{"id":15042,"date":"2023-09-22T16:23:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T23:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?page_id=15042"},"modified":"2024-10-03T16:18:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T23:18:13","slug":"patient-story-building-legacy-together-samaritan-health-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/about-samaritan\/together\/patient-story-building-legacy-together-samaritan-health-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Legacy Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Building Legacy Together Patient Story<\/h1>\n\t\t\t
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\u201cIt was my home away from home… I spent half my life there.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Volunteer Carol Carter<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Volunteering Helped Retired Nurse Stay Connected to Her Passion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1999 Carol Carter retired from nursing. During her 37\u2011year career at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center it is estimated that she cared for 35,000 newborns and changed more than 1 million diapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, six months into retirement Carter found herself frequenting the hospital\u2019s Center for Women & Families, this time as a volunteer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spent parts of the next 16 years with her \u201cfamily\u201d in the center racking up an impressive 2,328 recorded volunteer hours and countless more diaper changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is a lot of hours and a lot of years of commitment,\u201d said Luanne Barnes, director of Volunteer Services at Good Sam. \u201cShe loved that area so much during her career. She knew so many of the volunteers because she worked directly with them in the nursery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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With Carter\u2019s knowledge of the unit, she mentored many of the volunteers coming through the center. Carter taught them the normal routine of checking in with the nursing team, rounding on patients, helping restock supplies and, on occasion, comforting or changing the diaper of a newborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was my home away from home, literally,\u201d said Carter. \u201cI spent half my life there, it seemed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter attributes her decision to pursue a nursing career to a neighbor and well-known Good Sam nurse, Mida Harvey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe told me about nursing and what a wonderful job it was,\u201d said Carter. From there, Carter became a member of the nursing education program at Corvallis High School and was even featured in the newspaper taking care of a simulated patient in 1958 in a classroom created to look like a hospital room.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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She started nursing full time in 1962 after graduating from the University of Oregon Nursing School, which later became Oregon Health & Science University. However, Carter points out that she started her college career at Oregon State University before transferring to the nursing school in Portland and still roots for the Beavers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her starting pay for the night shift was $2.25 per hour and nearly 13 years later, the year she was preparing to move to the new hospital facility, her pay more than doubled to $5.03 per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI worked in the medical surgical unit at nights for my first two and a half years,\u201d said Carter. \u201cWorking nights was a challenge because back then it was me as the RN and one aide to take care of the 25\u2011patient floor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCarol is the definition of dedication with her career and coming back to volunteer and having such a high level of commitment.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Luanne Barnes, Director of Volunteer Services at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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After that she began working in labor and delivery. The old hospital\u2019s nursery was one long room. There were 5\u2011foot\u2011tall oxygen tanks chained to the walls, she recalled. Sick babies were placed in large incubators called Armstrong warmers. Technology over the years have made those units less cumbersome with increased efficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time treatments and techniques weren\u2019t as advanced in Corvallis as at larger hospitals. This all changed when the administration selected Carter and another nurse to undergo a week-long training in Portland at OHSU where the most critically ill babies from across the state were transferred to for care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe learned about new equipment and new procedures,\u201d said Carter. \u201cUpon returning, we implemented several things including IV pumps. Looking back, the pumps looked funny, but then they were new. The training changed a lot of our practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of those time\u2011tested practices are still used to this day.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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By 1967, Carter and her husband had established a home in Linn County just across the river from Corvallis. Behind her ranch\u2011style house she cultivated her second passion of gardening. The Carters established their family, raising a son and daughter, at the half\u2011acre site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 83\u2011year\u2011old still waters her vegetables, prunes her roses and picks her fresh strawberries for breakfast almost daily during the spring and summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of Carter\u2019s children were born at Good Sam. So were her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Carter also became a patient at Good Sam 13 years after the birth of her son.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHer comforting presence is an intangible that exemplifies Samaritan\u2019s values.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

~Luanne Barnes<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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One Saturday morning she woke up with chest pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt this elephant on my chest,\u201d said Carter. \u201cNo pain, just pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was 38 and having a heart attack. Her son called 911.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the time the medics got here, they couldn\u2019t get a blood pressure reading,\u201d said Carter. Carter recalls the ambulance ride to Good Sam, including the medical transport shifting gears to climb the hill to the Emergency Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t remember much about the first three days,\u201d Carter said. \u201cI remember my first bath and how grateful I was to get a bath and a shampoo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heart attack prompted her to become a CPR instructor. She started leading CPR classes at the hospital giving lessons to staff, the public and new parents. These classes were a mainstay at the hospital until her retirement.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Now, every Friday, Carter and a group of five other retired nurses gather for a few hours to reminisce over a few glasses of wine. This has been going on for more than 35 years, long before the nurses retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d get off at 3:30 or 4 and run just down the hill,\u201d Carter said. \u201cSometimes the doctors would come and join us, or our husbands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a social thing,\u201d said Carter. \u201cIt was both psychological and physical healing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter decided to retire from volunteering after the birth of her second great grandchild who she would care for. Now she enjoys gardening, travel and time with her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When thinking about Carter, Barnes said, \u201cCarol is the definition of dedication with her career and coming back to volunteer and having such a high level of commitment to the Center for Women & Families and nursing. Her love of babies and helping them with that first start into the world, supporting the parents, teaching, just providing that reassuring and really comforting presence is an intangible that exemplifies Samaritan\u2019s values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Volunteer With Samaritan <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Volunteers play a vital role in the day-to-day operations at Samaritan Health Services. They are the warm, welcoming faces visitors look forward to seeing and provide important support to doctors, nurses and staff. There are a variety of opportunities available in both clinical and non-clinical settings, seven days a week. You\u2019ll receive thorough training for your area of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn More & Join Us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Find Local Volunteer Opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Learn about volunteer opportunities at each location and download an application packet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n