Doernbecher Children's Hospital's oldest and longest-serving nurse retired Aug. 3 after 43 years with the organization, The Oregonian reported.
Bancy Gatimu, 69, worked as a pediatric acute care registered nurse at the Portland, Ore.-based hospital, which is part of Oregon Health & Science University, also in Portland.
She said her interest in nursing came after she developed malaria as a child growing up in Kenya.
"Two nurses there were so kind to me," she told The Oregonian. "They did everything for me. I just loved them. Because of them I dreamed of being a nurse."
Ms. Gatimu completed her nursing education in Kenya before moving to Portland with her late husband in 1978. Shortly after the move, she started working at Doernbecher Children's, kicking off a more than four-decade career at the hospital. In that time, Ms. Gatimu has cared for patients from their childhood to adulthood and even the children of previous patients.
"When you love your job, it is not a job," she told The Oregonian.
Read the full article here.