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Marge Greenisen ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Marge Greenisen graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. As a nurse and early technology adopter, she found herself a pioneer of integrating computers and health care. Now retired, Marge lives on her husband's family's 100-year-old farm in Salem, Ohio.

Memories of UC College of Nursing

Marge remembers the uniforms. Caps were mandatory – “We called them ‘Flying Dutchman hats,’” she says. The caps would get caught on curtains in patient areas and pull your hair.

The uniforms were stiff as a board and put together with “studs,” Marge explains. An apron wrapped around the uniform, and when nurses sat down, they were told to fold the apron on their laps to keep them unwrinkled and nice-looking. “What an old-fashioned idea,” she says.

While in college, Marge worked at Holmes Hospital and Cincinnati General Hospital, both of which are now part of UC Medical Center. At CGH, wards were large, with about 20 beds in the main room. The sickest patients were kept in the front of the room and moved to the back when they improved, which required moving a lot of furniture.

Credit: greenisenfarm.com

A Career in Health + Technology

When Marge graduated in 1967, she accepted a job as an instructor at a local LPN school to replace a woman who took summers off. When the woman returned, Marge found a job as head nurse in a newborn ward, but after she had her first child, she became a stay-at-home mother until both of her children entered elementary school.

Marge went back to working as a nurse for a while, but took a break to start her own company that installed computers in schools and offices. When she again found nursing, she combined her health and technology experience. As the city nurse for the City of Salem, Ohio, she convinced city administrators to move to electronic immunization records.

She continued to work as a nurse in several other organizations, bringing technology wherever she went, until finally she chose to work for a software company, from where retired in 2011. Marge still provides consulting services, occasionally, and volunteers at her local library. Still in Salem, Ohio, she lives with her husband on his family’s farm, officially recognized by the state’s Department of Agriculture as a Century Farm, because it has been owned continuously by her husband's family for 100 years.

Her Best Advice to Nursing Students

Keep your options open. You can do a lot of things with your nursing degree. There are lots of opportunities. See what is of interest to you and do it!

Alumna Marge Greenisen was interviewed by a UC College of Nursing student as part of the Alumni Discovery Project.

Created By
University of Cincinnati College of Nursing
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Credits:

University of Cincinnati College of Nursing, greenisenfarm.com

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