MVH nurse celebrates 50 years of work, marriage
A Monongahela Valley Hospital nurse is celebrating a lifetime of helping others.
Susan Manges, 71, of Monongahela has worked the same 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift in the Inpatient Oncology Unit at the hospital since it opened in 1978. In July, she celebrated 50 years on the job.
“A lot of people can work for 50 years, and some likely have held the same type of job,” Manges said. “I think what makes me unique is that I've had the same job — in fact, I've never had a different job. I've always been a nurse. Once I started, I knew this was what I wanted to do.”
Manges is the third of six children and the first of her siblings to attend college. Before starting nursing school, she'd thought about being a schoolteacher but found her passion in nursing school.
“My dad was so happy that I went on to school, he thought that it was just the greatest thing,” said Manges. “After six months of school, we had a ceremony in which we received our nursing caps and my father was there to see me earn mine.”
Unfortunately, Manges' father passed away before she finished school and began her career as a nurse. Ever since her first day, she's worn her nursing cap even as the tradition of wearing one fell away.
“I've worn it since then in his memory, and I plan to keep wearing it,” she says.
Manges recently celebrated another major milestone in addition to her lengthy career. In July, she celebrated 50 years of marriage to her husband Darwin, with whom she has four children and five grandchildren.
“I had a good home support,” she said of her husband, now retired. “We worked different shifts for many years so it was a challenge, but he was active in raising the children and was always a great support at home.”
When asked about how working as a nurse today is different from how it was 50 years ago, Manges said that quite a lot has changed, particularly the technology.
“We can be a lot more accurate now because of the new technology we have,” she said. “Some of the younger nurses tend to be better with the newest technology and computers we get because when I was in school we didn't get that kind of training. There's always something new to learn.”
Manges said that she enjoys working with the next generation of nurses that have joined the hospital staff throughout the years.
“I get along well with the younger nurses, I really like them,” she said. “Everyone brings something new to the table, and it's very rewarding to be able to teach and help them the way they help me.”
“I started working steady midnight shift and she's the person I look up to, she has a real passion for nursing and I'd like to be just like that,” said Erin Donovan, RN, a nurse who has worked at Monongahela Valley Hospital for one and a half years in a press release.
Monongahela Valley Hospital celebrated Manges' accomplishment with a luncheon in her honor.
At the moment Manges has no plans to retire. While she no longer works full time, she says she “just can't see [retiring] yet.”
“To say what's been most rewarding is a tough one,” she said. “I don't know that I can. It's all been rewarding.”
Kaidia Pickles is a contributing writer to Trib Total Media.
