At almost 82, this Virginia nurse is retiring after 55 years on the job

Barbara McWhinney taught doctors about medicine, inspired others to become nurses and even returned to work after COVID-19 almost killed her.

At nearly 82, though, this nurse in Winchester, Virginia, is ready to retire. She spent 55 years on the job.

At a bittersweet retirement reception at Valley Health’s Winchester Medical Center on Friday, McWhinney spoke about her decades of experience.

“So I started out with white shoes, white hose, white dress and a cap," she said, showing an old photo.

She knew when she was 9 years old that she wanted to become a nurse. Her mother was stricken with tuberculosis, and she gave her daily shots.

“I gave it to her, vomited and said, ‘I want to be a nurse,’” McWhinney said.

Her nursing career began in 1967, when she graduated as a member of Shenandoah University’s first-ever nursing class.

Over the next five decades, she worked in several hospital departments but always related to surgery. She treated some patients for decades.

"We love her a bunch," one patient said. "I’m sure they're going to miss her here, as will I."

Doctors said they learned from her.

“She’s forgotten more stuff than I’ve learned in all my years of training as a doctor,” Dr. Terral Goode said.

Back in the days of strict visiting hours, McWhinney helped a young father sneak in his baby daughter to see her mother, who was dying of cancer.

She ran into that little girl, now a grown woman, in the hospital. She had become a nurse.

"She said, 'I became a nurse because of you and I remember my mom because of all the pictures we took,'" McWhinney said. "So that was probably one of the very special days for me."

McWhinney's long career spanned some of medicine’s greatest recent challenges, including polio, the AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. She herself fell ill with COVID in September 2020, before vaccines were available.

"I kept a calendar and I wrote there one day, 'Dear God, please let me die. I’m ready,' because It was just horrible," she said.

Once she recovered, though, she said she never thought twice about returning to work.

"The nurses I work with, my God, they were overwhelmed, and I didn’t want them to fight by themselves," she said.

Nurses, doctors and hospital staff gathered Friday to say goodbye, give hugs, and share laughter and tears.

"I've cried all day," McWhinney said. "It's kind of happy tears, but I have such great support here. I mean, it's just a wonderful place to work."

She said it’s finally time for her to travel and take care of herself, although she’s not finished caring for others. In her retirement, she plans to volunteer as a hospice nurse.

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