Nancy Ladd has been a nurse for more than 50 years.
In that time, she’s experienced the joy of medical advances including vaccines that have largely eradicated diseases such as rubella and mumps, the development of synthetic insulin for people with diabetes and the first human liver and heart transplants. She’s also experienced the challenges of the AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.
But for Nancy, her role and her dedication to those she cares for, hasn’t changed.
“In terms of patient care, nothing has really changed except the technology,” she says.
Nancy is a charge nurse at Atrium Health Jesse Helms Nursing Center, which provides both short term rehabilitation and long-term care. It was named one of the Best Nursing Homes by U.S. News and World Report.
“I love everything about being a nurse,” Nancy says. “The feeling of purpose when I walk through the door and when I leave that same door at the end of my shift. I know I’m making a difference in people’s lives and they’re making a difference in mine.”
She even tried to retire once, but it didn’t stick.
Nancy contacted Katie Fitzpatrick, associate director of the NC AHEC RN Refresher Program in Charlotte. A division of Atrium Health, the program is designed for registered nurses who want to reinstate an inactive license or upgrade their knowledge and skills.
“The day Nancy walked into the Charlotte AHEC office to enroll in the RN Refresher Program, she described how nursing was a part of her identity,” Katie recalls. “Nancy told us, ‘I dream about nursing,’ and that she was determined to do what was needed to get back to patient care. I remember thinking at the time that she embodied the compassion and experience I would want in a nurse caring for my family. It's an honor that the NC AHEC RN Refresher Program can help provide an avenue for nurses like Nancy to return to the workforce safely.”
The program is self-paced with online modules and features a hands-on clinical portion of the program which brought Nancy up-to-speed on current procedures and equipment. When she finished the program, she was ready to get back to work.
“I came back as soon as I could because I decided that I still have much more to offer the health care community,” she says. “Being a nurse is part of who I am as a person.”
Nancy began her nursing career in upstate New York in the 1960s as a certified nursing assistant and worked to become a registered nurse, following in the footsteps of her aunt.
“She would be dressed in all white from head to toe, with a wide brimmed white hat, white dress, stockings and shoes,” Nancy recalls vividly. “She wore a dark blue cape when she entered and left the hospital. Everyone called her, ‘Mrs. Chandler.’ That was the proper way to address an RN in those days.”
Nancy visited her aunt at work where it was more than the uniform that left an impression.
“It was her devotion to her craft that led me to my journey here,” she says. “She was the epitome of what a nurse should be. She told me, ‘Never take shortcuts when delivering patient care.’ Those words have driven me for my entire career.”
While working as a registered nurse, Nancy’s ultimate goal was an advanced nursing degree. She was accepted into the nursing program at Syracuse University and began work on her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. She completed more than 100 credit hours as a working mom before making a decision that, while difficult, was perhaps easier than it seemed. She withdrew from the nursing program.
“We had seven children – with three in college at the time,” she recalls. “My responsibilities as a mom took priority over my own hopes and dreams at that point. But it’s a decision that I do not regret.”
Nancy moved with her family to Charlotte and started working for Atrium Health in 1992. She never looked back.
In 2023, she was honored with a DAISY Award, which recognizes nurses who are extraordinary in the impact they have on compassionate patient care.
"Nancy connects personally with each resident, remembering their preferences, making certain they are happy and treating them with respect,” says Paula Jarek, director of nursing at Atrium Health Jesse Helms Nursing Center. “How she touches the lives of the residents and families she serves is what makes Nancy an asset to the nursing profession and a true servant nurse leader.”
Nancy loves spending time with her seven children, 17 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and lavishing them with gifts – especially for the hugs that come after! But being a nurse is what truly drives her.
“I have learned that the nursing profession is one of the most meaningful of any other profession on this earth,” she says.
She loves and admires her fellow nurses and the incredible workplace environment they’ve created.
“Nurses are what I call God’s angels on earth,” Nancy says. “Every day nurses work tirelessly to help the physical and emotional well-being of their patients. I admire my fellow nurses and I am proud to be one.”
