Michelle Kannmacher, a registered nurse in obstetrics at a regional hospital, can’t exactly remember making the choice to go into nursing. She just knew she wanted to be in the medical field, and couldn’t stop watching medical-related shows on TV.
How did she choose obstetrics?
She, like her mother, Sheryl Saboff, have worked in OB wards for many years – both usually working the night shift. Kannmacher remembers visiting her mom at work and going to the hospital with her for a “take your daughter to work day,” not knowing then, of course, that one day she would follow in her mother’s footsteps. And her paternal grandmother was a nurse, as well.
“I think I fell asleep before midnight when I went to work with her. I mostly remember hanging out by the nursery,” Kannmacher said. “She always loved what she did, she was friends with her co-workers. I’m not sure if her love for OB helped me love it, or if it would have developed on its own.”
The specialty was cinched while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and the students were given the opportunity to observe in a number of different disciplines. She liked the OB clinical rotation the best.
While going to school, she feels fortunate to have worked as a secretary and unit aide in the neonatal intensive care unit at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
“The nurses there were amazing, teaching me different disease processes with the babies. Even the respiratory therapists, nurse practitioners and physicians would take time to talk to me about labs or what was happening with the babies, who came in for a variety of reasons,” she said. “They each grow and change at their own pace. I loved watching them graduate from the NICU.”
After graduating from SIUE, Kannmacher moved to Peoria, Illinois, and by chance, was able to get a job in a local hospital working in obstetrics. A few more moves allowed her to continue to work in OB, sometimes in the nursery, post-partum, labor and delivery or even gynecological surgeries.
“It has been almost 14 years, and I still love it,” Kannmacher said. “Labor and delivery is my No. 1 love. My co-workers are my friends, the doctors respect us, and our patients enjoy coming to us.
“But it’s not always sunshine and daisies. There are days when you leave crying. If there is a loss within the OB world, it is the most devastating,” she added.
Two years after becoming a nurse, Kannmacher began having her own children.
“It is hard to be the patient (after being the nurse), but good because you have a better understanding of what is happening with your body,” she said. “And it was nice having friends take care of you at delivery!”
Making patients comfortable and helping them to have a good delivery experience is important to her as a nurse, too. She has a necklace a patient made for her, using blue and pink wire to make little baby feet, which Kannmacher wears to work every day. She frequently receives thank you notes from patients, and it means so much to her knowing they had a good labor experience.
“There isn’t a mom out there who can’t tell you about her deliveries, even 50 years later,” she said. “My mom would take us to the pediatrician when we were kids, and we would run into people who talked to her like a friend. When they walked away, we would ask how she knew them. Of course, it was one of her patients she cared for. Now that happens to me. And I love having patients come back to have their second or third baby when I’ve been their nurse for a previous delivery. That’s really special.”
The medical field is constantly changing, which Kannmacher said is a good thing.
She remembers working in small hospitals without central monitoring, who were just beginning with computer charting, not using computers for labor, but only after delivery.
“It was very different when we switched to computer for everything,” she said. “The way we practice regarding all things continues to improve and change, and that’s as it should be. I have my grandma’s old nursing school books, along with her nursing hat and stethoscope. I have read through the books, and some things will always be the same because the body works how it works, but the way they did some things then would be laughed at now.”
As much as she loves her chosen field, she has always worked 12-hour night shifts, three nights a week, which isn’t always easy with three children.
“I sent my kids to go to daycare so I could sleep. I miss out on some things since I’m gone in the evening, but even some of the day nurses don’t get home until kids are in bed,” she said. “I am able to get my kids off the bus every day. I can sometimes get their dinner started before I head in. Sometimes I miss sleep to go to activities on the weekends or to help out at class holiday parties. Most of us working as nurses are moms or dads (my unit is moms), and we do what we can to help cover shifts so we can go to school plays, games or whatever our kids need.”
Her going to work, even during a pandemic, doesn’t seem that strange to her – or even her family.
“My almost 9-year-old and almost 12-yr-old understand a lot better than the 5-year-old. He knows people are sick and that is why we have to stay home,” Kannmacher said. “The older two don’t understand the disease process, but understand how devastating it is. We talk about good hand washing, and my scrubs stay at work and are laundered by work, so that helps.”
And she still loves her job – taking care of a laboring mother or watching a father be so excited at delivery or tearing up when he sees his baby for the first time.
“The looks on sibling’s faces can be pretty cute or pretty funny sometimes,” she said. “Knowing that I can take care of them and do a good job keeps me going back. There is always something to learn. I don’t know a lot of things – but I know a cervix.”
