Nursing has been both a career and a passion for Karen Szabo, who was a nurse in Merritt for 42 years, only just deciding to retire and not renew her licence in February of this year.

However, nursing, and the care and compassion that the job requires, are still in Szabo’s blood. When I called to interview her for the Herald’s Nurses Week feature, she was baking a batch of muffins for the nurses at the Merritt Hospital.

Szabo spent most of her life in Merritt, even before her nursing career.

“I grew up in Merritt actually, I moved here when I was five,” Szabo said.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes in nursing as well, a lot of changes and lots of renovations at the hospital. I’ve seen the hospital downsized from 45 beds to what it is now, which has been quite a change. We used to do a lot of different surgeries and procedures up there that we are no longer doing. But it’s been a fabulous career, I’m quite surprised I was here in Merritt the whole time, myself. I even experienced the old hospital that was down by, I think Priest Ave. I had my tonsils out there when I was five years old.”

Szabo always knew that she was meant to be a nurse, and hadn’t considered any other career alternatives when she packed up and left the Interior for a nursing school in Victoria.

“It sounds ridiculous but as a little girl I always wanted to help people, and I always knew I was going to be a nurse and I just followed that dream as a young kid,” said Szabo.

“I went to Victoria, the Jubilee school of nursing back then, there were no universities at that point, we were all being trained in hospital. That was in 1975 when I started, it was a three-year program.”

After graduating from the nursing program, Szabo returned to Merritt, where she would spend more than 40 years working in many areas of the hospital, including maternity, which was one of her favourite positions.

“I guess working in maternity, with the birth of babies was probably my favourite area to work in,” Szabo said.

“And it was really quite exciting to work in the new emergency, I wanted to hang in there until that was open and I did, I worked in it for about a year so that was very exciting, too.”

Another moment Szabo highlights as one of the high points of her nursing career was being asked to work as the nurse manager, which she did for two years.

Szabo’s advice to new and prospective nurses is that although the work is difficult, it’s a career worth pursuing.

“It’s a tough job, it requires a lot of long hours,” Szabo warned.

“Night shifts and weekend work of course is tough. Sometimes your family life suffers, but all in all it’s a great career, it’s very rewarding. The feedback you get from your patients and helping your patients and your fellow co-workers, working together is just amazing. It’s a career that promotes friendships and camaraderie and it’s pretty special, for sure. Work hard, enjoy your days off, enjoy your moments in the hospital, keep yourself educated and expect a fabulous career.”

Szabo also stressed the importance of self care, especially now with a hospital being such a busy place, and a pandemic pushing nurses and other frontline workers to the limit.

“It’s really important to also look after yourself,” Szabo said.

“You know, hiking – I love the outdoors – biking, just doing things for yourself and your family, trying to keep yourself healthy is very important, emotionally and physically of course.”

Although Szabo has now stepped back from nursing after a lengthy and much enjoyed career, she isn’t quite ready to give up helping others just yet. When courses resume after the Covid-19 pandemic, Szabo plans to take the training required to become a volunteer for palliative care.

“I find that part of nursing to be a privilege, actually,” Szabo explained.

“To help people out when they’re in that situation and they’re moving on. I always enjoyed that part of nursing, being able to help the families and support them. That’s an area I would like to do more of.”

After spending more than four decades helping people and working in a constantly changing and evolving field with many ups and downs, good days and bad, Szabo said she wouldn’t have changed her career for anything.

“Nursing today is still a fabulous career, if I had to do it all over again, I certainly would.”