Mingo Junction woman nursing, helping others
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MINGO JUNCTION -- Myrna Anderson has a long track record of helping people, using her skills as a nurse to benefit others for 64 years.
A resident of Mingo Junction, Anderson was recognized March 26 by the Mingo Junction Village Council for her decades of service, which have brought her through multiple institutions, working in different fields of nursing.
Raised in Bloomingdale, Anderson had always been interested in nursing, according to her parents, in spite of having no nurses in the family, she recalled.
Anderson graduated from Steubenville Catholic Central High School in 1957. While there, she joined a nursing club led by a Dominican Order nun who fostered her appreciation for nursing and guided participants toward good schools with nursing programs they could attend.
She attended Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Canton and graduated in 1960, before proceeding to work at university hospitals in Cleveland for three years. She moved back to Jefferson County, close to her parents, in 1963 and worked at the former St. John Hospital (now Trinity Medical Center West) -- when it was still new -- until she married in 1965.
Anderson continued to work part-time while raising four children, and she later became a school nurse at St. Agnes Central School, where her kids were attending. Her next job was at Carriage Inn of Steubenville, a job she particularly enjoyed, as she could care for patients long-term.
Anderson worked at Carriage Inn for about 10 years before working for Trinity Home Health and Bishop John King Mussio Elementary School. She retired from Trinity Home Health after 10 years but worked intermittently for the Mingo Junction Health Department. Her official retirement came a little more than one year ago.
Not even retirement can keep Anderson down, as she's been volunteering at the Mingo Junction Senior Center, where she hosts a pop-up clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays -- bingo day. During the clinics, Anderson checks seniors' blood pressures and blood sugar levels, seeing certain individuals every week to help them track their statistics.
"I find (the clinic) has been a big help to the physicians because then (the seniors) can take their records to their doctors," Anderson said. "For the citizens, it's a very friendly, kind community, so I thought four hours of volunteering a week is very little for many of these good people, so I'm happy to do that."
Baci Carpico, who comes every Wednesday to have his vitals checked, said of Anderson: "She does a good job, I guarantee you."
To recognize Anderson's service, the senior center hosted a surprise birthday party for her April 13.
With so many years practicing nursing, Anderson has seen the field change drastically over the years.
"It was constantly changing, and we had to change with it," she remarked.
Nurses once underwent lots of on-the-job training, something that has since faded away after nursing programs began teaching more skills, Anderson said. She noted that registered nurses, those with a degree in nursing, used to do much of the hands-on care work that nowadays is left to licensed practical nurses or unlicensed assistive personnel -- RNs are mostly in charge of administrative duties and supervision now, she said.
Anderson said she's observed the shift toward nurses having 12-hour shifts with three days on and four days off work, as opposed to the traditional eight-hour-a-day, five-day work week. The change, she said, has the advantage of providing more days off for individuals. Traveling nurses, Anderson said, also have become popular.
Something Anderson said she doesn't understand is the reported nationwide shortage of nurses. The nursing field is "mentally and physically taxing, no matter what your age is," Anderson said, but the availability of good nursing programs -- locally in particular -- should be enough to replenish perceived shortages.
"You really do need the nursing degrees these days to be able to keep up and to be able to work in the nursing field," Anderson said, noting how nursing is expansive in terms of expertise and ever-changing. "I think (a degree) is almost required today to be able to work in the field."
Anderson's own biggest challenges in nursing came from taking on more responsibilities that were formerly handled by medical interns and resident doctors, such as performing injections into veins or inserting nasogastric tubes. As procedures and equipment evolved, nurses did those.
Getting to help others was the most rewarding aspect of nursing and what attracted her to the field in the first place, Anderson said.
"Hands-on is the best -- the sense of helping someone get through illness ... (or) emotionally," Anderson said. "The physical and emotional support we could give on a one-on-one basis in the early nursing days (was the best.) Just to feel as if you've been helpful for someone in their lives and to get them better."
Anderson said anyone with a heart for helping others might find a calling in nursing.
"It is a very gratifying thing. Even with all the changes, you feel like you're doing a service for people, like you're helping. Anybody who thinks that's interesting, I would definitely say to do (nursing.)"
Nowadays, Anderson is able to take it easy, enjoying time spent with her grandchildren, who are transitioning into adulthood and college age. Anderson said she's apt to help her family any way she can, and the same goes for anyone who's in need of a volunteer, particularly a nurse.