BWH has a history of recruiting and keeping some of the most caring and skilled nurses in the medical profession. This is particularly evident in the smile, the voice and the story of Edella “Deli” Nieto, RN, 15C, who retired on Friday, October 13, after serving as a BWH nurse for 42 years.
Deli began her first day of work at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital on July 25, 1958. She was part of a team of women who had recently finished their nursing training in America, but who hailed from all over the world—including Holland, Denmark, south Ireland, India, and Deli’s own Philippines. It was the beginning of an exciting new life for Deli, but it was still a difficult transition to make.
“I came here from a small island in the Philippines, where we would hear a lot about America,” Deli reminisces. “I asked my parents if I could go, and they said no—they didn’t want to let me, their only child, go so far away. But I wanted to go to school, and when I told my father that, he let me go.”
Deli readily admits that things have changed a lot in the nursing profession since she first started work at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital 42 years ago, recalling the days when syringes were boiled and re-used rather than disposed of after one use. However, tending to patients’ and their families’ needs is one quality that remains unfalteringly important.
“You have to learn a lot about treating patients, but what you learn quickly grows on you,” Deli said. “You learn to work with them through their hardships. Sometimes the family becomes affected too—they often have hard decisions to make, and they become stressed, as does the patient. In addition, the doctor is not always around, but the nurse is always there. Sometimes the job is hard, but it’s worth it when you're able to help people who are under stress because of their sickness.”
“Before there was dialysis, before there were pacemakers, Deli was doing bedside nursing. In fact, she never left bedside nursing,” said Peggie Mogan, RN, MS, CEN, CCRN. “During the nurse recognition activities in May, Deli always gets multiple letters of nomination that mention her kindness to patients. She has courageously kept up with technology and social changes, as well as changes in medicine and in nursing; and has worked full-time throughout all of her years here. She is incredibly helpful to her peers, and we will miss her.”
Although she admits that she feels a little overwhelmed, Deli is still very excited about what her much-deserved retirement will bring for her. However, she adds, she will miss BWH and her fellow nurses. “Before I met my husband and had my kids, I was at BWH—for so long, it has been first and foremost in my life. The people here are very nice. I stayed this long because they have been so good to me.”