Every year, we celebrate National Nurses Week as a time to recognize the many ways our nurses enhance our patient care. And this year, Mother’s Day falls during Nurses Week, which makes it extra special for one Bon Secours family.
Sharon Hopkins, BSN, RN, director of perianesthesia services, and Symone Hopkins, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, are not just mother and daughter – they are coworkers at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital.
Sharon started her career at St. Mary’s Hospital nearly 40 years ago in a medical surgical unit, right after finishing nursing school. She then decided to continue to grow with our ministry from there.
“I stayed in that first unit for a couple of years and then transferred to the intensive care unit as a staff nurse,” she recalls. “It wasn’t long before I was promoted to charge nurse and then I became a nurse manager.”
In 1994, soon after the birth of her second child, Sharon also began to address the common challenges that many of our team members face when balancing a full-time career and being a full-time parent.
“I was getting a little burned out – we were extremely busy, and I was trying to balance both work life and family life,” Sharon shares. “Finally, I decided I needed to do something differently. So, I sought a job in the post anesthesia care unit. It was a critical step in taking care of my patients, as well as myself and my family.”
During this time, Sharon’s daughter, Symone, was born in St. Mary’s Hospital. Symone later attended and volunteered for the on-site day care. She now recalls how the hospital played a vital role in her childhood.
“Growing up in the day care, the staff – and my family – were very involved,” Symone says. “I still remember performing in plays around the holidays or hosting lemonade stands in the hospital cafeteria. All the team members would often go out of their way to support us. A lot of them still work here, and a lot of them still remember us.”
Several members of the Hopkins family also work at St. Mary’s Hospital, including father, Isiah Hopkins, materials management, and daughter, Kara Hopkins, labor and delivery technician. Symone says that there are many benefits in working in the same area as her family, particularly with her mom.
“It’s nice to be able to bounce things off each other,” Symone says. “There have been plenty of times since nursing school where I would call my mom and ask her to elaborate on something that didn’t make sense. I appreciate having somebody that just understands me and what we do.”
Sharon says she also respects her daughter’s compassion and leadership and loves being able to work together.
“I always knew that she was a people person; she’s always wanted to help – whether at church, out in the community or in her career,” Sharon says. “It’s great to now be able to collaborate with her as a colleague, putting both the medical and surgical sides together to help our patients.”
The compassionate care provided by our dedicated nursing professionals is at the core of everything we do at Bon Secours, where nurses mean the world.
Join us in thanking our nurses this week! Use #BonSecoursNursesWeek on social media to share your “thank you” messages.
Also, read more stories about our amazing nurses.
