Resident's dream revived - after 50 years

Instead she found a job as close to the nursing field as she could, and worked as a medical secretary for 13 years. After that, she devoted her time to raising her family.

Fast forward 50 years. Betty and her husband Doug have been living at Pleasant Meadow Manor in Norwood for two years. The staff-members at the home decide to start the Pleasant Meadow Wishing Well, a project aimed at helping residents realize their dreams and wishes.

"One of the girls asked me if there wasn't something I had always wished for," Betty explains. "So I told her that 50 years ago I wanted to be a nurse."

The staff-members decided to help Betty make that dream come true, at least for a day.

On Monday, January 13, Betty, dressed in a pale-green uniform, a stethoscope draped around her neck and an old-fashioned nursing cap pinned to her curls, worked the three to seven shift at the long-term care home.

She accompanied Jessica Clark, registered practical nurse (RPN), on her rounds, helping with the dressings, drawing up insulin and filling in paperwork.

When the OMNIway caught up with her, Betty was just helping Jessica bandage a resident's arm. She seemed nonchalant about it all, as if it were something she did regularly.

One of the residents wheeled by as they were working. "Hello, nursie," she said with a grin.

Betty pretended not to notice, appearing absorbed in her work, although a faint smile appeared.

Another staff-person approached her. "So, Betty, where are my pills? I need my pills now."

Betty turned to her with a grin. "I told you," she said, "I don't do the pills."

It may have been only for an afternoon, and only in some token measure, but Betty finally had the chance to fulfill her childhood dream.

Jessica, the RPN working with her, says she loves seeing people's wishes granted. "That's why I got into this line of work," she says, "to help everyone's dreams come true."