When COVID-19 hit the United States, nurses and other healthcare workers were quickly called to the front lines of the pandemic. As vaccines became available to the public in January 2021, the need for healthcare workers to help distribute the vaccine grew at a rapid rate. A group of retired WakeMed nurses — Jonnie Simmons, Kathleen Privette, Kathy Lancaster, and Pam Scott — saw this need and answered the call, each one stepping out of retirement to join the staff at WakeMed’s vaccine clinic.

THE ROAD TO WAKEMED

Serving the Raleigh community with enthusiasm and compassion is not new for this special group. All four have been a part of the WakeMed family for years, having decades of combined experience in nursing. Many of them even got their start as new nurses at WakeMed, including Kathleen Privette who was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

“In 1973, Wake ‘Memorial’ hospital representatives came to Nova Scotia to recruit nurses,” Privette recalls. “My classmates and I saw this as an excellent opportunity as new nursing graduates, and I arrived to North Carolina in September 1973.”

Arriving shortly after Privette in the mid-1970s, Kathy Lancaster knew that WakeMed was the place for her to continue her career as a new nurse.

“I didn’t even interview anywhere else,” Lancaster reflected. “WakeMed’s mission from day one has been to take care of anybody [regardless of background], and I wanted to be a part of that.”

While Jonnie Simmons and Pam Scott didn’t come on board as new nurses, both finished their careers at WakeMed after joining the family in 1996 and 2017, respectively.

IMPACT BEYOND MEASURE

Throughout their time at WakeMed, these nurses have held a wide variety of positions across several departments, all while pioneering cutting-edge technology, procedures and practices that are still in use today.

Privette spent many of her years as a WakeMed nurse in the early days of the neonatology unit and as the manager of the NICU, eventually becoming the Director of Women’s and Children’s Services for Raleigh and then Chief Nursing Officer for Cary Hospital until 2009.

“There are so many special moments from my time at WakeMed with patients and colleagues,” Privette reflected. She recalled the opportunities over the years to represent WakeMed in various settings, including visits with General Colin Powell in 1997 and President Joe Biden in 2021.

Much like Privette, Lancaster reflected on her time at WakeMed with fond memories.

She spent most of her years in nursing in the Adult MICU and CCU, where she helped shape the development of the rapid response team which was able to educate younger nurses on best practices and save countless lives.

Simmons also worked with adult patients, serving as both a nurse and manager in the Heart Center and eventually becoming the Executive Director of Heart and Vascular Services until her retirement in 2019.

“During my time, I was able to work with the Duke Collaborative around Heart and Vascular Services,” she said, “we were able to enhance services all around Wake County, something that I really enjoyed.”

Scott served as the Director of Adult Acute Care Services at Cary Hospital, where she helped introduce the use of the Rothman Index, a tool that uses patient data to create a picture of health at any given time.

THE CALL TO SERVE RINGS LOUDLY

All four had entered retirement by the end of 2020, but once vaccinations became available each of them felt called to serve the community.

“I felt like it was a way to give back to my community and support my former colleagues during this critical time” shared Simmons, emphasizing the importance of the vaccination effort. The others agreed, each citing their desire to serve others and their commitment to improving the wellbeing of the community.

“Once a nurse, always a nurse” Lancaster said, smiling. “After hearing about the need for nurses from a former colleague, I immediately knew I had to get involved.”

While others might hesitate to return to the profession after being retired, these nurses have wholeheartedly embraced their return to the clinic, despite the fast-paced and at times overwhelming atmosphere.

“While we were extremely busy, I found myself loving it” said Simmons, who had the opportunity to vaccinate many elderly community members as well as members of her own family.

“I would say this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my near 48 year career,” echoed Privette. “It has been a privilege to administer vaccines to members of the community.”

Scott agreed, emphasizing how rewarding working in the clinic was and how special her interactions with community members were.

“There were so many individuals who expressed gratitude,” she said, “while rolling up the sleeve of one young man I saw written on his arm in big letters ‘THANK YOU’, which was just one of many kind gestures I witnessed in the clinic.”

“I’ve never worked in a happier place in my life,” shared Lancaster as she summed up her time as a vaccinator.

In the coming months as these nurses prepare to leave the clinic and enter back into retirement, they are hopeful for the future of WakeMed. All four of the nurses emphasized how proud they are that WakeMed has remained committed to its mission even after many years.

“I’m really proud that WakeMed always has been and always will be a leader for our community in North Carolina,” said Scott. The other three echoed this sentiment, with Privette adding “I’m hopeful that they will continue to remain a leader in providing access to healthcare in the community.”

These four nurses are an integral part of the massive team at WakeMed who have sacrificed and remained fervently dedicated to protecting the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While retirement holds promises of relaxation, enjoyment and free-time, these nurses looked past what they had worked all these years for and returned to their old stomping grounds one last time to showcase what the heart of WakeMed is: caring for others.

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More about the Vaccine Clinic

The WakeMed vaccine clinic is located in the Andrews Conference Center on the WakeMed Raleigh Campus across from the Emergency Department at 3024 New Bern Avenue.

WakeMed is accepting appointments: Saturday, August 21 (8 am to 2 pm) & Sunday, August 22 (2 to 5 pm) — Pfizer dose 1 for people age 12+ and single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for people age 18+.

Please use WakeMed MyChart to schedule your appointment. Visit www.wakemed.org if you need to set up a MyChart account for yourself or your child. You or your child do not need to be a WakeMed patient to set up a MyChart account.

If these dates / times are not convenient for you, please contact your primary care provider or see the multiple Wake County vaccination sites established with walk-in capabilities.   Vaccine – Wake County COVID-19 Information (wakegov.com)