(January 8, 2010-Waterville) After 42 years as a nurse at Inland Hospital, Avis Grant of Oakland is retiring from full-time healthcare work. The hospital held a retirement reception for Grant on Friday, January 8.

Grant started at Inland in 1967 as a nurse in charge of the medical-surgical and obstetrics units. For the last 33 years she has worked in the Birthing Center, where she says it’s been much more than a job, but more like a family.

“I will miss the daily contact with the wonderful people I have worked with at Inland and the very special mothers, babies and families I’ve had the privilege to help over the years,” says Grant. “There is nothing more satisfying and heart warming than to help parents on a journey with a new life. And I just love it when patients come in to have a baby and their mother says, "You helped me with her birth.”

Birthing Center Director, Tina Quinn, RN, notes that Grant has been a positive role model at the hospital. “Avis is a compassionate person and dedicated to Inland’s philosophy of putting the patient first in everything we do. And she has a wonderful ‘can-do’ spirit. We certainly appreciate all that she has brought to Inland and to the families in our community.”

Grant has seen many changes in the nursing profession over four decades, most notably technology. “It is one of the biggest changes in healthcare. We now use computers to chart patient care. We have electronic fetal monitoring to keep track of maternal/fetal well-being. It’s amazing technology that helps enhance the quality of the care we provide.”

Grant plans to spend her new free time in her flower and vegetable gardens and doing some traveling with her husband. She said she also has a knitting project she started two years ago that she looks forward to finishing. And of course, you wouldn’t expect someone who has spent the last four decades caring for and serving people in our community to give that up completely. Grant says she will continue to work on a per diem basis for the Birthing Center at Inland.