The year was 1946. Penicillin had only recently become
widely available, flu vaccines were a new phenomenon and it would be several
years before Watson and Crick would describe the structure of DNA.
That year, Florence “Seesee” Rigney started working as a
student nurse at the Tacoma General School of Nursing, then part of Tacoma
General Hospital in Washington.
The job was her lifelong dream.
"I love nursing," Rigney said in 2013.
"Since I was a little girl, it was something that I always wanted to
do."
And, boy, has she done it.
Rigney is now 90 years old and still a working nurse -- at
Tacoma General Hospital, no less.
The nonagenarian celebrated her birthday on May 8. In a
message penned in her honor, Bill Robertson, president and CEO of MultiCare
Health System, which runs Tacoma General, wrote that Rigney had worked “on and
off” for the Multicare group for “nearly 70 years.”
“She is the oldest practicing nurse in the United States,”
Robertson said. “Just imagine all the changes SeeSee has seen in her life.”
According to a video uploaded by Multicare nurse Martie
Schultz, Rigney’s colleagues surprised her with a birthday celebration on her
special day, adorning her with a pink sash and glittery crown. One of her
colleagues also read a special letter that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) had
written in Rigney’s honor.
“Happy birthday, Seesee. Your story is an inspiration to me
and all Washingtonians,” Inslee is quoted as saying.
An emotional Rigney thanked her colleagues for their warm
wishes as they all whooped and cheered. “I know I’m a pain in the
you-know-what,” she joked. “Thank you all.”
Rigney currently works as a surgical nurse at Tacoma
General twice a week. In 2013, Multicare said that the then-88-year-old no
longer worked directly with patients during surgeries, but rather set up the
operating rooms.
“[SeeSee] still pursues her lifelong profession with the
same energy, focus and careful execution of her duties that has marked her
career across seven decades,” Robertson said last week. “And she still inspires
those around her.”
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