Nurses are a bulwark at Memorial

Memorial CEO and President Joseph Ruffolo

L-r:Nurses Shelly Meigs, Ann Flack, Laura Hickey, Judy Briand, Joyce Sander, Muriel Forte, Joanne Krolewski

During the last couple of years, the Niagara Falls Reporter has reported on how Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center has become one of the premier hospitals in the region.

When we asked Memorial’s CEO and president, Joseph Ruffolo, who has led the hospital since 2003. to name the bulwarks that enabled Memorial to rise as prominently as it has, he promptly said, “nurses.”

He explained there are 281 nurses here including those at the Schoellkopf Health Center. Of these, 80 have more than 25 years of service,(28%) an astonishing number, when you consider that, according to the US Department of Labor, the average tenure for nurses in the US is six years.

“When you look at nursing,” Ruffolo said thoughtfully, “when you think about someone who is doing something day in and day out for 25-45 years, they become proficient; the expertise and knowledge of doing that, in the same environment. In terms of competency, of performing the same tasks over and over, day in and day out, for that length of time.

“They probably wouldn't admit it, but there are many situations the nurses here wouldn't need to consult a physician. They could handle what they need to do with the patient, when the patient gets in trouble. Think about that, about how powerful that is.”

The Reporter undertook to talk to some of the nurses to get a better understanding of what might be called a phenomenon, or maybe an anachronism, a hold over from a bygone era where people were not always in search of greener pastures and leaving behind their true place in the world.

We spoke with Judy Briand, an RN in the recovery room, who has worked here 36 years. In fact, she never worked anywhere else and apparently doesn’t want to.

“I live in Youngstown,” she said. “St. Mary's Hospital is close to my home, but I like it here.”

We spoke to Joanne Krolewski, the chief nursing officer at the hospital. She has been at Memorial for 37 years. She was born in this hospital.

“I started my very first job as a nurse here, after college duty,” she said. “Judy (Briand) and I have known each other since I was 5 years old. We lived in the same neighborhood and were in the same Girl Scout troop. In terms of knowing the staff, I have known many of them for a long time. This is the only place I've ever worked. I never wanted to be anywhere else.”

Krolewski spoke of the many improvements Memorial has made over the years and what it takes to keep up with the latest technology, a new med administration system, the enlarged and remodeled heart center, a busy ER, the state of the art stroke unit, a bariatric surgery program that is one of only three programs in all eight counties of WNY. Krolweski points out that there were more than a 100,000 people living in Niagara Falls and there were more nursing units then. The Hospital has downsized in sync with a city population under 50,000.

“Still, the challenges are greater now than in the past,” she said. “In the past a patient would undergo a minor procedure and be here for days. Now patients are in and out and nurses have to be on top of meeting all the patients needs while they are here and preparing them for follow up care at home.”

Shelly Meigs works in Perioperative services as an RN, overseeing extensive daily operations of the surgery and gastroenterology departments. Her remarks echo what we had heard.

“I have worked at two facilities,” she said. “I came here in 1983. Working with this team is truly wonderful. This is a great place to work."

And there is Laura Hickey, director of Emergency Services, who, over 28 years, witnessed the transition from paper charting to electronic charting in the emergency department.

“I've worked for two employers since I was 17,” she said. “One is NFMMC; the other was a pizzeria.”

And we spoke with Muriel Forte, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force reserve. At Memorial, she trains nurses and is responsible for the mandatory education on the in-service of any new equipment and operational duties that come to the facility.

She started at Memorial in 1963, 48 years ago.

“The reason I started here was that I had received a $500 scholarship. They were giving those, in those days, to guarantee that I would come back and work for them. So I did. My plan was to work here for a year and travel.”

It did not work out that way.

Or Ann Flack, who works in gastroenterology, who started here 49 years ago.

“I started when I was 16,” she said “This is the only place that I've worked. I'm an RN in the department. We take care of approx 300 patients. We run a good unit. Our patients are happy.”

We might have interviewed a hundred more nurses. Their comments, much of which we plan to use for future stories, were fascinating to say the least. But, in one respect, they were all alike: How each had dedicated a lifetime here, though, it seemed clear, with their skill set and experience, each could have gone elsewhere, and for probably more money.

There were no greener pastures.

Joyce Sander, director of nursing at Schoellkopf Health Center, a 120-bed nursing home operated by Memorial, promised to be a little different. She has been here only seven years.

“Although I have been here only for 7 years,” she said, “I have nurses that have been here 30 and 35 years. So the longevity in the nursing home is comparable to the hospital.

“Being an outsider, and never being from Niagara County, or ever living in Niagara, to me, it's a community. Everybody knows everybody. Or if they don't know them, they know somebody who knows them. Both the hospital and nursing home are closely knit. It's very homey.”

How many hospitals anywhere can boast of such a remarkable number of nurses who have spent a quarter of century in one place or better? It may be a record unbroken and unbreakable in today’s fast paced times.

Ruffolo explained why this is invaluable to those who come to this hospital.

“Another way of saying it is they have dedicated their life to caring for the people in this community, at this hospital. You won't see that again with new grads with few exceptions. Most of them jump around. You don't see that in major academic institutions. Nurses there are more transient. I'm not saying they are not providing care. It's different. When you work at major academic centers, you don't get that patient centered care. Our nurses have known patients for years. They can anticipate what's going to go wrong or what they need because they are familiar with the patient and the demographics. Certainly, they could have chosen to work in other places. They could have made more money, if they chose careers elsewhere. But they believe in Memorial. They dedicated their career in caring for sick people in this region. That’s what makes us different.”