An unyielding dedication to nursing…Peggy James is a ‘Special Person’

Nov 03, 2013 News

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“If the older nurses are given the chance to really help the younger nurses, the nursing system I believe will improve by 75 per cent if not 100 per cent.”

By Sharmain Grainger

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” is a proverb that was popularised by British Educational Writer, William Edward Hickson.
It was this very adage that Nurse Peggy Ann James has for many years embraced in every aspect of her life, although she was not aware of it at the time. In fact it was the desire to try again that saw her being an efficient nurse for close to five decades, rendering unblemished service at the New Amsterdam and Georgetown Public Hospitals and the Psychiatric Hospital for a brief stint.
Nurse Peggy, who resides at 43 Norton Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, celebrated her 72nd birthday on July 3, and is intent on continuing her nursing career as long as the Creator permits.

She obviously cannot remember all the patients she attended to over the years, but many will never forget the caring face of the now aged but still very vibrant nurse who is easily recognised as she criss-crosses the city on her bicycle.
Currently her nursing expertise is utilised by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs which sees her being attached to the Amerindian Dormitory at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. Previously she was seconded to the Amerindian Hostel at Princes Street.
Though she is now charged mainly with attending to the basic health needs of school aged boys and girls from the hinterland Regions staying at the Dormitory, there is no doubt that Nurse Peggy is as dedicated to the profession as she was when she first started.
But just how did Nurse Peggy, who is fondly referred to today as “Nursee”, manage to not only enter the nursing profession, but continue to serve the land of her birth over the years in the face of many attractive overseas offers.
The answer is simple. In addition to the fact that Nurse Peggy is a true and committed daughter of the soil she has an undying dedication to care for those in need.
You see, from a very tender age she developed a passion to care for others, a disposition she developed having attended to her ailing mother up until her death.
Humble beginnings
Nurse Peggy and her twin brother Leopold Alexander were born on July 3, 1941, and resided with their parents Frederick and Ursula James at Second Street, Alberttown, Georgetown.  They later moved to a residence at Regent Street, Georgetown.
She recalled during an interview that they had a modest upbringing which was considerably strained by the fact that her mother was stricken with cancer while she and her brother were still very young.

And although she was able to complete schooling at St Ambrose Anglican Primary, her time at Tutorial High was short-lived, since she was forced to leave school to care for her mother whose condition had considerably deteriorated.
“I was the one that had to care for my mother and when she died I was just about 14 years old,” said Nurse Peggy as she reminisced on how she took the time to do whatever was necessary to make her ailing mother comfortable.
She recalled that it seemed quite natural for her to be a caregiver. So it was understandable that she was intrigued by a newspaper advertisement appealing for young individuals to apply for training in the field of nursing.
At the time, the young Peggy was required to contribute to the family’s purse, since the income from her father’s clothes laundering profession was not nearly enough to adequately cater to all their needs. She recalled how she was able to secure a job at a cone booth which saw her being paid on a weekly basis.
“It wasn’t much, but at least I was able to get a ‘small piece’ at the end of the week,” Nurse Peggy recounted.
She remembers being very respectful to her elders and “putting her best foot forward” at everything she did, a practice that was fostered by her disciplined upbringing.
And perhaps it was this very ‘disciplined upbringing’ that helped pave the way for her acceptance into the nursing programme since she hadn’t completed her secondary education.
Her nursing training commenced in 1964 at the Georgetown Public Hospital, but her academic limitations proved to be her downfall, so much so that her less than satisfactory performance saw her being asked to leave the nursing programme.  It was a sad day for young Peggy whose life appeared to be crumbling from every side. Her father was no longer able to care for her and her brother, and this resulted in the twin siblings being separated – Peggy was sent to a female relative while her brother was shipped off to an uncle.
Keeping focused
Though daunted by her situation, Peggy was somehow driven by an unknown force which gave her the confidence that she could be whatever she wanted to be if she worked hard enough.  And she did just that.
Since she was not eligible to pursue the programme again at the Georgetown Hospital, she decided to head to the Ancient County of Berbice where she applied to be trained at the New Amsterdam Hospital. Not only was she accepted into the programme, but a few years later, Peggy was fully qualified as a Staff Nurse/Midwife. In fact, she would spend 28 years of her life practicing at the New Amsterdam Hospital, retiring as a well respected Ward Sister.

Of note, too, is that after retiring, her service was most welcomed at the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was contracted to work for a few more years.
“I always cherished my years as a nurse in the hospital setting,” said Nurse Peggy even as she speculated that “the practice of nursing back in the day could today be deemed the ‘gold standard’ of the profession.  “We had good mentors and our matrons, like Sella Bacchus who also tutored, taught us all we needed to know…We also had people like Sister Serelene LaRose, who taught us the required practical.”
The instructions imparted in her day emphasised that nurses not only had to be caring and kind to patients, regardless of the circumstances, but they were also expected to be respectful to doctors.
“I remembered working on the wards, and whether a doctor was elderly or very young, the minute that doctor entered the ward you would immediately stand if you were sitting… You would stop writing and recognise the doctor, but that doesn’t normally happen today,” Nurse Peggy reflected.
As such, she is convinced that in the training of nurses today, more emphasis should be given to ethics and the importance of dedication to the profession. It is her belief that older nurses could play an instrumental role in helping the younger nurses to adopt the appropriate nursing style that would help to cater to a significant improvement in the delivery of nursing care.
“If the older nurses are given the chance to really help the younger nurses, the nursing system I believe will improve by 75 per cent if not 100 per cent,” said an optimistic Nurse Peggy, who is convinced that nursing is the best profession in the world.
And although there are nursing opportunities throughout the world, Nurse Peggy is of the firm belief that her services are more needed here.

The single-parent to three sons – Colin, Michael and Deryck – and grandmother to five is convinced that there is always a reward for being dedicated to whatever you do. She disclosed that throughout the years, one of her traits has always been to follow-up on her patients, even after they would have left the hospital setting.
“I always thought follow-up was important, because I wanted to know how they healed…sometimes I even went to patients’ homes voluntarily to assist them with dressing,” said Nurse Peggy, whose caring ways have also been premised on her religious beliefs which she embraced from a tender age.
And there is every likelihood that Nurse Peggy’s impression on the local nursing system will be remembered for many years to come, as she was not so long ago approached to share her nursing experiences with young nurses at a health facility set to be opened in the near future. This strategic move, this publication understands, is being done with a view of ensuring that the nursing practice which obtained back in the day does not become extinct.
And so in recognition of Nurse Peggy’s commitment to the nursing profession throughout the years, she is today being bestowed with the deserving title of ‘Special Person’.

 

 

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