Nursing director loved ‘special’ job

Randi Dickie was one of the first employees at the manor when it opened in the summer of 1981.

“I have loved it, I have to say,” she proclaimed. “It has been a very special job; working with the residents of course is the number one reason and their families and the community and the staff.”

She began her education in the nursing field out of high school.

Dickie has worked in hospitals in Halifax and Kentville.

While at the Queen Elizabeth II and Victoria General hospitals Dickie said she worked in critical care nursing.

“I actually nursed one of the first patients to receive open heart surgery in the province back in 1969,” she said.

She has taken numerous courses over the years.

Dickie completed her studies by passing the Canadian National Certification in Gerontology Nursing.

“I always found learning was the continued key to job satisfaction and a nursing career certainly offered this,” she said.

She has two sisters in the nursing field as well.

“I was the one that went in nursing and I never looked back,” said Dickie.

When asked to describe her job as director, Dickie replied, “It is very lengthy, probably three or four pages.”

To sum it up, her primary job is to oversee the care the residents receive at the manor.

She also considers understanding issues and concerns residents may have, which is a huge part of her job.

The job also requires her to manage a nursing staff of 60.

Many changes have taken place over the years with Dickie providing a few she has witnessed herself.

Twenty-seven years ago, “the average medication was probably three or four pills a day and now the average is up around 10 or 11,” she said.

She has also noticed advancements in terms of understanding that those persons living in a nursing home can be a part of a community, whether it is the community they grew up in, or a community within the nursing home.

One ideal that has remained the same over 27 years is “care and compassion,” she said.

While working towards her nursing degree, one of her projects involved starting a palliative care team, which today she holds “dear to her heart.”

She has helped start multiple other programs at the manor as well.

Having grown up in Liverpool, today she resides in Brooklyn with her husband.

“But I prefer Beach Meadows,” she said with a laugh.

She has two sons and two grandsons.

A third grandchild is due the same week she is set to retire.

Dickie officially retired Jan. 25.

“I thought 40 years working full time was probably a long enough period,” she said.

Even with the retirement title, Dickie will keep her nursing license for a couple of years, as she has another job lined up.

“A less intense job,” she stated, “doing nursing assessments for Veterans Affairs in the district.”

An open house in honour of Dickie will take place 2-4 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Trinity Anglican Church Hall in Liverpool.

The snow date is Feb. 16.