Honoring Carolyn: 50 Years of Service

To hear Carolyn Bauer recount her time at Craig Hospital is to experience an abridged oral history of the hospital filled with laughter, joy and countless memories. 

Carolyn walked into Craig for the first time in 1974, a graduate of the Kearney, Nebraska LPN School. A portrait taken of her around that time shows she looked every bit like you might imagine a 25-year-old LPN would in the ’70s, with her pixie-cut auburn hair and black, cat-eye glasses. Her uniform had all the features of a traditional nurse’s outfit: a white, knee-length dress paired with a nurse’s cap, stockings and black shoes.  

These days, Carolyn can be found on 3 West sporting a Craig T-shirt and scrub pants – and still rocking a lovely pixie cut – as a behavior attendant. 

Carolyn smiles while poring over the same portrait photo taken of her in 1968. The years melt away. 

“Oh, I know her,” she says. “I guess you could say times have changed.” 

This month is a big one for Carolyn. She turns 76 and reaches a celebratory milestone few have seen with one employer. 

Fifty years at Craig. 

Carolyn may not have been expecting to one day celebrate a golden anniversary with Craig when she signed on. Listening to her reflect on the experiences she has had, the people she has met, the patients she has treated, and the coworkers who have become her lifelong friends, it comes as no surprise that she remains at Craig. 

The times have changed, as Carolyn says, but some things have not. Those include some of the cornerstones of Craig’s culture, such as team, love and leadership, and the priorities she and the hospital share. 

“I love my patients. That’s just it,” Carolyn says. “I love my patients, and I love their families. It has always been ‘put the patients first,’ the patients and the patients’ families. It is a great place to work. When I started working here, my friends never asked me how I enjoyed work or how work was going because I would brag about it so much. They already knew how wonderful it was. They quit asking.” 

“I Don’t Know How to Quit”

For Carolyn, approaching the half-century mark speaks to a combination of three key influencers: one part generation, one part family and one part Craig. Carolyn comes from a generation of Americans who simply didn’t switch jobs that often. Her father was the same way. Carolyn, who grew up in Spalding, Nebraska, with her brother and two sisters, says her father retired from the local livestock market when he was in his 80s. 

“We kept telling him, ‘If you quit, it’ll be OK!’” Carolyn says with a laugh. “But he had been there for about 30 years. He finally quit, and a year later, the livestock market closed and moved to a neighboring town. It was so funny. I don’t think anything like that would happen here. To be honest, I just don’t know how to quit.” 

A coworker from a younger generation can’t help but wonder how Carolyn feels as she stands on the precipice of history. How do you begin to describe it? 

“It is kind of funny to think of coming to work for that long,” she says. “It feels like so many memories coming together when you look back at all those years.” 

Growing With Craig 

The miracles, as Carolyn describes them, are what stand out most about her time at Craig. 

“I say a miracle and people expect, ‘OK, the patient was in an accident and they’re going to walk out the same way,’” Carolyn says. “No, they might not. But maybe they can breathe on their own, maybe they can walk on their own, maybe they can feed themselves, maybe they can swallow. These are fantastic things. I get to see this over and over again and get to be a part of it, to see the resiliency and the human nature. People are amazing. Craig is amazing.” 

To better understand Carolyn when she speaks to how much Craig has changed in the five decades since she started working here, one should first consider how different the hospital looked circa 1970. It was much more intimate than today with just one building that comprised three floors. Craig’s East Building was added in 1996, and the West Building’s fourth floor was added in the early 2010s as part of a major renovation and expansion project. 

“You wouldn’t even recognize it now,” Carolyn says. “Most of the medications we use hadn’t even been invented.” 

The hospital had 40 beds for treating spinal cord injury and brain injury patients. As an LPN, Carolyn would watch over several patients as part of a clinical team that included one doctor, two nurses, four techs, a med nurse, a urology specialist and a therapist. 

After five years, Carolyn became a med nurse, a job that required her to handle medications for 40 patients. The floor was restructured 12 years later, and Carolyn moved to dressing changes, catheterizations, tube feedings, bathroom trips, IVs and shots on top of handling medications for 10 patients. Carolyn shared plenty of laughs with her patients and coworkers. 

“Doctor’s orders were that patients could have whatever they had at home, and that even meant pets,” Carolyn says. “You had your mice, rats, gerbils, even piranhas that the evening shift had to feed. I was grateful they did. 

“One patient got me good one time. He was going home that day, and he says, ‘I got a new pair of shoes up there. Will you get them for me?’ So, I go up to get them like a dummy and open the box – and there’s a tarantula inside he was taking home. I about died of heart failure.” 

An Inspiration to Her Peers 

It is fitting that Carolyn’s 50th anniversary with Craig falls in October, a time of year that especially evokes feelings of nostalgia for her. As a med nurse, Carolyn’s time to shine came every Halloween when she faced the challenge of giving out medications to patients who were in costume. 

Memories like those shared between her and her patients are the ones that give Carolyn the greatest sense of achievement. Although her role has changed over the years, from aide, to med nurse, to monitor room coordinator, to her current position as a behavior attendant, her priority remains keeping patients safe, comfortable and happy. 

“The thing I’m happiest with is when the patient is happy,” she says. “Anything that makes their stay more pleasant is my goal.” 

Carolyn still keeps in touch with many of her former coworkers who have retired over the years. Her dedication continues to inspire many of Craig’s current staff. 

“She has always made a difference in the lives of those she cared for,” says Diane Reinhard, Vice President of Hospital Services and Community Impact. “Carolyn offers hope to patients, their families and the staff. She has demonstrated over and over her capacity to love, demonstrated courage and her spirit of endurance. We are lucky to have a nurse with her skills and talents.” 

Alison Love, who was precepted by Carolyn 15 years ago, says Carolyn’s compassion for patients and families is boundless. 

“She taught me a ton about how to manage behavioral patients and set the bar very high as a role model of professionalism and a solid work ethic,” says Alison, a Craig clinical nurse coordinator (CNC). “What a wonderful honor that Craig has the good fortune of her presence for 50 years.” 

Congratulating Carolyn 

On Monday, October 7, 2024, Carolyn was treated to a surprise party at Craig, where she shared stories and laughs and was honored by some of her closest peers.  

“I appreciate you so much, Carolyn,” says Ashlee Beaner, Carolyn’s long-time CNC. “You have patients that request you, that love working with you. You move around faster than anyone on the unit. You’re an inspiration, and we love you.” 

Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, Craig president and CEO, presented Carolyn with an elegant pin to commemorate her 50 years with Craig. 

“You are clearly loved not only by the presence of all of us here to celebrate you, but also by those who aren’t,” Jandel says. “You personify the love in this organization, and we congratulate you.” 

Carolyn has one piece of advice to share with her Craig colleagues. 

“Enjoy this, enjoy every minute of it,” she says. “I’ve worked in hospitals since I was 15, and I still love it.”