When Donna Pugh Grabarczyk attended UC College of Nursing in the 50s, the students wore uniforms that included a dress, apron, cap and 1.5-inch heels. Now 82, Donna has been retired for years, but she looks back fondly on her days in nursing school and her 20-year career as a nurse.
Memories of UC
Because of the demands of nursing school, Donna says most students did not participate in extracurricular activities or sports. She served on the student council and some of her classmates joined sororities, but classroom and clinical requirements came first.
“It was like finishing school,” Donna says.
Students were required to stay in the dormitory each night and abide by a curfew. The building offered only two telephones and one shower with a tub. Men were permitted only on the first floor.
Despite the strict learning environment, Donna and her friends managed to have fun. They attended barbecues in the summertime, got ice cream at a nearby pharmacy and saw movies for 50 cents at a theater on Reading Road.
She recalls one year she almost dropped out of nursing school altogether, however. She was working night shift on a gynecology floor and had to help a woman who began to hemorrhage. The next morning, she was openly scolded by a head nurse for not cleaning a treatment cart.
“I thought I was the worst nurse in the school and I may as well get out now,” Donna says. Fortunately, one of her instructors convinced her not to give up. The next day, Donna went back to the hospital and the head nurse apologized.
Nursing Career & Beyond
After Donna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1957, she moved with her husband to New Jersey where she worked until she became pregnant with her first child. For a while, she worked as a nurse for wealthy families who could afford to hire her until she took a job as a clinical coordinator for the VA Hospital in Lyons, N.J. Later, Donna became one of the first in the nation to become certified in health care quality assurance and worked as a QA coordinator for the hospital.
Now that she’s retired, Donna enjoys traveling and volunteering. She belongs to several community organizations and is an active member of her church. In addition, she exercises daily and participates in a book club. She currently lives in Roanoke, Va.
Advice to Nursing Students
Keep plugging – no matter how tough things get!
This interview was conducted by a nursing student as part of the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing's Alumni Discovery Project.
Credits:
Donna Grabarczyk, UC College of Nursing