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Nursing, parenting – a family tradition: Family first for these mothers
05/14/07
By Mike Gellatly, Rome News-Tribune staff writer
Mother and daughter Debbie Rittenhouse (left) and Charity Flemister are both nurses, although Rittenhouse completed her nursing degree after her daughter did. By Ryan Smith, Rome News-Tribune Being a mother first and leaving everything else for second is becoming a tradition for one Rome family.
Today marks Mother’s Day and ends National Nurses Week. This, for one family, is an extra-special day for their tradition of doing both.
Debbie Rittenhouse and Charity Flemister are mother and daughter, but they share more than blood — both nurses understand that caring for their own family is the most important career move they could make, did make and are making.
Since the age of 9, both wanted to nurse, both eventually graduated from Coosa Valley Technical College’s nursing program, and both gave up their dream of helping others to look after their own.
“She put everything for her on the backburner,” said Flemister of her mother. “And then, finally, she got to do stuff for herself and became No. 1.”
Rittenhouse gave up her dream for so long that it was not until she was 50 that she graduated from nursing school. She had been a certified nursing assistant for two decades, but a commitment to her family meant she never made it back to finish her education. In fact, her daughter became a nurse before she did.
“I kept telling myself, you’re too old to go back to school,” Rittenhouse said.
So what changed the mother’s mind?
“I picked and moaned, and groaned,” Flemister joked. “All of the family said ‘OK Mom, we’re all grown. We have our own kids. It’s time for you to go do something for Debbie.’”
Rittenhouse nodded and smiled while talking about her family’s prodding to do this for herself, but the real reason for her return comes from a mother’s desire to protect her family — and others.
“When she (Charity) was pregnant with my first grandson, she was a very sick little girl,” she said. “We almost lost her. The people at the hospital were so good to my family and brought my grandbaby back to life, and saved my child.”
Then and there, Rittenhouse said to herself, “this is a way to pay people back.”
Now as a nurse, she understands more than ever that a nurse is the primary contact and heals not only the patient but the family, too.
Rittenhouse, who went to CVTC and graduated in October 2006, now works at Redmond Regional Medical Center.
Flemister had a son at 16, and left high school, but she decided it would not keep her down. She now says she always knew she would be a nurse.
“I love taking care of people. I have three older brothers, and if they would let me, I would be the mother growing up,” she said.
Flemister was an obstetrics nurse before she took a break to be a full-time mother.
“Right now, I need to be with my kids, looking after my family,” she said.
As a teen mother herself, there’s a special connection between Flemister and younger patients.
“I could empathize with them. I’d tell them that this wasn’t going to be an easy road, but it’s not impossible,” she said. “Those were some of the most rewarding moments of my career.”
The work of America’s 2.9 million registered nurses to save lives and aid in maintaining the health of millions of individuals is the focus of this year’s National Nurses Week, celebrated annually May 6-12 throughout the U.S.
Every year, National Nurses Week begins May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession.
Traditionally, National Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses, the largest health care profession, work to improve health care. From bedside nursing in hospitals and long-term care facilities to the halls of research institutions, state legislatures, and Congress, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs of American society.
See full story at Rome News Tribune's Web site
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