Rosetta Wells always knew that she wanted to be a nurse.
Her mother thought she would get over that notion eventually, Wells said.
“But I never did,” she added with a smile. The daughter of Naomi Ramsey and the late Rollin Ramsey, Mrs. Wells grew up on a farm in the Meadow Creek community of rural Greene County.
She was one of four children born to the Ramseys — and the one who knew from an early age that nursing was her future path.
“A neighbor who lived down the road from us was in nurses’ training. And I wanted to be like her,” Mrs. Wells said with another smile on her face.
After graduating St. James High School in 1954 – and working long hours in the tobacco field to help earn the money for tuition, Rosetta Wells finally received her chance to start living her dream.
She was accepted into the nursing program at East Tennessee Baptist Hospital in Knoxville. The cost for the three-year program was $250, a huge sum for a rural farm girl in those days.
Rosetta had picked up more tobacco leaves than she could count from the fields of Meadow Creek to pay that cost. And she was so excited to start “picking up” the knowledge to become a nurse.
The nursing program was highly regimented and held year-round, she recalled. “We only had about a week or so off in the summers (during the three-year program),” she said.
In August of 1957, Rosetta completed the nursing program and returned home to Greene County, where she was to have a job interview with Dr. C.B. Laughlin, the founder of Laughlin Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Laughlin needed a surgical nurse, and Rosetta knew that working in the operating room was where she wanted to be.
Being a surgical nurse was one part of her nursing training that had appealed to Rosetta the most. It was more interesting and challenging to her than all of the other duties associated with nursing. And she knew it was something that she would enjoy for a life-time career.
Rosetta was hired by Dr. Laughlin and began work at Laughlin Hospital on Sept. 16, 1957. Fifty years later, she remains in that same job today.
“I haven’t worked anywhere else,” Mrs. Wells said.
A “circulating nurse,” Mrs. Wells is responsible for making sure that all of the surgical equipment and supplies are in the operating rooms and ready to go before a surgeon begins a case.
In addition, Mrs. Wells ensures that all of the paperwork is correct on each patient, and that they are prepped and ready for their surgery.
“I’m there to get the surgical team what they need,” she said.
Surgeons who have worked with Mrs. Wells through the years are highly complimentary of her and her work.
Long-time Greeneville surgeon, Dr. Walter “Skip” Mason, now retired, called Rosetta Wells “the best at what she does.”
Retiring Greeneville urologist, Dr. Robert Strimer, said that Mrs. Wells “has an amazing ability – better than anyone I’ve ever worked with in an operating room – to stay focused on what’s going on and to know what’s needed.”
Greeneville orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Walter Chapman, lauded not only Mrs. Wells, but also her beloved husband, Hugh.
Rosetta and Hugh Wells will celebrate their 47th year of marriage next month. Mr. Wells retired as Greeneville police chief in 1977.
Following his first retirement, he continued into a second career at Greene County Bank (now GreenBank) where he serves as vice president of the bank’s agricultural department.
“The main thing about Rosetta Wells and Hugh is their work ethic,” Dr. Chapman said. “Those people know nothing but work. And when you are around them, they inspire you to work – and to do better.”
While her job title has remained the same during the past 50 years, much has changed in the operating room, Mrs. Wells said.
The use of computers in the operating and recovery rooms is one area that quickly comes to her mind when she thinks about those changes.
“It is so different now. All of the modern equipment that they have now, they didn’t have back then.”
In those days, patients were taken back to their rooms immediately following surgery. There was no recovery room.
Now, there is a recovery room equipped with high-tech monitors and other equipment to keep a close check on the patient’s vital signs.
Mrs. Wells also recalled in her early days of nursing that the general practitioners performed the surgeries. There were no board-certified surgeons in Greeneville at that time, she said.
She also recalled the use of an “ether drip” that was used as anesthesia. Today, anesthesia is administered intravenously – with fewer risks and side effects for patients.
The ether, Wells said, often put patients through an “excitement phase.” “I can remember that myself when I had my appendix out,” she added.
Another part of her early nursing career that she recalled was a nurse’s salary. When she began in the career, she made $1.25 an hour, she said.
“We also wore white uniforms and nursing caps,” she continued. The uniforms were dresses. Slacks were not allowed for nurses in those days, she said.
“It has certainly all changed!” Mrs. Wells said with a laugh. On Sept. 21, Mrs. Wells was recognized for her long service to Laughlin Hospital with a surprise reception.
Thinking that she was going to have a photograph made, Mrs. Wells said she was taken by complete surprise when she walked into the reception area and was greeted by a multitude of her co-workers, including the hospital’s administrative staff and several physicians.
Also in attendance was Mrs. Wells’ mother, Naomi Ramsey, who will celebrate her 91st birthday next month.
“How many mothers of employees who are celebrating their 50th anniversary at a work place are able to attend such a reception?” said Noah Roark, human resources director at Laughlin Hospital.
Mrs. Wells said she was so happy that her mother was able to attend her own. “She was there and having a ball!” Chuck Whitfield, president and CEO of Laughlin Hospital, said that Mrs. Wells’ 50 years at the hospital “equates to approximately 13,000 days of dedicated, compassionate service to our patients.”
Whitfield continued, “This is truly an outstanding accomplishment for any individual. Rosetta is unquestionably the epitome of her profession.”
