DOTHAN, Ala. – It is nurses week and also hospital week, thousands of healthcare workers are celebrating around the Wiregrass and many are showing their appreciation of these workers.
Medical Center Enterprise held a celebration this afternoon to sow their gratitude to their hospitals workers.
“I think that nursing is definitely a calling,” Sara Johnson, Nursing Education Director at Enterprise Medical Center, said.
A calling that Johnson could not ignore.
“I lost my parents very young and then I lost my grandmother to cancer,” Johnson said.
Originally, Johnson was in college to become a high school band director, but things took a turn.
“God was saying, ‘Hello, is this thing on?’ because I was definitely in the wrong path for my life. So, I rerouted and I went to CNA school and then I went to LPN school and here we are now,” Johnson said.
A nurse for 17 years, she said this was something she was led to do.
“I always say that nursing takes a lot of heart because you have to be able to care for a stranger that you know nothing about,” Johnson said. “You just know that they are in need, your training comes into play and you just know that you want to do what you can to fix the situation.”
No matter how big or small the situation is.
“Whether it be a broken ankle or somebody who is in dire need with a heart attack, it can go from one level from the other,” Johnson said.
These nurses dedicate their lives to this job.
“I do what I do because I care about our community,” Sarah Speigner, nursing supervisor over ICU and Med Search, said. “I care about helping people that can’t help themselves, you get some sense of pride out of that.”
Their hard work, dedication and sacrifice does not go unnoticed.
“Thanks for everything you’ve done, “ Chad McCullough, Chief Nursing Officer for Medical Center Enterprise, said. “2020, you know, was a very busy year, they made sacrifices themselves as staff and then also their families and me, I would just love to say thanks to all of them.”
Especially after the hardships and changes the pandemic brought to all.
“Everybody really came together and not just physicians, but staff and administration and nursing and ancillary and radiology and just everybody coming together,” Rick Harrelson, M.D. Vice Chief of Staff, said. “People changing roles, working extra hours. I don’t think we would again have had it any other way but looking back it was a remarkable effort that we have had here at Medical Center Enterprise.”
Medical Center Enterprise saw over 100,000 people collectively in 2020. Interim CEO Greg McGilvray thanks all employees and staff for what they do.
News 4 will be celebrating nurses week by featuring nurses from around the Wiregrass each day this week.
