When Luanne Miller, LPN, looks back on a nursing career that spanned half a century, candy striping, paper charting and lunch for a quarter come to mind, but it is the time she spent with patients and her fellow healthcare workers that is most memorable.
Luanne began her love with nursing at the age of 14. “Sister Paulette had candy striper classes, so I wrote a letter to her and asked if I could become a candy striper. Back then, candy stripers could feed patients, give water, change linens and sit with patients.”
At the age of 15, Luanne applied for a work permit and began as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the Columbus Hospital (now Prairie Ridge Health) in July 1972 at $1.90 an hour. “I wanted to be a nurse since I was 5years old. My family rented a farm from one of the first nursing school graduates of UW Madison (Elba Fadness). She would sit out on the front porch and talk to me about being a nurse. I thought it was fascinating.”
In 1974, Luanne graduated high school. At that time, Madison Area Technical College (MATC) offered a lottery to attend nursing school because there were only a limited number of spots available. While she was waiting, she worked in the physical therapy department in the mornings and in the medical records department in the afternoon.
“At that time, we could eat lunch for a quarter at the hospital. Soup was 15 cents and ice cream was 10 cents.”
Luanne won the MATC lottery in 1975 and graduated from theLicensed Practical Nurse program. In August 1976, she started her career as an LPN. In the early 1980s, Luanne worked part-time at the hospital and was also employed part-time as a nurse at other facilities, including the Columbia County Healthcare Center and Oscar Mayer.
During her 50 years at Prairie Ridge Health in Columbus, Luanne used her skills throughout various departments including the medical/surgical floor, the emergency department, Physicians Plus Clinic with Charles Hansell, MD; UW Health Clinic with Nazi Khan, MD; and the Prairie Ridge Health Clinic inMarshall.
The changes she has seen during that time have been many, including private rooms for patients, the ability to bring medical equipment(such as ultrasound) to patient rooms, and the introduction of the electronic medical record.
But what she cherishes most are the relationships she built with the team, the knowledge that was shared by the medical providers to make it better, and the patients she cared for over the years.
“I can’t say enough about the people I’ve worked with over the years. We were such a close-knit group. I’m so glad I could work in a small hospital where you know your patients. I liked the patient contact. I enjoyed listening to their stories and making them comfortable.”
Because of her positive experience, Luanne encourages others to seek out a career in nursing.“It’s a wonderful field to be in to help people. The pandemic has put a damper on everything, but there is still so much variety with being a nurse. You can work at a hospital, a clinic, home health, the Red Cross, just so many opportunities.You are never going to be stuck in one place.”
