SALISBURY — “For decades, they were on the front lines of healthcare — and when they saw a chance to end the pandemic, they came out of retirement, put on their masks like the superheroes they are, and started helping,” a statement from TidalHealth said. “Meet the team of six retired nurses who have returned to the hospital where they all worked for a combined 241 years of service, to help get shots into arms at our COVID-19 vaccine clinic as quickly as possible.”

Peggy Wright, Diane Smith, Connie Spencer, Sharon Malone, Darlene Morcom and Janet Mercer all spent their careers at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, and all retired in the past few years after 39 to 45 years of service.
Nurses are in short supply as COVID-19 cases are on the rise. When the call went out for nurses who could give shots, they responded enthusiastically.

“I felt like I wanted to give back,” Ms. Smith said, and the entire group echoed the sentiment: “We wanted to help the community.”

Ms. Malone: “We know the sooner we can get people vaccinated, the sooner we’ll end the pandemic and be able to come out of lockdown.” Everyone was willing to sign on to make that happen.

“Everyone on Team TidalHealth is grateful to these outstanding women for being ready and willing to step up and make a difference,” the statement said. “We’re very fortunate to have some of the best, most experienced nurses out there giving shots here — and we look forward to being able to start vaccinating the next phase of patients in the near future.”