Children's Hospital Nurse Retires After 40 Years at UCSF

It was the end of an era. Last Friday, Inez Wieging, RN, walked the floors of UCSF Children's Hospital in her unmistakable high-heeled shoes for the last time. Wieging started her career at UCSF in 1966 and worked at the medical center continuously without a break in service for more than 40 years. Friday was her last day on the job. The children's hospital feted Wieging's contributions to UCSF and her retirement with a reception last Thursday afternoon that packed the outdoor courtyard on the sixth floor. Speaking at the party, Roxanne Fernandes, children's hospital executive director, said that Wieging's wisdom and dedication will be sorely missed. "She knew that parents were her partners in caring for their children, even though visiting hours instructed them to go home. She knew that the new pumps set to deliver adult doses would be dangerous for her children and that a toddler might not remember pain the way you and I do, but that they would be severely affected, maybe for the rest of their lives," Fernandes said. "She was Mama Nurse to frightened, lonely children a long way from home and a great friend to families in distress. She was and will always be in our hearts. She is our mentor, our friend, and she will always be a part of UCSF Children's Hospital." When Wieging came to UCSF in 1966, the Jefferson Airplane was a big draw at the Fillmore, occasionally accompanied by Allen Ginsberg reading poetry. Willard Fleming, DDS, was UCSF's second chancellor. Long Hospital had not yet been completed when the young nurse arrived on the sixth floor of Moffitt Hospital.

Roxanne Fernandes, executive director of UCSF Children's Hospital, with Inez Wieging and her son, Peter Wieging, and his fiancee, Tamara Johnson.

Since then, Wieging has cared for thousands of children. She is highly respected for her scrupulousness and skills as a medical surgical nurse. Yet it is Wieging's deep caring and compassion for those children and her forceful advocacy for the crucial role of parents in their children's care that will forever be her legacy, colleagues say. Stalwart Supporter Jerry Fox met Wieging in 1985. It was in that year that his first daughter, 2-month-old Lindsay, was hospitalized for multiple surgeries to treat a cardiac condition. He and his wife, Shirley, moved from Sacramento to be with their baby and would live in San Francisco for three months. Jerry was commuting to work in the Central Valley daily. It was fall, and when Thanksgiving rolled around, Wieging noticed the dozens of parents - like the Foxes - who were away from home for Thanksgiving. So she organized a hospital-sponsored dinner for families who could not be at home with their loved ones. "Parents come from all over and they're stuck here," Fox said. "For Thanksgiving that year, Inez rallied the mothers and they all pitched in for Thanksgiving dinner at the hospital," he said. When the Foxes returned home to Sacramento, Lindsay would not be with them. She had died just before Christmas. "But the following year, we said we wanted to come back and continue to have Thanksgiving at UCSF," he said. So, for the past 21 years Jerry and Shirley Fox and, later, their two daughters, Kaitlin, 19, and Carli, 17, have spent Thanksgiving with Wieging at the hospital. Wieging has come to the hospital every single year for Thanksgiving -- on her day off -- coordinating what has become a ritual celebration for the Children's Hospital families. "Inez considers all the patients there her babies, she has always insisted on the highest standards possible," Fox said. "We felt very happy to have been able to come to UC San Francisco, and we felt like we couldn't have gotten better care anywhere." Wieging's commitment to emotional support of hospitalized children was instrumental in the establishment at UCSF of Child Life Services. Child Life Services' role is to mitigate the experience of hospitalization for young children through a variety of services, ranging from play therapy to procedural support and pain management. Child Life Services' first coordinator is Adrianne Burton, who retired 12 years ago. Last Thursday, she remembered Wieging as an advocate for what was then a controversial program at its inception in the mid-1970s and 1980s. "Inez fully supported the concept of families being really involved in their children's care," she said. "Gradually, we got a school program and a playroom program, and a parent support program and a procedural preparation program. All along the way, I would run things by Inez. She was a stalwart supporter," Burton said. At her retirement party, the surprise gift for "the woman who has everything" was the thing she wanted most. Her friends took up a collection to fly her son, Peter Wieging, and his fiancée, Tamara Johnson, from Phoenix to San Francisco to attend the event. Wieging, who lives in Novato, said that she has no special plans for her retirement other than "not getting up at 5 a.m." and whenever possible spending time with her son and daughter-in-law in Phoenix. On parting from UCSF, Wieging said that she had only one request. "Take care of my babies," Wieging said. "Please take care of my babies. Take care of them and love them." Related Links: Nurse Recalls 40 Years of Kids's Care at UCSF Children's Hospital