MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thursday was the final day of Nurses Week, but ABC24 thought they deserved a little extra time this year.
So we headed to Saint Francis Hospital to speak with two very special members of the staff.
“My name is Elise Daniel. I am the lactation consultant here at Saint Francis Hospital. We do a lot of the education with not only the moms but also the staff… We have been talking about the formula shortage that has been going on and it’s been very difficult for our families to find formula in the stores around here, and so we are encouraging moms to at least attempt to breast-feed.”
Daniel said it was her own mother who led her to healthcare.
“I have always known since I was young that I wanted to do something in healthcare, because I visited my mom while she was at work. In and out of hospitals pretty much most my whole life. And it sounds a little odd but it kind of felt like home. It was like a second home. I always felt like I sit there. I actually never wanted to be a nurse because I saw how hard my mom worked.”
So meet her mother.
“My name is Gracy Thomas. I am an RN working at Saint Francis hospital. Right now I am working in same-day surgery.”
“I never thought she would become a nurse. It was not even in my wildest imagination,” said Thomas.
“As I was researching more into what part of healthcare I wanted to go into. Where my heart was at, finally after a couple years I realized the definition of that was nursing,” said Daniel. “She was so happy when I graduated nursing school."
“I cried. I’m really proud of her. I’m so happy she chose this profession. It is so precious. It is, how do you say, a very rewarding profession. I’ve been working at Saint Francis for 20+ years now. I still love it,” said Thomas.
“Because she has been here so long, people know her in all parts of the hospital. So anytime I walk into the hospital somebody is bound to ask me, ‘Are you Gracy’s daughter?’, without fail,” said Daniel.