Moments in Time
Moments in Time is a weekly series featuring recollections of area residents. To suggest someone to feature in Moments in Time, please contact Mary Jane Grenzow, editor, at editor@themonroetimes.com.
MONROE - Zo Anne Anderson has spent a lifetime caring for others. When she first moved to Monroe, all that was open in nursing was a position in hospice, so she took it. She didn't realize then how that decision would impact her life in such positive and fulfilling ways.
Anderson was born in Dixon, Illinois, but grew up in DeKalb, Illinois, and lived in the Chicago suburbs after high school. The youngest of three daughters, she recalls many wonderful family vacations camping throughout the United States.
In high school, she was on the pom-pom squad and enjoyed strong friendships, some of which she's rekindled today through social media. She knew after her 1971 DeKalb High School graduation that she wanted to continue school but didn't have many options as a woman at that time. But she had watched her mother, who had attended school for nursing but never finished, care for both of her grandmothers in their home.
"I knew I wanted to go into the medical field in my high school years," she said.
Anderson attended a three-year nursing school program in Aurora, Illinois. She said she very much enjoyed the hands-on platform before finishing and ended up in the Intensive Care Unit.
She worked for 10 years in the ICU at Geneva Community Hospital before working in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, ICU. Her husband at the time had been transferred there for work, but soon the family ended up back in Chicago where Anderson went back to the Geneva Community Hospital as a supervisor on evenings and night shift for six years.
Nursing has changed drastically over the years; Anderson remembers never wearing gloves, using glass bottles for IVs and doing very little charting. Today, nursing is a more team-oriented career where technology has taken on a huge role and made for tremendous changes, she said.
Anderson took those changes in stride.
"I love change and I think change is for the better," she said. "When I look back on my years of nursing, I'm so thankful for change."
Anderson changed careers for a short while and worked for the State of Illinois as a surveyor for nursing homes in the Chicago suburbs, making sure they met all state and federal regulations. She had young children and needed daytime work, and in that position she could be home in the evenings.
In 1986, Anderson remarried and moved to Sterling, Illinois, where she worked for Whiteside County Health Department and began homecare nursing until 1993. She cared for all ages - from babies to adults - and helped with immunizations in schools and provided skilled homecare for people.
It was a position she absolutely loved.
"Everywhere I've worked, I've worked with great people," she said.
Her husband's job at that time would then bring the family to Monroe. She said her two daughters were older and their ages were challenging for a move, but the district and its students were open and welcoming to them.
"They consider (Monroe) their home," she said.
Anderson first looked for a homecare job because she had enjoyed being with patients and families so much, but hospice was the only thing available at that time at Monroe Clinic.
She was hesitant: She said her generation didn't talk much about death and dying, and initially she was nervous to take on a job that dealt with death for patients and families. But it turned out to be one of the most rewarding career moves she would make.
"The greatest gift it's given me is to think about your own mortality and to be open with my parents when that end of life came," she said.
She began as a staff nurse at Monroe Clinic and is now a hospice coach, a role she's had for 23 years. The physical, emotional and spiritual team approach drew Anderson to love the job, and she still very much enjoys it today.
"It was real learning," she said. "When I went in I found you really connected with patients and families. There is hope. There is sharing. There is improving quality of life. It's a time to really connect."
She said she loved the position from the start and has never considered leaving - she has found it is similar to her homecare nursing job but the care is more comfort-based.
"There's so much we can do at end-of-life," she said. "I never changed my mind."
Anderson said she is aware that hospice can bring down emotions and take its toll on nurses who deal with death regularly, but seeing the care and the quality of life improved keeps her going.
"What has kept me here in hospice is the team approach that hospice focuses on," she said. The team of volunteers are very special to her. "We have a close team here and we support each other."
Anderson still helps out in homes when needed, but today she mostly oversees staff, takes calls from families, oversees department functions, coaches staff, offers 24-hour support, meets with families and patients to discuss hospice, budgets and communicates with the team.
"As much as I have had different jobs I was very impressed in 1993 when I came here with the expertise and care given at that time - their philosophy of exceptional care was outstanding. They were very supportive of me, the patients and this community," she said.
Anderson keeps busy in Monroe. She supports Relay for Life, has helped with the Christmas Stocking Project and volunteers at Crossroads Church regularly. At age 50, she went back to school to earn her Bachelor of Nursing degree from Viterbo College, something that was important for her to do for herself after her youngest daughter left for college.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her daughters and their families. She has three grandchildren and one on the way. She also enjoys traveling and visits Arizona each year to see a close friend and visits her sisters as well. She enjoys working in her home and said although she doesn't technically have any family here, she considers Monroe home. She has made strong friendships and considers her church a part of her family and said her strong Christian faith helps her daily.
