She always wore white

COEUR d'ALENE - Most nurses quit wearing their caps in the '70s and '80s, but Sandy O'Brien never gave hers up.

This month, O'Brien caps something else - a 45-year career in nursing. She spent 30 of those years working at Kootenai Medical Center.

Dozens of nurses and other hospital employees gathered Tuesday at the medical center to honor O'Brien as she retires.

"I never wanted to do anything else," O'Brien said. "As a little girl, I used to play nurse."

A Maine native who has lived in Hayden for 33 years, O'Brien took everything about the job seriously. Along with her cap, she always wore white, long after other nurses started wearing other colors.

"The patients loved it, and the families loved it," O'Brien said.

Most of her three decades at KMC were spent working in oncology.

Carmen Brochu, vice president of patient services for Kootenai Health, said O'Brien was best known for her "honesty, professionalism and straight-forward attitude."

Brochu said O'Brien mentored other nurses, passing on her expertise and touching the lives of thousands of patients and co-workers.

From O'Brien's personnel file, Brochu shared the phrase she believes best describes O'Brien: "Sandy brings her heart to work every day."

Brochu said oncology is often a challenging setting for nurses because they work with patients experiencing many kinds of crises.

Karra Jones was among a group of nurses who showed up for O'Brien's farewell gathering wearing small white caps on their heads. Made of paper, each hat had a small red cross drawn on its center front.

Jones never worked directly with O'Brien, but she admired O'Brien's career. "Oncology is one of the hardest places to work. It's amazing that she worked there for so long," Jones said.

O'Brien said deciding to retire was one of the most difficult decisions she has ever had to make, but it was time.

Her plan is to spend more time with her family and doing more sewing and gardening.

O'Brien's daughter, Amy Abbott, said she's proud of her mom.

Abbott, a social worker, is employed in the medical field, working with long-term care patients.

"She was my inspiration," Abbott said.