"Great 100" Honor Caps 37-Year Career for Robertson at A-B Tech
During hospital clinicals, Joyce reviews nursing student Samuel Shotwell on details to observe in a pre-op patient.
"Caring" is the word used to describe Joyce Robertson's teaching by those she works with and those she has taught, and it is the first quality she lists as prerequisite to being a good nurse. That quality will carry on in the legacy she has left with more than 1,500 students in over 37 years at A-B Tech. And this year, she was named one of the "Great 100" nurses in North Carolina, a distinction rarely awarded to nurses who are not working in a medical setting.
"If it hadn't been for Mrs. Robertson's faith in me as a student and in my potential as a nurse, I would have dropped out of the PNE program, but she wouldn't let me give up." Variations on these words have been echoed by graduates of the Practical Nursing program since Joyce began teaching at A-B Tech in 1968. "We could never get her sidetracked from what she was teaching us, and we certainly tried to‹just so we could get a break from non-stop instruction." Barbara Hersey, class of '91, added, "What was most important to her was that even with the caps that showed the school they graduated from, A-B Tech nurses would be spotted because they were so good at their jobs and cared so much about their patients. I still give seminars on allergy information for Joyce's classes, and I see that she is still as uncompromising as she ever was."
Many former students have gone on to advanced degrees and positions of great responsibility in medicine throughout the country. Joyce's first mission, though, has always been to give those entering the profession as LPNs the confidence to believe in themselves and in what they can do. "A lot of them just needed support and encouragement because they weren't sure they could make it," she said. "Sometimes they drop out of the program, but it's almost always because they realize they just aren't suited for nursing.
"I never set out to teach. I just wanted to be a nurse. I'd worked in hospitals and in a doctor's office and was contented with what I was doing," Joyce reflected on the career move she happened into. "I was a nurse at Mission Hospital when the 'call' came to teach. An A-B Tech nursing instructor was with her class on the floor where I was working obviously about to have a baby. When she saw me that day, she said, 'You know I'm going to have to give up this job, and you ought to apply for it.' I'd never considered teaching, but what she told me sounded interesting. So without even thinking much about it, I put in my application, and I was hired."
When Joyce began her new career, her classes met in the basement of St. Joseph's and then moved to Memorial Mission Hospital‹still in the basement. The classes were eventually taught in Rhododendron, but the clinical hospital instruction continued. "I'm still so interested in the careers of our students, and I would love to continue to be part of their training. I began to notice last year, though, that it's becoming harder to bounce back from those 10-hour days on my feet at the hospital. My body is sending me a message that it's time to retire."
In 1974, nurses still wore white uniforms, stockings, shoes, and starched caps that were unique to each school. Barely visible at the right of the picture is Joyce's Berea cap.
Joyce says she could not have worked in a more caring, supportive atmosphere than the one at A-B Tech. "In 1994, my 78-year-old mother disappeared from a church camping trip in Black Mountain. She was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, but she was in good health physically. I got cards and calls from teachers and staff who didn't know me at all, people I had never even heard of. We still don't know what happened to her, but the concern of the college community helped to sustain me through an unbelievably difficult time."
Religious faith permeates her everyday life, and it has guided her teaching and her relationships with colleagues and students. When she agreed to an interview, she made but one request: "This has been on my office door for many years. This is who I am. Is there any way you could include this for me?" On the paper was typed: "The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20" and "For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37."
In the letter nominating Joyce as one of the "Great 100 Nurses," Brenda Causey, Nursing Department Chairperson, wrote "Her faith in her students may be her greatest legacy. She always seemed to have a sense of those who were having the greatest difficulties‹personally and academically‹and she would seek them out. She never compromised the high standards of care and scholarship she demanded of her students, but she was able to nurture those who were not sure of themselves and help them to become successful. She also demanded the same high standards of herself."
No instructor has served this college more years than she has, and only President Bailey has worked here longer. Speaking of her, he said, "Joyce Robertson has been on our campus for 37 and a half years, and she's distinguished herself as an outstanding instructor. She's noted for going the extra mile for her students because she's caring. And she makes sure the quality is there for every graduate."