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| Nellie Johnstone |
She was employed by Dr. C. H. Peterson for a time, before her marriage to Carl Borgreen. After Carl's untimely death in 1959, Nell went back to work as a nurse, first at Park Place and then the Cascade County Convalescent Hospital.
I remember going to work with Grandma Nell and all the antics she would share with us. Her stories were hilarious and even though she griped about her job, I'm sure she secretly like the work because of the way she told the stories.
There was the man who hoarded sugar packets in his boots.
One day, as she walked past a patient's room she was hit with a bucket of water. The poor man thought he was back on the farm and cleaning stalls. Once she heard a woman's voice coming from the closet. When she opened the closet door the old lady shouted "I'm not done yet!" She thought she was in confession. But another resident had shut her in the closet because they were tired of listening to her talk.
One elderly lady needed something to do every day to keep her busy. Grandma Nell found a basket of hand towels and that lady folded towels happily. When she got near the bottom of the basket, Grandma would "accidentally" knock the pile over and the lady would gladly start folding again. There are too many stories to share on one small blog. Grandma Nell was a colorful gal who brought fun and frivolity everywhere she went.
It sounds like she was a creative nurse with lots of interesting experiences. My mom became a nurse just 4 years later. It's interesting to notice the difference in Nell's cap and my mother's. I remember that each nursing program had their own design. Thanks for sharing.
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