When Aletha Britt, a program assistant in labor resource management, began her career at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in 1977, she was looking for experience.
“I was hoping to become a nurse,” she said. “But other things led me in a different direction.”
That direction took the Greenville native to the post intensive care unit where she worked as the unit secretary – a role that gave her the opportunity to help a lot of people along the way.
“I knew the physicians’ styles and expectations, so I pulled their charts for them when they made rounds,” she shared. “I knew my job and always strove to do my very best. It stood out and made a great impact, and sometimes I was requested by other units or the emergency department (ED).”
Aletha worked double shifts, covered for colleagues, spent the night during inclement weather, transported patients and assisted physicians, all above and beyond her job description.
The work wasn’t without its interesting moments. Aletha recalled that it wasn’t unusual for residents from a nearby nursing home to walk over to her unit and take up residence in any empty bed they found.
“There was one gentleman [from the nursing home] who got into a bed, and when a food tray was delivered, he ate the food and went back to the bed,” she said. “There was another patient in that room, and we realized there should only be the one patient, so we called the nursing home to see if they were missing anyone. The nursing home staff came to our unit to retrieve him.”
Over the years, Aletha transitioned from unit secretary to medical secretary, nursing officer supervisor and supervisor and educator for other unit secretaries.
“I maintained all nursing credentials for the hospital, manually processed travel nurses’ payroll, served on the hospital CBC committee, worked with funeral homes and directors, served on the unit council, and helped achieve JACHO requirements,” she shared. “I have learned many things and grown through 48 years of service.”
Part of that growth has included learning new technology.
“When I started, there were no manual timecards, no computerized orders, no EPIC, Pyxis machines or MyChart,” Aletha listed. “Orders were transcribed by hand, and you had to be able to read all the physicians’ handwriting. Sometimes unit secretaries took specimens to the lab and obtained medicines from the pharmacy. It could be tedious with no computers.”
Aletha has no immediate plans to leave ECU Health, and she hopes for good health so she can keep doing what she loves with her “awesome and caring” team.
“The job doesn’t make you; you make the job,” she said. “It takes all of us to make this facility a great place to work. We all matter and make a difference, no matter how large or small the contribution.”