Sonia Campbell – Sunshine sister

SHE’S strong, tolerant, hard-working, kind-hearted and chirpy, and she’s considered to be the ‘mother hen’ for the Outpatients Department at Spanish Town Hospital.

Referred to as ‘Miss Sunshine’ by some of her colleagues, Sister Sonia Campbell, 57, who has been a nurse for 30 years, told All Woman that her introduction to the profession was by no means chance, as her destiny was realised from an early age.

Born and raised in Stonehenge, St James, Campbell said being the eldest of seven children, six of whom were girls, she assumed the role of a nurse as a child, having to care for her siblings while her mother was away at the market working.

“I had certain responsibilities for my siblings. My mother was a market woman and when she was gone I had to see to the domestic chores, see that the others were taken care of, and supervise homework. From then I really knew what it meant to truly serve people,” she said.

However, Campbell admitted that though she understood what service meant, she underwent a series of trials and errors before realising that nursing was her area to shine. And even when her siblings affectionately called her ‘sister’ due to the admonition of her mother who insisted they honour their big sister, it did not dawn on her. Today, she has earned the title in her nursing profession after moving up the ranks.

“In our days we just wanted a profession. I used to be a teacher for two years at a primary school in St Elizabeth. My sister was also a teacher. But we didn’t want to take the same route and my problem was that I didn’t like to do lesson plans, so I said, ‘No, I have to find something that when you’re finished working, you’re finished working’,” she smiled.

And so, Campbell, a Mount Alvernia High School old girl, said having being exposed to public health nurses during her high school days, and admiring the uniform and dignity with which they carried themselves, she knew that this was for her.

On that basis, and coupled with her experience caring for her siblings and ‘playing nurse’, Campbell entered the field in 1981.

“I graduated from Kingston School of Nursing in 1985,” she explained. “Going in I didn’t know what it was like, and though there were challenges, I decided to make the best of it.”

Today, apart from being a sister, Campbell is also a midwife and ward manager. With three decades of experience under her belt, her management style is, to say the least, impeccable. From consultants to junior doctors and her fellow nurses, there’s not one individual who doesn’t enjoy sister’s company, or seeks guidance from her.

She credits her calm spirit to her father, who she said pampered her, seeing she was his only child.

“That’s where the tenderness comes from. He would pet and pamper me, and over the years I learnt different approaches to dealing with people,” she said.

Moreover, working in the 18 outpatient clinics that operate at the hospital, which she said is a stressful environment and worse than accident and emergency in terms of patients’ temperament, Campbell has managed to manoeuvre through the difficulties and maintain a pleasant demeanour, despite what each day throws at her.

“As a registered nurse you’re in charge of whatever situation you find yourself in. You have to learn to calm patients, and if you see a situation that will escalate, you have to intervene,” she said.

“You can’t go with an attitude of war, instead, go with a smile and win them over, go with an open mind and talk to them. Some patients just want to talk, others may be overwhelmed and some are cursing, but when you sit them down and talk and you get to the meat of the matter, you realise that it’s deeper than it seems and they may require counselling,” she said.

Also a problem solver, Campbell said part of her tactic is understanding that she’s dealing with a different generation of people and nurses. She said learning to adapt to their way of thinking, while maintaining her standards, is one strategy she employs well.

“Everybody refers everything to the sister, and being in this position you understand you are the middle manager. It’s different than when I was growing up. You cannot put people down just because they are thinking differently. You have to talk to them and remind them of the dress code and the standards expected of nurses and try to get them to emulate what’s expected,” she said.

Campbell is also passionate about the empowerment of women and ensures that she gives a pep talk at the start of the outpatient clinic each morning.

“Being a woman we can educate other women to look about themselves, remind them to have regular check-ups, do their pap smears and keep healthy,” she said.

She also works in the high-risk antenatal clinic, which she said she uses as a tool to encourage the mothers to get a sound education, be good decision makers, take care of their children despite the circumstances and never leave out self.

“There has to be a balance, and parenting takes patience. Not all understand that,” she said.

A mother of three boys, Campbell said she had to devise a mechanism to ensure her boys were well taken care of while she worked, as at the end of the day, they were her responsibility.

“When my children were small we did a lot of note writing. By this I mean that I stuck notes on the refrigerator reminding them to do different things. I didn’t just expect them to know it. I also had to constantly call and monitor the situation with them at home,” she said.

Her most memorable moment as a nurse is in her capacity as a midwife where she remembered saving a mother’s life after she began haemorrhaging.

“Once I was supervising the maternity ward, and a nurse was with a patient doing delivery, and for some reason I went downstairs, went to delivery room and saw that a woman was haemorrhaging. We ran to the theatre with the patient, because she had retained products of conception. I remember the night matron called and said she heard someone had died, but we managed to save her,” Campbell said.

When not at work, Campbell uses the time to relax at home and cook or watch CNN and BBC, which she admits are two of her favourite channels because of their informative content.

She said her heart’s desire is to see the clinic transformed to a more accommodating space for the public, but as for nursing she said there are no regrets or thoughts of trading her job.

“It’s my 30th year in nursing. I love it, and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”