District sister Els has kept track of her work experiences for 40 years and bundles them in a book

For forty years, Els Meeuwisse from Fijnaart kept track of her activities as a district sister in forty diaries. She has always kept these diaries in a large box. Until a few years ago, when it was decided to compile these experiences in a book. Wednesday was the book presentation of ‘Diary of a Neighborhood Sister’.

From the day of her job interview in 1978 until her very last working day in 2019 at healthcare organization Surplus, Els kept her detailed diaries. Every year she filled one, which then ended up in a large box with diaries already filled with them. “I couldn’t, and can’t, just throw them away with the waste paper,” says Els. “It contains details of patients, I have to handle them carefully.”

After Els retired, she moved. “And then I came across that box of diaries again.” What was she going to do with that? Surplus manager Vincent Overmeer heard about the diaries and invited Els for an interview. “We have to do something about that,” he said at the time. But Els indicated that she was not a writer. That is why Rosanne van Poppel, communications officer at Surplus, stepped in. Together with Els, Rosanne has collected the diary stories in Diary of a Neighborhood Sister.

Care through the years

For Vincent, and Surplus, the message of the book is to clarify how healthcare has changed over the years. “Because a lot is happening,” says Vincent. “At one point the ward sister disappeared, and everything was digitized. Personal contact with people disappeared. You can also read that in the book. Fortunately, that contact has returned.”

Special events and work experiences

The book contains the most special events and experiences for Els. For example, the story about the first deceased person she had to provide aftercare. “I had just been working as a district nurse for six weeks,” Els explains. “The doctor called me in the middle of the night. One of his patients had died, so I wanted to go there.” Once there, it turned out that the patient lived alone, so Els could not enter. “There were no mobile phones back then, so off I went back home. I called the doctor there. Turns out he forgot to tell me that his brother lived nearby and that he had a key.”

Back on the bike to the house in question, where the brother of the deceased had come after the doctor had called him. Els was able to enter. A passage from the book: ‘I found Mr. H. with his eyes closed on the single bed. He was single and it touched me to find him all alone, dead in the house. I gave him his last care. It was getting light again when I crawled back into bed. When I closed my eyes, I could still see Mr. H. in front of me. I hoped he had found peace somewhere nice.’

Anyone who would like a version of Diary of a District Sister can email: [email protected].