May 11, 2023
Mary Reed graduated from Nursing at Conestoga College in 1981. After working at the Stratford Hospital for two years, she made the move to London in 1983 and joined the Medicine Team at South Street Hospital.
It was Reed’s “Head Nurse” who would encourage her to apply to an open position on the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU).
She began her career as a CCU nurse in 1984 and it’s where she would continue to work for the next 39 years.
As a new nurse, she absorbed as much knowledge as she could from her educators. Decades later, she would go on to become a mentor for new nurses on the floor.
We had the opportunity to chat with Reed and learn about her lengthy career at LHSC.
When you started on the CCU in 1984, you were the youngest nurse on the floor. Can you tell us what it was like working on the unit during this time?
I was young and eager! I have seen huge changes in medicine in that time period. I even had the privilege of being there for LHSC’s first Angioplasty in the late ‘80s.
How do you prepare for these medical firsts as a young nurse?
“It took years for me to realize and look back at what a moment that was. When I was in it, I was in my twenties. It took years for me to feel privileged to be there. Really, it wasn’t that long ago, yet so much has changed. For example, we went from having patients on bed rest for eight hours and then we went down to six hours of bedrest, to four, to two, to having some patients go home the same day.”
Can you speak about your experiences of education while working on the floor?
I never once in my whole career felt a lack of support. It was just very positive vibes where I worked. The experience, the educators that I had were the top – the best.
The educators were there all the time. I’m from the “non-computer era” and so it was in-person which makes a huge difference in learning. If it was quiet around 11:00 or 11:30, the educator would pull you aside for a learning opportunity.
It was the best. I feel honoured, I feel like it was a huge gift that I was able to have such experienced and knowledgeable educators and head nurses. They were so actively involved with their staff and their patients.
Why have you continued to work specifically on the CCU throughout your entire career?
I was just fascinated with ECG interpretation and I still am, I love it. I had a beautiful educator, Effie Price. She taught us everything about heart rhythms and how the heart worked. It was something that once I was exposed to, was fascinated with. I still am because there’s so much to learn.
Another thing that was fascinating was when we got our second monitor, I was tickled pink because the image actually stayed across the screen!
Now that time has passed, what is your experience working with new and incoming nurses?
As a teacher you want the new staff to have your knowledge. My knowledge is a gift for me to have and I want to pass it on to other nurses. It’s a great profession. You meet so many wonderful patients, doctors and other nurses. It’s been a joy for me to be in this career, it makes me emotional sometimes. The new nurse’s education is different from what I had (two years of bedside nursing) so they still need support to be able to come to the bedside. The ones here are lovely, energetic, wanting to learn and that’s what I love about them.
Computers and technology in medicine have quickly developed over the last several decades. How did you handle this learning curve?
I knew a lot of nurses who said “I’m out of here” and I thought, nope, I want to know how it works, I want to be able to learn along with them. You were never by yourself because everyone was learning along with you. I was always positive, I was never negative thinking, “oh I’m not going to learn that.” I wanted to always be there learning.
You plan on retiring in early 2024, do you have any retirement plans yet?
My oldest daughter got married last year and she’s having her first baby this spring. So, I’m excited to be a grandmother, it’s a new role - a babysitting role!
And two years ago, my husband was diagnosed with a glioblastoma brain tumor. We gained that life is a gift, and it’s what you do with it. I want to enjoy each day that I have with the people that are in my life.
We asked Emily, a registered nurse who also works on the CCU, to share her thoughts on being mentored by Reed:
Mary is an excellent mentor, nurse, and friend. Her gentle and caring approach mixed with her wealth of knowledge and experience has been invaluable not only to my development as a nurse, but to the VH CCU as a whole. From CCU procedures and medications to situational critical thinking; Mary has been an extraordinary teacher to me and I am fortunate that I have been able to work alongside her and learn from her.
