Passing the Torch

Celebrating the proud tradition of registered nursing

Alberta RN continues to feature stories and photos that members chose to share to honour their relatives and the proud tradition of the nursing profession.

Family boasts three generations of nurses who have worked at Foothills

In 1938, Thora Barcusek graduated from the Holy Cross Hospital School of Nursing. Thirty years later, her daughter Sharon Ahearn graduated with the first class of the Foothills Hospital School of Nursing.

Another 30 years later, Lori AhearnThora's granddaughter and Sharon's daughter-was a member of the second graduating class of the Calgary conjoint nursing program at the University of Calgary.

With nursing careers that span three generations and more than 60 years, the three women have seen many changes to their profession. "It has gotten to be a tougher job since I graduated," says Sharon, who has worked at the Grace Women's Centre Day Surgery since January 2000. "The level of patient acuity is much higher and you know you have to focus on one area of care. You can't spread yourself too thin."

Thora, who passed away in May 2003 at the Foothills Hospital, began her nursing career as a generalist, as were most nurses 60 years ago. Like many nurses of her time, she took time off from working at the Holy Cross Hospital to raise a family.

It wasn't until Sharon became an RN that Thora returned to nursing. The same year Sharon graduated, Thora completed a refresher course in nursing. The mother-daughter nursing duo both began working at the Foothills Hospital.

"Sometimes we'd work together on the urology unit and I'd have to catch myself saying: 'Yes, Mom.' I'd call her Mrs. B. because saying Mrs. Bartusek was too hard,' recalls Sharon.

Unlike her mother, Sharon stayed in nursing while raising her children. By then, nursing shifts were more flexible and Sharon worked on a casual basis, picking shifts around her husband's firefighting shifts and her children's activities.

"I've had it pretty good," says Sharon. "I've worked when I could and didn't have to quit when my kids came along."

Yet when Lori started to consider nursing as a career, Sharon warned against it. "I told her not to go into it because there were no jobs at the time," says Sharon.

Lori listened to her mother's advice, but didn't follow it.

"I like the idea of helping people who are really in need of help," says Lori. "It makes me feel fulfilled."

By the time she graduated in 1998, the demand for nurses had swung the other way. In 1999, she secured a permanent part-time position on Unit 82 (cardiology) at the Foothills Hospital.

She quickly learned how demanding nursing has become.

"It's a lot harder than when my grandmother was first a nurse," says Lori, who works about seven or eight shifts every two weeks. "There are so many more responsibilities."

As the demand for nurses continues. and the role of nursing evolves, it begs the question: could a fourth generation of the family also become a nurse?

Originally printed in Calgary Health Region's Frontlines newsletter, May 5,2000. Reprinted with permission.

Copyright Alberta Association of Registered Nurses Dec 2004
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