“In my family, it was understood that everyone went to college. Since I had always been the sort of person who wanted to help others, it only made sense that I should enter the field of nursing.” Thus began the career of Mildred Atkinson as one of the country’s first BSN’s — a registered nurse with a bachelor of science degree in nursing, which took five years to earn.

Now, at the age of 96 and a resident of Magnolia Manor of St. Simons, Atkinson fondly recalls her career in the field that has changed so dramatically over the years.

“There were a number of schools of nursing, “explained Atkinson, “but only three were recognized as being accredited. My oldest brother was a teacher in Ohio and a member of his faculty had a relative who had chartered a nursing school in New York. I contacted the school and explained that I had no money, but I did have good grades and an earnest desire to be a nurse. I was told there was a program available where I could purchase an insurance policy to cover the cost of the education and then pay the amount back upon graduation. So I left Indianapolis and headed to Cambridge, N.Y., to attend the Mary McClelland School of Nursing, affiliated with Skidmore College.”

Atkinson explained that the school affiliated with other health care organizations to provide for a comprehensive education: the Yale School of Medicine offered programs in Pediatrics and Communicable Disease; Butler Hospital of Rhode Island provided the curriculum for psychiatry; and the East Harlem Health Center in New York City gave the initial nursing class a comprehensive view of the field of public health. It was here Atkinson found her niche.

“I worked in lower Harlem where apartments had a different family in every room,” she explained. “Living conditions were very primitive.”

It was not uncommon to have a mom and dad in one double bed and children in another double bed in the same room. She recalled one incident when a third child’s birth was imminent, the other children were excited not only about the arrival of a new sibling, but also the part they played in gathering needed supplies for a home delivery, such as newspapers and clean cloths. When asked if she ever felt threatened or frightened in the area in which she worked, she smiled and shook her head adding, “Even the bums at the doorways to the tenement buildings respected us because we were in uniform, carrying a bag, and they knew we were there to help others.”

There were seven nursing students in this initial class who lived in the hospital during their educational program, worked in the hospital the summer between their freshmen and sophomore years, and then full time after the sophomore year. Atkinson doesn’t recall any specific rules and regulations even regarding curfew because, as she laughed, “There wasn’t anywhere to go or anything to do! We were, however, always highly regarded,” she recalled. She stated it was always easy to distinguish the undergraduate BSN’s from the diploma nurses because “We had to wear black stockings until we actually graduated!”

One regulation, however, was set in stone — students were not allowed to be married and attend school at the same time.

“So, six weeks before we graduated, our seven became six! I never did understand why she didn’t wait for just six more weeks,” Atkinson commented.

“In the hospital there were only two physicians who did everything,” she recalled, “and if they were in the middle of a surgical procedure and a woman in labor came in, one of them left to deliver. That left one of us nurses as a first assistant in the OR. We learned so much that way.”

Upon graduation, Atkinson did post graduate work in public health and although she also spent part of her career in school nursing, public health was where she was most fulfilled.

“I enjoyed the teaching aspect. If you work in acute care, you get to know the patient and then he/she leaves and you never know what happens. In public health,” she explained, “you can follow an individual through various stages of his/her life providing care and education needed to care for the entire family. I have no regrets,” she added emphatically.

She recalled one family who had been referred to her from the hospital after the newest member of the family was born. The mother and her newborn had been home for approximately four days and Atkinson was visiting and noticed the baby had not been bathed. When she inquired as to whether or not she had been given instruction by the nurses at the hospital on how to bathe the baby, the new mother replied, “Yes, but we don’t have a marble slab” as that was how she had been instructed in the hospital. Consequently, this young nurse learned early the importance of assuring that the client clearly understood the information being presented.

When asked to what she attributes her longevity, Atkinson smiled and simply stated, “I guess it has to be good genes — my Mom lived to be 100 and her dad was 104 — and all things in moderation.”