1:00pm Saturday 13th March 2010
By Frances Leate
FROM the uniforms to the equipment used on the wards, not much has stayed the same for a Colchester nurse about to retire after 40 years.
Sister Marian Baker, part of a family with four generations of nurses, retires today, the day before her 60th birthday.
Mrs Baker, whose mother, grandmother and daughter have all been nurses, has worked with critically-ill patients ever since Colchester General Hospital opened in 1984.
Before that, she worked at Essex County Hospital, including some time in the intensive care department.
She said: “When I started in intensive care at Essex County Hospital, we had only three intensive care beds and recovery to look after. Now we have 11 beds and are looking to increase that to 14.
“The equipment has become so much more sophisticated and we can do so much more for patients.
“For example, only recently, we had a 90-year-old patient who was well enough to go back to the ward. I’m certain they wouldn’t have survived when I started out as a nurse.”
For many years, Mrs Baker, who lives in Prettygate, has also been involved in work to prevent patients suffering pressure sores.
Her daughter, Louise, has followed in her footsteps and is also a sister, working in the intensive care unit at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London.
Mrs Baker started at Essex County Hospital in 1966 as a nursing cadet, but took a break for seven years to have her children.
Anne Morris, anaesthetic and technical services manager, and a colleague for more than 30 years, said: “Sister Baker has always ensured her patients are her priority and has been the first to identify how improvements can be made.
“Her decision to retire, while respected by all of us, is a very sad day. She will be missed by all her colleagues.”
Mrs Baker intends to maintain her involvement as a link nurse co-ordinator and committee member with the British Association of Critical Care Nurses.
In the past, she has organised networking events and helped to arrange study days for nurses from the whole East Anglian region.
She is holding a birthday party on Saturday and after that, plans to devote some of her new-found spare time to her lifelong passions, playing the piano, art and travelling.
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