St. Elizabeths Hospital opened in 1855 under the name of Government Hospital for the Insane. It was the first federally operated psychiatric hospital in the US. Although known for its controversial treatment of patients during the 1940’s and 50’s, there were those Nurses who worked there tirelessly. With little treatment options or notorious ones, many Nurses endured the trauma experienced by their psychiatric patients and displayed endless compassion for them. Those Nurses were grateful to be a part of the healing process.
It is healthy to take time to admire someone else. Someone that has achieved by their hard work and many accomplishments. It is important to recognize someone that has taken part in something greater than themselves to achieve their success.
Recently, when reading, we came across such a person. Centenarian Charlotte Olson was born in a blizzard in North Dakota in 1922. In 1941, she was recruited by St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC to join the Cadet Nursing Corps. There her life as a Nurse began. Anyone that knows the history of St. Elizabeths Hospital knows that this was never easy work. And being a Nursing student during WWII was not an easy life. Not everyone made it through the Nursing program as only 28 out of the 50 in Charlotte’s Nursing class successfully made it to graduation.
But Charlotte made it and she recollects Eleanor Roosevelt arriving in a car to speak at her graduation. After 40 years of dedication to the Nursing field at St. Elizabeths as an RN, Supervisor, and Associate Director of Nursing, Charlotte retired. As a Nurse, she lived through the days of insulin shock therapy and lobotomies. She now speaks to nursing students and shares that any treatment for psychiatric illness was sparse back in the day. She proudly states that, “We had our hearts, heads and hands and that is all we had.” At 100 years of age, when asked the secret to aging well, Charlotte said she, “worked hard, lived carefully and well and still does a bit of gadding around.”
November is Gratitude Month and, as the month slips away, we wanted to embrace it. Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness and improved health. Gratitude brings on more positive feelings and can help with dealing with adversity and building stronger relationships. We are grateful to those like Nurse Olson who have hung in there during hard times.
Gratitude is a gift. You just have to unwrap it to experience it. In the spirit of November and going forward, we hope you find your happy spot and are grateful for it and for those who are in it with you.
And according to Nurse Olson, a little gadding around doesn’t hurt either!
