As a potential or current nursing student, you’re well aware that the field of nursing is constantly evolving. Though you may experience many of these changes firsthand, imagine the changes you’d experience if you worked in the field for five decades.
Gail Stroud, a nurse at Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC), is the medical center’s first Silver Anniversary employee. She was honored not only for 50 years of dedicated service, but for the quality and consistency of service she has provided over time.
Born and raised in Lawrenceville, she began her nursing career as a nursing assistant at Button Gwinnett Hospital. She began her nursing career after searching for a summer job in 1963 – something to hold her over before heading to Emory in the fall. She was going to study law.
Though the 68-year-old woman is of retirement age, she has no plans to retire. Her passion continues and she enjoys the direction the hospital has gone. “I’m still there because it’s a community hospital that hasn’t stayed stagnant,” Stroud says. “It continues to grow, improve and stay up with what is happening in the medical field.”
Growth and improvement are important in the medical field; especially in the field of nursing. Change must be embraced and one must truly love the work they do. “It’s said if you learn to do something you love you’ll never work a day in your life and that is so true,” says Stroud. “I never dread getting up and going to work. I love the work I do.”