Living ‘legend’ won’t be retiring soon
Betty Jenkins, 80, is a mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother who doesn’t believe in retirement.
The registered general obstetric nurse works on short-term contracts as a casual and relief review co-ordinator for home care organisations, and volunteers in Cambodia in her spare time. She has been nursing for 58 years.
Jenkins trained as a nurse and midwife, delivering babies for 23 years before becoming divisional nurse manager of obstetrics at National Women’s Hospital.
She was headhunted to set up home care organisations, and spent 20 years on the job. Home care organisations continue to contract her — and as long as the work keeps coming, she plans to keep going.
Jenkins credits her personal spiritual beliefs for keeping her working.
“I never could find the word retirement in the Bible,” she said.
“I think we’ve become programmed to think retirement is on a certain date . . . but we’re living more healthily and for longer. Some people can’t keep working, but as long as you can I think one should do so.”
Jenkins also volunteers as a faith community nurse at her West Auckland church, promoting “individual and community health and wellbeing” through counselling, health checks and referrals.
She lives by the mantra of “use it or lose it”.
“Quite often I’ve seen with elderly clients that if they stop work, the first two to three months aren’t bad, but one day they wake up and what have they got? The problem is you have a job because you need money — but we have work because we need a purpose.”
In 1992, Jenkins went to Cambodia to volunteer with a nonprofit group called Asian Outreach which was taking a mobile clinic along the Mekong River.
She has been back almost every year for at least three weeks, involved in community development, clean water and sanitation, and helping school kids get an education. Last year she went to Cambodia three times; another trip is planned in October.
“But I told my family — please tell me if you think I’m losing it. I don’t want to be a nurse that’s a burden on anybody else.”
Ian Yost of VisionWest Baptist Homecare has worked with Jenkins for a decade. He said colleagues describe Jenkins as “a legend” — although she denies that. “I think you don’t become a legend until after you die. However I think what gives me some satisfaction is, if I’ve touched a life in some way that has benefited them, and enabled them to develop their potential, then that’s a job well done.”