December 19, 2022
Margaret Waggett has been an EVS housekeeper at her hospital for a tenure of 18 years and counting. She is young at heart, a ball of energy, and loves caring for her patients with everything she is.
“I don’t think I have half the energy that Margaret has. Margaret walks to work every day. Rain, sleet, snow, or hail and she’s here. I don’t think I’m as youthful as she is,” EVS Director Charlie Twiggs proclaimed.
Margaret credits her large family and the work ethic she was raised with for her success as a housekeeper. “I’m a worker. I love to work. I keep thinking one of these days I’ll slow down and I have a lot of people ask me ‘Are you ever gonna slow down?’ But I love to get up early in the morning, I love to do my little routine, I love knowing that I can come into work and do my job and get [a smile],” she said.
One thing Margaret is exceptional at is forming genuine relationships with her team, her floor, and her patients. She affectionately calls the nurses on her floor ‘my nurses’ and talks about what she has learned from them.
“[My nurses] are so understanding and compassionate. I like to see that because a lot of times we lose that love and compassion when things are getting tight. I think you have to keep that in your mind and in your heart. We need that compassion for each other,” Margaret explained.
Her director, Charlie, chimed in, “I will say that the staff, from the manager, down, they all know who Margaret is. They’re always giving her kudos. They constantly remind me that if I pull her from their floor that there’s gonna be some major issues! It is a family-oriented floor [and] it’s good to see that. It’s humbling, as a manager, to see and know that I can come in on a day-to-day basis and not have to worry about anything on [Margaret’s] floor.”
Throughout her many years, Margaret has had to opportunity to serve and get to know many patients and their families. “We get a lot of good patients in here. Some of them don’t always have family around so I do like to take that little extra bit of time to relate to them and let them know we care. Because that’s part of our job to let them know we have good ears and we can listen! This happens quite a bit. I like listening to their stories because they usually have good stories to tell,” she said.
She spoke of one family in particular that she has gotten close to recently. She talks to the patient’s son every day and often chats with his wife. They talk about everything. Margaret is part of their care team just as much as every doctor and nurse. “It’s just a blessing to me, to see [the patient] get better. Every day [that] I walk in and she has her eyes open and is looking around, I think ‘She’s getting there! She is getting there!’ I get so excited,” Margaret exclaimed.
Margaret lights up when she is talking about her work and the pride she takes in it. She has a true gift for caring for patients. She also lights up when talking about her large family. She originally comes from a family of 10 and she now has 10 grandchildren and three great-granddaughters. She lives with her daughter, one of her granddaughters, and two of her great-granddaughters who she says keep her on her toes.
When asked about her thoughts on the future, Margaret simply said, “As long as I can keep working with my health, I sure as heck will!”
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