A Nurse Who Made a Difference in My Life

Have you ever wondered what our life would be like if we didn’t have a nurse to care for us? I live this every day.

My grandmother, Winnifred Kathleen Thomas Mooney, the woman I referred to as “mummy” in my early childhood, was also a registered nurse, a professional of her time. I have fond memories of this remarkable human being who sadly left this earth way too early and before my tenth birthday.

When I was a little girl, I was so at ah as I watched her get ready to go to work. As I looked up at her, she was tall, like a giant, and always dressed in crisp white impeccable clothing and shoes. Through the eyes of a six-year-old, it looked like she was wearing a white crown. Everything she wore was white, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She also had a red cross pin that she placed on the lefthand side of the collar above her heart. That was what the nurses wore back in the day of the 1960s and 1970s, and even before then.

The uniforms have certainly changed since then, but the one constant is that nurses care for some of the most vulnerable people in their time of a medical crisis.

The Mother of Nursing, Florence Nightingale

Many of us have heard the name Florence Nightingale, but how many of us know who she was and what she did?

By birth in 1820, fluent in French, Greek, Italian, and Latin, the wealthy British woman gave up a privileged lifestyle. She went against her parent’s desires to follow her dream of nursing in 1844 and forego marriage, a courageous move for a woman of her time. A brilliant woman, she was also an acclaimed Mathematician and social reformer.

Today, we recognize Miss Nightingale, also known as “The Lady with the Lamp,”  as the founder of modern nursing. During WW1, she worked on the front lines providing medicine and food to the wounded soldiers. She was fierce and demanding as she advocated that all patients have clean bedding, bandages, and fresh air.

To hear the voice of Florence Nightingale from 1860, click here at the bottom of the right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale.

We dedicate this issue of The Cat’s Meow to all nurses throughout Canada and the world who generously give of themselves to aid all sick people, especially during the Covid Pandemic. THANK YOU for your service.