| Mother, daughter continue family’s nursing tradition
|
| Saturday
|
Nursing continues to be a family affair for local resident Patricia Luna since her daughter Sarah joined her in the Oncology Department at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital here.
Sarah’s grandmother, Frances Arnst Fromm, started the tradition at the hospital in 1970, when she worked in the intensive care unit as a licensed vocational nurse until 1974.
Fromm then earned her registered nursing and bachelor’s degrees simultaneously from Cal State Los Angeles. She continued to work in the intensive care unit until 1977, when she moved from Whittier.She now lives in Clarkdale, Ariz., and is retired.
Her mother, Eva Warner (Sarah’s great-grandmother) was a nurse at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, in 1928; and Fromm’s aunt, Lauren Helen Field, worked as a nurse at the University of Michigan Homeopathic facility in 1914.
“It’s about giving back to your roots, community and profession,” Sarah Luna said.She, her mother and father, Robert, all graduated from nursing courses at Rio Hondo College.
Patti and Robert Luna met while taking the licensed vocational nursing course, married in 1978 and both enrolled in the registered nursing program. In 1980, they were the first married couple to graduate from the college as RNs.
She began working at Presbyterian Intercommunity on the oncology floor in 1980. Robert Luna is employed as a case manager for an insurance company. Patti Luna knew that she wanted to be a nurse since she was 10. Her mother inspired her to do so, she said. As a junior in high school, Patti had already received her nurse’s aide certification from Rio Hondo College and while a senior in high school she was employed as a nursing assistant at a local convalescent home.
“I loved it in school. I loved working with the cancer patients,” said Patti, explaining why she chose to work in oncology. She feels her profession and job makes a difference when she works with the terminally ill patients and can help them die with dignity.
Patti earned her bachelor of science in nursing from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2005 and expects to receive her master’s degree in nurse education next year. Besides her hospital job, Patti Luna teaches nursing classes at Rio Hondo. She and her husband have four children; Sarah being the oldest, followed by another daughter, and twin sons.
Sarah said she grew fond of the medical field by listening to many of her parents’ conversations and used to sneak into the garage at her home and look through all of her parents’ textbooks. “She got stitches at 7 years old and wanted to watch the doctor sew her up. It was amazing that she knew how to handle a medical emergency at such a young age,” said Patti Luna of her daughter.
As a junior in high school, Sarah Luna received her nurse’s assistant certification from the California High School Health Academy and decided to become a registered nurse.
Following high school, she worked as a certified nursing assistant at an assisted living facility for two years. Then, while at Rio Hondo working toward her nursing degree, she worked in home health care for three years. “Working in home health really inspired me to become an [nurse],” Sarah said. “It inspired me to learn more because patients would ask questions that were out of my scope.”
She became a registered nurse in 2005. That same year she began working at Whittier Presbyterian in the Oncology Department. She chose oncology because she had grown up learning about it, and already knew many of the nurses, who were like family to her.
“I did have a little hesitation about going into oncology because I wanted to be known as ‘Sarah the nurse’ not as ‘Patti’s daughter,’” Sarah said. “I wanted to be exceptional in my clinical skills.”Sarah stressed that when they are on duty, they are peers. “We’re on the same level. We’re not mother and daughter, we’re co-workers.”“As for your profession, go to what your heart desires in your passion,” said Patti. “My passion, the patients and the staff is what has kept me here for 33 years.” ( source) |
posted by blogger @ 01:01
  |
|
|
|
