Linda Sauerwein, RN, of Collingswood is celebrating a memorable 50 years as a nurse this year.



With National Nurses Week approaching, Sauerwein reflects on her lifetime career in the profession and the many changes that have occurred over the past five decades.



"The face of nursing has changed so much since I first became a nurse back in the 1960s," she says. "It used to be only young, white women who went into nursing. Today you see nurses of all ages, both male and female, and from all different backgrounds. Nursing is so much more diverse today."



Sauerwein, who received her nursing degree from Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing in 1962, recently attended her 50th reunion. At Lankenau, she was known as a very serious young woman who studied a lot.



She admits that while she had fun, she did not have nearly the freedom of nurses today. "We lived in dormitories back then," she says. "Your life revolved around school."



Upon graduation, Sauerwein began working for Jefferson University Hospital where she became very interested in quality and process. This was a time when the concepts of The Joint Commission and The 10 Steps of Quality Improvement were still fairly new.



This interest came easily to Sauerwein. "I am a process and organize person by nature. I have always enjoyed the flow of looking at things and making them better. Quality has been my main thrust for a long time."



After leaving Jefferson, she made the transition to the New Jersey healthcare scene and went on to work for what was then known as West Jersey Hospital in Camden doing quality control. She stayed there for many years before becoming a quality director at Memorial Hospital in Salem County.



Sauerwein eventually left Memorial Hospital to do quality control for Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center. Her job focused on the PI cycle and using data to make improvements in quality performance.



After five years, Sauerwein left Lourdes for a short time and got involved with senior health. "Mainly because I was a senior," she says.



As an outdoor enthusiast and health advocate, she understood the importance of staying healthy and active at every age. Her goal was to get seniors interested in taking control of their health and being proactive in prolonging their lives.



Sauerwein traveled to senior centers across the area to educate them on critical topics such as going to the doctor, preparing for a doctor visit, taking medications regularly, fall prevention, nutrition and exercise.



When Sauerwein learned of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant that Lourdes was set to receive to improve transitional care for the elderly, she applied to come back to Lourdes and was offered the job.



"It brought me back to the hospital, which I very much missed," she says. "It is great because I am doing something that comes very natural to me from a process standpoint, but also something that I find very rewarding, which is keeping seniors healthy."



Sauerwein looks back on her career with great satisfaction and is grateful for the many opportunities she has been given. "I've done a lot of things in nursing. I have been in the field for 50 years! Somewhere along the line I have done it all from hospital nursing to camp nursing to school nursing. I have quite a diverse background, which is a wonderful thing to say about the profession."



In her spare time, Sauerwein enjoys the outdoors. Over the years, she has hiked, backpacked and kayaked all over the country. She is also active with the National Sierra Club.



Sauerwein has two children, a boy and girl. She grew up in Collingswood, and while she left the charming town for some time during nursing school and after she got married, Sauerwein returned to her hometown 30 years ago and has lived there happily ever since.



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For media inquiries, please contact Lauren Markin at Markinl@lourdesnet.org or (856) 705-1375.