“We always sharpened our needles between patients”: tales from the “old, old hospital”

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Chona H.

“We always sharpened our needles between patients!” This was the start of a very interesting conversation I had with my mother-in-law, Margret Evans, who work as a Registered Nurse at Anne Arundel General Hospital in the 1950s. I assumed she was talking about “the old hospital” on Franklin St.  “Oh no,” she said, “This was the old, old hospital. This was before they built the old hospital. Everyone sterilized their needles between patients, but I always sharpened them to get the burs off.”

This was a time when the ER really was just a room in the basement. Patients that did not come by ambulance had to walk around back and ring the bell to be let in. Someone would then have to come down to let them in. Some regular patients even had their own special ring so the staff knew who was outside.

When Margret worked in the OR, the nurses were in charge of cleaning everything. They usually did not have enough to fill the autoclave, so after sharpening the surgical instruments with a file or sand paper, they put them in the sterilizer to boil. And every time she got pregnant, they would not let her work in the OR; they would transfer her to Obstetrics.

When I asked if there was any tuition reimbursement for higher education I got an interesting laugh. “No,” she said, “Any education was up to the individual.” How about CEUs? “No,” she said again, “We learned on the job how to give excellent bedside care.”

I started going down opportunities we as nurses have today. There was no blog, no professional organizations or committees to belong to, or workshops to attend. No surveys for patient or staff satisfaction; nothing I could find that would apply to our current professional practice model. She did have an excellent Head Nurse that she could take ideas to, but that was about it.

We have come such a long way since those good old days. Our opportunities for involvement and advancement are just waiting for us now. We are not only encouraged to continue our education, but have support systems in place to make sure we have the most current knowledge so we can give our patients the best care possible.

I am proud to work for such a great organization. -Kathy Evans, RN