Moms on a mission
Trio of women keeps WCMC in the family
Joyce Taylor and her daughters Trudy Weatherley and Tammy Robertson are obviously close. They laughed and joked together, and as they sat reminiscing at White County Medical Center in Searcy, they even finished each other’s sentences and stories.
Aside from being a tightknit family, they share an educational and professional bond as well.
All three are health care workers and graduates of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and all work at WCMC.
“I feel like this is where the Lord wants me to be,” Taylor said.
She has been a registered nurse for 14 years and works in the operating room.
“My family really supported me. I’d get discouraged and want to give up, but when I was down, these two would help, and vice versa.”
JOYCE TAYLOR on going back to school for her nursing degree
“My mission is helping people,” Taylor said. “This weekend, we had a young lady whose leg had to be taken off. She said, ‘Please put my leg back on.’ We had to explain to her that we could not reattach the leg, that it was gangrenous. We run into that all the time. We get patients who are scared, or who are alone, or who are dying. I work with both the patients and their families, who are also going through a lot.”
Weatherley, a medical stenographer in the radiology department, was the first to join the hospital more than 14 years ago. She encouraged her mother to apply for a nursing position in the operating room. Taylor has also been with WCMC for 14 years.
Robertson, a respiratory therapist, went to work for the hospital nine years after her older sister and mother joined the staff. Robertson now works part time in the cardiopulmonary department and teaches at the Uams-arkansas Health Education Center-batesville campus.
Weatherley said she wanted to be an X-ray technician from an early age.
“I got an ankle injury one time when I was little, and when I went to get my X-ray, I thought it was something I could do,” she said.
She originally worked taking X-rays, then pursued professional certification as a registered diagnostic medical stenographer.
“I decided ultrasound was more my speed,” Weatherley said.
At WCMC, she not only performs ultrasounds on patients but is responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of the equipment.
Taylor graduated from UCA in 1995 with a degree in nursing. Weatherley graduated from UCA the following year, having studied radiography at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center.
“I took a couple of years of college, but I had Trudy, and it was way too much,” Taylor said. “I quit for a while and then went back while the girls were in high school.”
“It was tough on everybody,” she said of going back to get her nursing degree. “My family really supported me. I’d get discouraged and want to give up, but when I was down, these two would help, and vice versa.”
She said the program was both challenging and stressful.
“One hundred and seventyfive entered the program,” Taylor said, “and 42 graduated.”
For almost two years, Taylor commuted from her home in Bradford to Conway. When Weatherley began attending UCA, she and her mother lived together in a mobile home on an acre of rented ground. The family eventually bought the property, and Robertson also lived in the mobile home when she became a UCA student.
“I remember Mom would be so tired, her alarm clock would go off and I’d have to wake her up,” Weatherley said.
“One winter, the car wouldn’t start, and I had to be in clinicals in 45 minutes,” Taylor said.
“I nearly froze to death trying to start the car and keep it running for her,” Weatherley said, laughing.
Studying radiology was no easy task for Weatherley.
“I’d get about four hours [of sleep] a night while I was in Xray school,” she said.
“I studied all the time,” Taylor said. “We had one class together. Trudy could look at [the material] for 15 minutes and get an A. I’d look at it for an hour and get a B.”
Teamwork helped lessen the burden.
“We ironed each other’s uniforms, cooked each other’s meals,” Weatherley said. “We didn’t have a lot of playtime, but we still had fun.”
“We got sick of pizza,” Taylor said, laughing. “Pizza and Lucky Charms!”
Robertson said she “had the advantage” of hearing about her mother’s and sister’s challenges.
“I knew I wanted to help people,” she said, “but I knew that nursing and radiology were not my cup of tea.”
“I told her there were a lot of things she could do [in health care]; she didn’t have to be a nurse,” Taylor said.
“When Trudy graduated from [the University of Central Arkansas], I was just starting UCA,” Robertson said. She received her bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2001, and worked there for five years before joining WCMC. Today, as a clinical instructor, she brings her own students to White County Medical Center for hands-on training in the cardiopulmonary department.
“I feel like God has put me where I need to be,” Weatherley said. “I deal with a lot of pregnancies in the ultrasound field, and we also deal with problems in the ER. We deal with cancer. It’s stressful, and you take it home with you. It affects everything.”
Robertson said that in her instructional role, she relays to her students that health care is a high-stress field.
“I couldn’t do what I do without God,” she said.
“I taught these girls to be compassionate,” Taylor said, “and they have always been such a blessing. They are kind. I’ve had so many people tell me how sweet they are.”
“We’ve heard the same thing about you,” Robertson told Taylor.
“I’m always hearing what a sweet and comforting nurse you are.”
All three agreed that showing compassion for those in need is the most important element of their work.
“My patients keep me coming back,” Weatherley said. “My passion is for the relationships with the patients. They are looking for the familiar face. It’s like we’re their family.”
Taylor said she does not always deal with compassionate family members.
“I had an elderly patient two weeks ago whose daughter gave permission for his surgery over the phone. She didn’t come to see him,” she said. “You have to care for people. I’ve prayed for a lot of patients. They are going through something traumatic, and sometimes they’re all alone.”
Robertson said she feels rewarded seeing patients “go from sick to better, thanks to the intervention of respiratory therapy.” She agreed that compassion is key. “It’s the little things you do that patients appreciate most — getting a glass of water or a blanket for them. It’s not always the big things.”
If there is a downside to the women’s work, it’s the time that all three must spend away from their families.
“We’ve all missed our share of family time,” Robertson said. “We always say we have Thanksgiving or Christmas when we want to.”
“You compromise,” Weatherley said. “You just make it a different day. I was two weeks into January before I got to have Christmas this year. It was kind of nice; there wasn’t as much pressure!”
“The upside,” Taylor said, “is that you’re helping someone else.”
Staff writer Daniel A. Marsh can be reached at (501) 399-3688 or dmarsh@arkansasonline.com.