Local Nurses Pause Retirement to Help End Pandemic

Just because nurses retire, it doesn’t mean they stop caring. In fact, the Pandemic has brought a small group of nurses out of retirement to lend a hand when it was needed most.

“There was a large group of nurses in Lee County who, with the Pandemic, wanted to help out,” explains Millennium Physician Group Practice Manager Amy Washinsky. “They still have active licenses, or even if they didn’t have them active, they were going to reactivate them just so they could come help. It has been a lifesaver for us.”

In addition to their regular workloads, Millennium Physician Group’s nurses – known as the COVID-19 Strike Team – have been administering COVID-19 tests and vaccines throughout the Pandemic. Inviting local retired nurses to join in the battle against COVID proved invaluable.

“By having this additional resource, it actually gave my nurses a little bit of a break,” admits Washinsky. “Because we were burning them out quickly.”

Retired nurse Sheila Snow-Martineau, RN, says she didn’t think twice about joining the effort. “I felt like I wanted to continue to be involved somehow. That was why I wanted to do it. And do my part, I guess.”

Retired nurse Dot Fous, RN, says it was an easy decision. “Although we’re retired doesn’t mean that you stop being a nurse, you’re still a nurse. And feeling like we’re part of the community and we’re doing our part.”

The retired nurses admit they’re filling a need, but Snow-Martineau admits the work they’re doing benefits them in return. “When I go home, it’s like, I know it’s only one day that I come in for approximately five or six hours, but it fills my bucket and makes me