A family of 4 – mom, dad and their two children- are all nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
A lot of kids follow their parents’ passion. As they grow up, they eventually adapt to their parents’ work environment and end up doing the same jobs like theirs. This is exactly what happened to siblings Melissa and Mark Rue. Their parents are both nurses and now, the four of them are working together in the same hospital as frontliners.
Though they are all nurses, they work in different units. Melissa works in an ICU and Mark works as a nurse in the cardiothoracic surgery unit. On the other hand, their father Gregg works in interventional radiology unit while their mother Carmen is a surgical nurse.
Carmen and Gregg had been working as nurses for over 30 years and because they have instilled a love of nursing in their children while they are growing up, they also chose to work as nurses.
The couple believed that nursing is a good, stable and rewarding profession. This is why they encouraged their children to follow their career path. Mark agreed that nursing would be a great profession for both him and his sister. “After realizing nursing had a lot of financial stability, the variety of roles nursing offers, and of course the rewarding aspect of taking care of patients, I chose to pursue a nursing career at the University of Connecticut,” Mark said.
10 years later, they remain loyal to the nursing profession and are glad to be working together amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They are all glad to have one another in the same workplace though they rarely see each other.
Because they are practicing social distancing and working in different departments, Melissa said she hasn’t really seen her parents for two months. However, they are always updating one another through text messages and cheering anyone who is dealing with stress.
What makes them worried the most is that Melissa is working full time with COVID-19 patients. At first, they were so worried and kept asking her how she’s doing. It has also been challenging and stressful for Melissa.
According to her, “With patients coming in with COVID-19 everyone has presented so differently. I’ve had to second-guess my skills set because I don’t even know if it applies to this current population. It’s hectic every day and the unknown is what’s scary.”
Nonetheless, all their stress and worries went away after realizing that Cedars-Sinai is the place to be for frontliners like them. Working together at the same hospital has many advantages as well One of these is the parents often drop off lunch for their children.
Small gestures like this truly make a great difference to the Rue family despite the daily challenges they face as frontliners. They also got to celebrate Mother’s Day and Nurses Week together which are two of the most important events for them.
Despite all the uncertainties and difficulties that the Rue family goes through every day, they stay positive and continue working hard as dedicated nurses. They are not only work colleagues but also a family of frontline heroes that put their lives at risk to protect others. Let us never forget what these heroes did and keep doing for every one of us.