, admitting, housekeeping, aides and porters to provide optimum care," she says.
As for the pandemic, she admits it was difficult to adjust wearing masks and face shields while caring for patients, along with concerns about spreading the virus to family and friends. “I was nervous but not enough to make me want to retire,” she says. "My training has given me the knowledge of PPE to provide safe care for the prevention of spreading the virus."
She became emotional when asked what she will miss the most.
“I’m going to miss taking care of the patients in OB Triage / Women’s Health Clinic. I would see patients daily to weekly and form a bond with them. It gave me an opportunity to care for them throughout their pregnancy and in future pregnancies. Mostly, I will miss the daily interactions with my coworkers. We have become a tight knit family supporting each other in grief as well as in happy times. By being a strong family unit, we are able to take care of our patients and their families."
(Photos below were submitted by Mary Giswein)
