Joni Wade - A Lifetime of Miracles

Family: Husband Reid; two sons Hunter and Christopher

Year you became an RN: 1981

Current employer: Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center

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It’s sometimes easy to take things for granted in nursing. So much happens during our day-to-day work. But one of the many truths I’ve learned over the course of a long career is that nursing is a profession that witnesses miracles.

I live a lot by my faith, and through the decades I’ve been able to see God’s work firsthand. Sometimes this becomes clear by stepping back from the task at hand and other times it reveals itself more subtly in poignant, touching moments. 

I always wanted to be a nurse. I vividly remember the exact moment when I decided. I was 7 years old, in my bedroom, and I was playing with a doll beside a doll bed. I knew then and there that nursing was what I would do, and I stayed the course. Now, after more than four decades, having served as a nurse in many different capacities, I’m glad I never strayed from that decision.

I’m director for a medical-surgical unit, but my career has meandered through many different hospital settings. I met my husband in the emergency room when he was a paramedic. He’s now an ER nurse at Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital.

We named our first son after a patient. I had been working in the ER and a gentleman came to see us in need of care. His wife was with him and they’d been married for over 50 years. They were delightful, gracious and kind. I knew right away that they were really good people. I went home and said, “I know what I want to name our son.” That was three decades ago.

That’s one of the joys – and the miracles – of nursing. The fact that people invite you into the most personal times of their life and trust you with their well-being. It’s something that is very dear to me. You’re there when somebody is having the worst day of their life and you’re there when somebody is having the best day of their life, and you can be a part of that.

The pandemic really heightened the vulnerability and deepened the trust that patients placed in the nurses who were caring for them. I spent the first half of the pandemic in the ER and the second half on a covid unit. 

I distinctly remember a woman who had to come to the hospital during her pregnancy. Not only did she have to trust us with her life but also with her baby’s life. She and her baby both were a miracle. We kept in touch as she moved through other units to receive care and she has shared her gratitude for her baby. I am grateful to have seen so many miracles over a lifetime of work.