CAN YOU IMAGINE BRUSHING RECTAL TUBES or sharpening reusable needles as part of your nursing duties? For veteran nurse Sandra Benko, RN, that was just another day on the job back in the 1960s! After an incredible six decades in the field, Sandra has witnessed some mind-blowing transformations in nursing practices, and she gave us all the juicy details like reusing Foley catheters and nursing students caring for an entire unit by themselves!

Nursing in the 1960s: A Glimpse into a Bygone Era

Sandra had always known she wanted to be a nurse. Even as a little girl, she dreamt of caring for others. She started nursing school at age 17, and by age 20, she graduated and started working. Nursing school was very different back then. Most programs were based in the hospitals, so students truly learned through hands-on experience.

“I started nursing school in 1959 at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and graduated in 1962. It was an excellent 3-year clinical program. There was about a month of classes and opportunities in the lab to practice patient care. By the second month, we were already in the hospital caring for patients. We lived at the residence, so that was a lot of fun. We rotated to all the different departments and also rotated for three months to a large psychiatric facility,” Sandra explained.

Her first job as a new grad nurse was as a charge nurse of a 50-bed psychiatric unit for depressed adult females. She made 25 cents more per hour to work as a psych nurse, giving her an hourly rate of $3.25, which she said was actually decent pay back then.

“Electric shock therapy was a regular treatment provided then. Patients who had lobotomies lived in a separate part of the building. They had flat affects, were so regressed and delayed, and had no skills to care for themselves. Nurses today could not even imagine what we saw and who we took care of back then in the psych facility. There weren't a lot of medications available, so most of the patients remained in a very psychotic state,” Sandra recalled.

Disposable supplies were not utilized when Sandra started nursing. “Syringes and needles had to be cleaned, and we rubbed the needles on a stone to sharpen them for reuse. Foley catheters were cleaned and reused. Rectal tubes had special brushes that you inserted into them, then we flushed them out and repackaged them to use again on another patient,” she said. What would JCAHO think of that?!

Diverse Nursing Opportunities Throughout the Years

Over the last 60-plus years, Sandra has enjoyed various nursing roles. That is, after all, one of the benefits of being a nurse — there are plenty of opportunities to change roles, specialties, and settings whenever you’d like!

Sandra worked for many years in psych and med-surg. She was also an obstetric supervisor and recalled how policies have changed over the years. “Fathers were not allowed in the delivery room, and that was a project I undertook. I brought childbirth education into the maternity units and promoted fathers and mothers being involved in the care of their babies.”

Sandra’s favorite nursing role was being a nurse recruiter. “I was able to travel all over the United States and went to Canada and Puerto Rico. I had a lot of fun doing recruitment.” She also worked as a hospice nurse, quality management supervisor, and educator.

Sandra mentioned how pediatrics was never her preferred specialty because it was too difficult to witness the illnesses and deaths of babies and children.

Still Going Strong

Sandra retired in 2017, but a nurse to the core, she just couldn’t stand being away from healthcare. She found the perfect supervisor per diem position near her home in Florida at a long-term care facility. And, at 82, Sandra still feels just as passionate about nursing as she did many years ago. “I still love nursing; it has been a wonderful career for me,” she said.

Sandra’s daughter Aimie followed in her mother’s footsteps and also became a nurse. She is now a Board-Certified Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. They attended the 2024 NurseCon at Sea cruise to Mexico and The Bahamas. Sandra became somewhat famous onboard for her inspiring nursing career, and she wowed Nurse Blake with her insider stories about brushing rectal tubes and reusing catheters!