As for her daily dose of something she keeps near and dear to her, it's no surprise it relates directly to her hospice team and is a quote from Canadian physician Balfour Mount: "To give full care to someone, one must be a completely whole person. Until one shows up use a team."
Anderson was born in Dixon, Illinois, but grew up in DeKalb, Illinois, and lived in the Chicago suburbs after high school. The youngest of three daughters, she recalls many wonderful family vacations camping throughout the United States.
In high school, she was on the pom-pom squad and enjoyed strong friendships, some of which she's rekindled today through social media. She knew after her 1971 DeKalb High School graduation that she wanted to continue school but didn't have many options as a woman at that time. But she had watched her mother, who had attended school for nursing but never finished, care for both of her grandmothers in their home.
"I knew I wanted to go into the medical field in my high school years," she said.
Anderson attended a three-year nursing school program in Aurora, Illinois. She said she very much enjoyed the hands-on platform before finishing and ended up in the Intensive Care Unit.
She worked for 10 years in the ICU at Geneva Community Hospital before working in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, ICU. Her husband at the time had been transferred there for work, but soon the family ended up back in Chicago where Anderson went back to the Geneva Community Hospital as a supervisor on evenings and night shift for six years.
Nursing has changed drastically over the years; Anderson remembers never wearing gloves, using glass bottles for IVs and doing very little charting. Today, nursing is a more team-oriented career where technology has taken on a huge role and made for tremendous changes, she said.
Anderson took those changes in stride.
"I love change and I think change is for the better," she said. "When I look back on my years of nursing, I'm so thankful for change."
Anderson changed careers for a short while and worked for the State of Illinois as a surveyor for nursing homes in the Chicago suburbs, making sure they met all state and federal regulations. She had young children and needed daytime work, and in that position she could be home in the evenings.
In 1986, Anderson remarried and moved to Sterling, Illinois, where she worked for Whiteside County Health Department and began homecare nursing until 1993. She cared for all ages - from babies to adults - and helped with immunizations in schools and provided skilled homecare for people.
It was a position she absolutely loved.
"Everywhere I've worked, I've worked with great people," she said.
Her husband's job at that time would then bring the family to Monroe. She said her two daughters were older and their ages were challenging for a move, but the district and its students were open and welcoming to them.
"They consider (Monroe) their home," she said.
Anderson first looked for a homecare job because she had enjoyed being with patients and families so much, but hospice was the only thing available at that time at Monroe Clinic.
She was hesitant: She said her generation didn't talk much about death and dying, and initially she was nervous to take on a job that dealt with death for patients and families. But it turned out to be one of the most rewarding career moves she would make.
"The greatest gift it's given me is to think about your own mortality and to be open with my parents when that end of life came," she said.
She began as a staff nurse at Monroe Clinic and is now a hospice coach, a role she's had for 23 years. The physical, emotional and spiritual team approach drew Anderson to love the job, and she still very much enjoys it today.
"It was real learning," she said. "When I went in I found you really connected with patients and families. There is hope. There is sharing. There is improving quality of life. It's a time to really connect."
She said she loved the position from the start and has never considered leaving - she has found it is similar to her homecare nursing job but the care is more comfort-based.
"There's so much we can do at end-of-life," she said. "I never changed my mind."
Anderson said she is aware that hospice can bring down emotions and take its toll on nurses who deal with death regularly, but seeing the care and the quality of life improved keeps her going.
"What has kept me here in hospice is the team approach that hospice focuses on," she said. The team of volunteers are very special to her. "We have a close team here and we support each other."
Anderson still helps out in homes when needed, but today she mostly oversees staff, takes calls from families, oversees department functions, coaches staff, offers 24-hour support, meets with families and patients to discuss hospice, budgets and communicates with the team.
"As much as I have had different jobs I was very impressed in 1993 when I came here with the expertise and care given at that time - their philosophy of exceptional care was outstanding. They were very supportive of me, the patients and this community," she said.
Anderson keeps busy in Monroe. She supports Relay for Life, has helped with the Christmas Stocking Project and volunteers at Crossroads Church regularly. At age 50, she went back to school to earn her Bachelor of Nursing degree from Viterbo College, something that was important for her to do for herself after her youngest daughter left for college.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her daughters and their families. She has three grandchildren and one on the way. She also enjoys traveling and visits Arizona each year to see a close friend and visits her sisters as well. She enjoys working in her home and said although she doesn't technically have any family here, she considers Monroe home. She has made strong friendships and considers her church a part of her family and said her strong Christian faith helps her daily.
As for her daily dose of something she keeps near and dear to her, it's no surprise it relates directly to her hospice team and is a quote from Canadian physician Balfour Mount: "To give full care to someone, one must be a completely whole person. Until one shows up use a team."