Gail R. Cahn (Regenhardt)

I was working at Mercy Hospital, and they offered me a scholarship to get my BSN. I went to school by day and worked at night. I had young children at the time, so it was sometimes difficult. I had neighbors who were wonderful and helped me. I had some wonderful teachers, and I learned so much in Dr. Khan's statistics class. He was so fabulous, and it was worth getting the degree just to be in his class. I'm very grateful for the experience the nurses shared. The best experience I had at FIU was when one of the teachers taught us to listen to people's heartbeats and described all of the murmurs. To this day, I can take a stethoscope and elicit a presystolic murmur or another type of murmur that some doctors don't even catch. I love nursing, and I can't get enough information. I worked in all of the hospitals in Miami, and I was always a team leader. I moved to Tampa because I had a grandson and I wanted to be closer to him. I took the position of administrator for the night shift, and that was another fabulous experience. I did that for 15 years. I was certified in emergency room and critical care, and I held classes in my house for the nursing students who were going to sit for their boards. I wanted them all to pass because we needed nurses. I retired in 2008 because I had to have my knee replaced. Since then, I've been very busy knitting and sewing, and I'm going to be a great-grandma next month. Nursing is definitely a calling, and I love to hear people say they are inspired to be nurses because we need good nurses.