Our Nurses of the Week are the three generations of Harms women who have all worked as obstetrics nurses. Christina Harms is a labor and delivery nurse at Spectrum Health Medical Center in Grand Rapids, MI where her mother, Sue Hoekstra, 56, works on the same floor. Christina’s grandmother, Mary Lou Wilkins, 86, was also a nurse at the same hospital. The three women estimate that they’ve helped care for over 10,000 babies over the course of their careers.
“It is so incredible that all three of us have helped build so many families and we have such a passion for these moms and their babies. We love taking care of them.”
Harms fondly tells People.com, “It just goes from generation to generation.” As the mother of two little boys, Harms didn’t always plan on following in her family’s footsteps. She went to college for a music degree but later realized that she had the same passion as her mother and grandmother. She decided to go back to school to become a nurse and has been working in obstetrics for the past four years.
After working night shifts in the labor and delivery unit, Harms often passes off patients to her mom who works day shifts in postpartum. Wilkins, who retired in 1991, says she also shared several patients with Hoekstra over the years. Now Wilkins watches her grandchildren during the day when Harms gets home from working night shifts.
Wilkins knows what it’s like to be a mother and nurse after juggling raising three kids while she worked night shifts at the hospital early on in her career. She became a nurse in 1962 and spent 28 years helping moms deliver their babies. She still remembers how special each individual case was.
All three of these women share in the knowledge of knowing how special it is they all fell in love with the same career path, caring for mothers and babies. When Hoekstra and Wilkins flew to Colorado for Harms’ graduation, they both said they couldn’t have been prouder. Harms shares in the pride, telling ABCNews.com, “It is so incredible that all three of us have helped build so many families and we have such a passion for these moms and their babies. We love taking care of them.”
- Nationwide Shortage of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Prompts Alternative Solutions from States - March 30, 2020
- Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship Program Established to Enhance Development of Senior Nurse Executives - March 27, 2020
- Nurse of the Week: UW-Madison Nursing Student Marcela Hanson Crowdsources Childcare Help For Local Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic - March 25, 2020