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Network: June/July 2007
Nurse Committed to Lifelong Learning, Patient Care
 As she was growing up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Lucretia Beckett, RN, who now works as a Gerontology Certified Clinical Nurse II in Sentara Bayside Hospital’s Progressive Care Unit, showed an early interest in becoming a nurse.
“I was the one who rescued small birds and nursed them back to health,” recalled Beckett. “From an early age I had a great compassion and desire to help people.”
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| The Road to Nursing Begins
Beckett enrolled in Norfolk State University and studied nursing for a year before relocating to New York where she married and raised a family of four children.
“Even though I had my children, I still had the desire to be a nurse,” said Beckett. “I started out working as a nurse’s aid. I went to school and finished my associate degree in nursing. I worked at Glen Cove Community Hospital (now North Shore University Hospital) in Long Island and I was there for 25 years.”
In 1990, she moved back – retired, so-to-speak – to Virginia and took off about six months. Not ready to leave nursing, Beckett – who admits only to being “over 50” – said she figured she still had a good four or five years left to give the profession before she would officially retire.
“When I visited Bayside, I had an instant feeling of family,” she recalled. “It was awesome. I had never gotten that kind of reception anywhere. Here it is 17 years later and I’m still here,” she laughed.
Learning for Life
In addition to her strong work ethic, Beckett instilled a desire for higher education in her children, two of whom also chose careers in the medical field.
One daughter, Tiffany Simon, earned a Masters Degree in Public Health from Eastern Virginia Medical School and now works as the District Epidemiologist for Norfolk. Another daughter, Tosha Sampson, RN, MSN, WHNP, works as a Quality Improvement Coordinator in Clinical Effectiveness, along with her Mom, at Sentara Bayside Hospital.
Four years ago, with the help of Sentara’s tuition reimbursement program and the support of her children, Beckett decided it was time for her to head back to the classroom.
“I felt it was my turn now,” she said. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
“Sentara’s tuition assistance program gave me the added incentive I needed to go back and finish my degree,” said Beckett. “That same tuition assistance program is open to anybody who wants to take advantage of it. We encourage our Nursing Care Partners to go back to school. We don’t want them to miss out on a great opportunity.”
Personal and Professional Growth
According to Lois Kercher, RN, PhD, Chief Nursing Officer for Sentara Healthcare, personal and professional growth is important to Sentara’s nursing staff, spread throughout Hampton Road’s seven hospitals and more than 80 sites of care.
“Nursing care is an important part of our mission to improve health every day and is paramount to our vision to be the health care provider of choice for the communities we serve,” said Kercher. “One of the reasons our nurses like working for Sentara is the opportunity for professional growth and personal development.”
Patient Safety, Technology and Teams
Through the years, Beckett said she has witnessed significant changes in nursing and she likes what she sees.
“The changes I’ve experienced as a nurse are phenomenal. Today it is more of a holistic approach…we get the family involved in the patient’s care. We have interdisciplinary teams that help put the patient first from the time they come through the door. Patient safety is a core value, and we have a number of mechanisms in place to help us keep our patients safe. I’m so happy to see that.”
According to Kercher, that is no coincidence. “At Sentara, we reinforce three messages that describe our work setting: focus on patient safety, the use of advanced technology to deliver quality outcomes, and the importance of interdisciplinary teams. Each Members of the Team’s opinion is respected and valued.”
42 Years and Counting
As she begins her 42nd year in nursing ― treating some of the sickest patients in the Progressive Care Unit, aside from the ICU ― there’s no doubt in Lucretia Beckett’s mind that she is respected and valued.
“I know I’m needed. I am an asset to the team. I feel like I do have something to offer and I’m still excited about being here. People ask me, ‘when are you going to retire?’ and I’m not quite sure yet,” she laughed. “I look forward to coming to work. I’m blessed with the stamina and desire and the passion to help people.”
Nursing at Sentara DVD
To help attract good nurses in a high tech age, Sentara recently developed a new recruitment tool ― a Nursing at Sentara DVD that can be mailed to applicants or accessed online as streaming video through Sentara’s website. Beckett is one of a number of nurses featured on the DVD.
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