The year was 1983, and a young Kerry Milton – then just two years removed from the LSU School of Nursing – was named Nurse of the Year at St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
“An excellent role model for our nurses,” one of her co-workers said in a hospital newsletter.
“An inspiration to others,” another said.
Now, more than four decades later, as Milton prepares to retire as the health system’s chief nursing officer – a role she’s held for 26 years – accolades are again pouring in, and they sound a whole lot like those generated by Milton’s early Nurse of the Year honor.
“Kerry’s legacy extends far beyond her remarkable tenure,” STHS President and CEO Joan Coffman said. “She has been a fierce advocate for our patients, our nurses and our community, leading with compassion, integrity and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Through her servant leadership, she has helped shape the culture of St. Tammany Health System, inspiring generations of colleagues to answer the call to greatness while never losing sight of the people we serve.”
Milton, who will be celebrated Tuesday evening at a retirement sendoff, officially steps away June 19.
To say she will be missed is an understatement. At the same time, Milton is less focused on what she is leaving behind than on what the journey has meant to her.
“This has been an engaging and wonderful experience,” Milton said recently in her office, surrounded by half-packed boxes. “My career has been everything I ever hoped it would be. Not to ever say I expected to be a (chief nursing officer); I did not. It was just an opportunity to give back to the people of this community.
“It’s been a challenge,” she added, “but also a fun one.”
It’s been an impactful one, too – one that started years ago as she was growing up in Bogalusa.
“I identified at an early age that I did love people and I had an affinity for older people, whether it was church or social settings in the community,” she said. “I loved listening to and talking to old people.”
That led her to volunteer as a candy-striper in Bogalusa. There, she was impressed and deeply impacted by those she worked with – and with the certified nursing assistants who guided her. It all made nursing school a no-brainer.
Upon graduation, she spent a year as an oncology nurse in Jefferson Parish. Then, an opportunity arose at St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. It was another no-brainer.
“I was familiar with Covington, being from Bogalusa,” she said. “Knew it to be a wonderful community, (liked) the size of the community. And I wanted to be at a non-for-profit community hospital.”
A lot has changed since those days. The growth of the community is among the biggest, she said – along with that of the hospital, which has blossomed into a regional health system. But one crucial component, she says, is exactly the same now as then: the compassion that defines the culture at St. Tammany Health System.
“I think back to the early days of my hire,” she said, “(and to) the attention on the workforce, the importance placed on patient-focused care and giving back to this community. Listening to what those community needs were is part of that culture, and I think that existed back on Day 1 when I was hired here.”
In fact, she said, it's that culture – and the knowledge that nurses can make a meaningful difference with every patient interaction – that has brought her back to work each morning for more than four decades.
Indeed, she lists the maintaining of that culture in the face of nonstop growth as among her proudest accomplishments.
Now, as she hangs up her stethoscope, she predicts she will probably volunteer somewhere. Eventually. But first, she foresees spending time with her grandkids, traveling, reading, birdwatching as she gets her hands dirty in her garden.
What is certain is that she will not soon be forgotten at St. Tammany – and that the praise from her 1983 award still holds true.
“The Culture of Caring that defines St. Tammany Health System today bears Kerry’s imprint in countless ways,” Coffman said, “and her legacy will live on through the people she has mentored, the trust she has earned and the community she has helped build.”