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BILLIE DAVIS: NEWNAN HOSPITAL
Billie Davis, RN, BSN, M.Ed., chose nursing in the 1960s, when women were more limited in their career choices.
"I didn't think I wanted to be a teacher then because I'd just gotten out of high school, and being a secretary didn't suit me -- I don't sit still too well," she said.
"Somehow I made it through the diploma program, and I've been nursing ever since."
Since her first job on a surgical floor at Hall County Hospital in Gainesville, Davis has worked in intensive care, coronary critical care, the emergency room, the recovery room, in a long-term health care setting and for a home health agency. She has also taught in a college's licensed practical nurse program and still provides clinical training to nursing students.
Davis, 62, knows that what's taught in nursing school isn't all that's needed once nurses enter the real world of health care.
"When I graduated, there were a lot of older, seasoned nurses -- and doctors, too -- who would take you under their wing and teach you because they knew nursing was a team effort," Davis said. "New technologies are saving time, money and lives, but many older nurses are retiring and aren't there to teach the new graduates." As someone who educates patients and staff at Newnan Hospital, Davis is helping to fill that gap.
"In the hectic and bustling age of technology, the science of nursing too often overshadows the art of the profession," said Tara Cassidy, RN, BSN, MPH, who nominated Davis. "White caps, starched uniforms, unrivaled work ethic and unrelenting devotion to patient care and patient advocacy are almost an ideal of the past."
That ideal is alive and well with Davis, who believes that it takes "humility, caring and knowledge to be a nurse."
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Despite rheumatoid arthritis, "Billie's unending vigor and passionate devotion to her patients and her fellow nurses have served to inspire me once again in my chosen profession," Cassidy said.
Eligible for retirement but "not ready yet," Davis has inspired younger nurses with her sure-fire cure for burnout. Whenever she felt herself growing stale and the job becoming boring, she figured she needed to grow.
"It's scary, but when you take yourself out of your comfort zone and advance a little, things get exciting, and you become a great nurse again," she said. "That's advice I have lived. I never quit growing in my nursing career, and I've loved all of it."
-- Laura Raines
Nominated By: Tara Cassidy
Billie Davis is all that nursing has ever stood for and all a nurse should be. I have had the privilege to work with her for the past 2 year's.
Billie's unending vigor and passionate devotion her patients and her fellow nurses has served to inspire me once again in my chosen profession.
Billie has been a nurse since the 1950's. While very young, she battled a life-threatening bout with cancer, the effects of which have plagued her all her life.
Still she has worked in the hospital and other nurse settings unceasingly, and was recognized early in her career as a leader.
She fought her illnesses and raised a child before returning to school to earn her Master's degree.
She has worked in every department of the hospital, in home health care, and in the education of other nurses. She is currently eligible for retirement and should be retired.
Still she works on, seeming unable to leave that calling that has defined her life.
In submitting this nomination, I not only honor Billie Davis, but all of her generation who leave me, my peers and this glorious profession with a legacy of honor, one I am most proud to continue.
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