This Nurse Delivers… In More Ways Than One

PHOTO: Fred Lopez

Nearly every day Karen Baisden goes to work, she receives a special delivery.

No, it’s not a bouquet of flowers. Nor is it an expensive gift that arrives in a neatly wrapped package.

Instead, the longtime obstetrics and gynecology registered nurse at Leesburg Regional Medical Center gets to experience the wonder and joy of childbirth.

“It’s such a spectacular feeling to see a mother with her first baby, or even her third or fourth baby,” she says. “It’s a miracle, really. Seeing a healthy baby being born is one of life’s greatest satisfactions.”

Karen has been a nurse at LRMC for 38 years. Amazingly, she gains more enthusiasm and passion for nursing with each passing year and bustles around the hospital with the energy of nurses half her age. That’s one reason why she was named the hospital’s Nurse of the Year in 2011.

“I’ve never been burned out or felt like I wanted to leave nursing,” she says. “There’s nothing more rewarding than helping others and making a difference in someone’s life.”

For Karen, becoming a nurse fulfilled a childhood dream. She fondly recalls growing up on a farm in Strykersville, New York, and playing “mommy” to some of the farm animals.

“I would nurture the baby calves and pretend they were my children. My dad told me I would someday become a nurse. So at the young age of five I knew that was what I wanted to do when I
grew up.”

Karen began her career at Leesburg Regional Medical Center in 1978 and is one of the hospital’s longest-tenured nurses. She spent the first 10 years as head nurse of the intensive-care unit, and then became charge nurse of the obstetrics and gynecology department—the same department where she works today.

Obstetrics provides a fast-paced and challenging environment, but Karen wouldn’t have it any
other way.

“You have to make quick judgments, be a good team player, and deal with diverse patients and families who have varying needs and expectations. I love the art of being able to predict how the process of labor is going to go and intervene when any complications may arise.”

Today, some of the pregnant women who come to the hospital are babies Karen helped deliver many years ago.

“It’s hard to believe I’ve been working here long enough that I’m delivering children of the first children I delivered,” she says.

She has also worked at Leesburg Regional Medical Center long enough to witness many changes. Although the hospital is a tobacco-free facility today, that wasn’t the case in the early 1980s.

You’re never too old to begin a new career. Just ask Susan Chicoine.

After a successful career as chief operating officer of a high-tech aerospace company, Susan retired at age 50 and later moved to The Villages.

She quickly became bored with the retirement lifestyle and decided to pursue a profession that had always intrigued her—medicine. So at age 59, she enrolled in Lake-Sumter State College’s nursing program.

“Staying up until 2 a.m. studying and writing papers is not easy when you’re my age,” she says jokingly.

After graduating in 2014, she landed a job working in the medical unit at The Villages Regional Hospital.

“I love learning, and one of the best things about this job is learning new ways and techniques to help people feel better,” she says. “For me, it is a great feeling to know I can help people get better and start enjoying life again.”[/mks_pullquote]

“I remember we used to divide patient rooms into smoking and non-smoking. As nurses, we would go to the smoking rooms and hand ashtrays to patients. Also, there was a lounge in the hospital where doctors and nurses gathered to smoke cigarettes.”

Another big change occurred when the hospital purchased computers to maintain medical records.

“There was a time when we had no computers and all records were written by hand. Computers have also changed the way we communicate. I can remember when all the head nurses met in a small room where we hashed out any problems we were having on an intimate level. Nowadays, we pretty much email
each other.”

She even remembers when nurses stood out because of the mandatory uniforms—white dresses, white caps, and white shoes. Those uniforms are now a distant memory.

“Now look at me I’m wearing sneakers,” she says enthusiastically.

More importantly, she wears a constant smile that eases the fear and anxiety of patients. Having a true passion for helping others is a characteristic all nursing students should possess.

“It’s important that aspiring nurses go into the field… for the right reasons. Some… use nursing as a steppingstone to a management position, while others get into nursing for the job security it provides. Nursing isn’t a job; it’s something you have to feel in your heart. You have to want to care for people and be empathetic and compassionate toward them even on their worst days.”