As one of 54 people in the Sault College nursing program’s first graduating class in 1975, the Sault’s Maureen Mousseau is a member of a distinct group.
“I still can't believe it's been 50 years,” Mousseau told SooToday.
Mousseau, now 71, is organizing a class reunion to be held in the Sault May 29 and 30.
“I started the program in September of 1973. The program was 22 months at that time. We studied in portable buildings. We did have a lot of time in the classroom but it was very hands-on. We did a lot of in-hospital training,” Mousseau said.
She worked at the former General Hospital site on Queen Street East beginning in 1975 before moving to Sault Area Hospital’s current site on Great Northern Road in 2011.
She retired in 2015.
Mousseau witnessed many changes in nursing over the years, including a change in nursing garb.
Today’s nurses wear smocks in a wide variety of colours or smocks covered in floral patterns or cartoon characters.
In Mousseau’s day, nurses always wore clearly identifiable white nursing uniforms and white nursing hats.
“Each nursing school would have their own cap and we had our cap from Sault College. I think some of the girls still have theirs. When we have the reunion we're hoping to have some of those caps and other things there,” Mousseau said.
The hats, especially, were a source of pride.
“Your cap had a black stripe on it and that meant you were a registered nurse,” Mousseau said.
After graduation, Mousseau began working in the maternity ward in January 1976.
“That was my love. I wanted to work in maternity,” Mousseau said.
With the exception of an 18-month stint in the pediatrics department, Mousseau worked in maternity for almost 40 years.
Nursing has its joys, such as seeing newborns with their happy parents or seeing patients heal and leave the hospital.
It also has sorrows, such as seeing patients of all ages suffer in pain and pass away, watching their families grieve.
How does a nurse deal with those sorrows?
“As a nurse, it's part of your soul to be a caregiver. You do anything you can do to either ease the pain or the transition of losing someone.”
Mousseau ran the hospital’s Perinatal Bereavement Program for 11 years.
“It was a tough situation but we knew that we could help the parents through the grief . . . You have to be a certain type of person to be able to deal with those things. And it's OK to cry with somebody if they're hurting. You have to have empathy and you have to be kind. You're there to help people.”
Nurses would provide emotional support to each other in sad times, Mousseau said.
“You have to move on and know that you did the best you could, that you gave people comfort and you move forward from there.”
On the happier side, the maternity department had many joys for Mousseau.
“I think my biggest thing was teaching new moms how to bath their babies and just talking them through it and showing them how to hold the baby. Bathing a baby is a nice thing because they're in the water and it's calming. I think that was my favourite part.”
Mousseau said she is pleased that Sault College's nursing program has expanded and now sees its graduates earn a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.
Fifty years after graduation and 10 years after retirement, Mousseau said she had a rewarding career.
“People still come up to me and say, ‘I remember you.’ One lady actually said ‘you made my mom a cup of tea at the hospital.’ And I started to laugh because I thought, ‘yep, that's what I would have done.’
"Sometimes, some patients just want something small like a cup of tea. It's an all-round thing. You care about their minds, you care about their souls as well as their physical well-being.”
Mousseau is finalizing details for the Class of ‘75 reunion. She said a social will be held, hopefully at Sault College, Thursday, May 29 followed by a dinner at North 82 on Friday, May 30.
“My classmates were great. They're still great. We're all good friends and it's really nice 50 years later to still have that connection,” Mousseau said.
Twenty-six of the 54 Sault College nursing program grads from 1975 have confirmed they will attend and Mousseau is hoping more will respond.
Most confirmed attendees are from the Sault while some are from the Algoma District and southern Ontario.
Mousseau can be contacted by email for information on the reunion, including the cost to attend the North 82 dinner.
Mousseau said she recommends nursing as a career for those who have the heart for it.
She said those contemplating a nursing career will know they’re cut out for the profession.
“It's just like it's part of your soul, so you'll know you're a person that should be a nurse. You’ll just know it. You'll know ‘this is for me.’ It’s a calling.”