Rozella Limerick studied nursing in St. John’s, Antigua. “I come from a large household there,” she says. “There were at least nine and often more in the household and I was always taking care of someone.”
“I was trying to choose between police or nursing and I got accepted to both,” she recalls, “but decided to try nursing because I felt deep down it was my calling. I never regretted it.” She emigrated to the U.S. at age 28 and is an LPN.
Ms. Limerick works for Beverly Home Care and has long-term patients. She worked with one paraplegic patient for 20 years.
Her current patient is on a ventilator. “When I arrive in the morning, he needs suctioning. He needs total care,” she says.
She has been with him since 2006. During this period, his mother was sick and she cared for both. After his mother died, she assumed other responsibilities taking on household chores and activities of daily living, not part of her job description.
“One time when I walked in, he was in cardiac arrest,” she remembers. “I resuscitated him using the ambu bag and called 911; he was taken to NYU.”
She works five days, 12-hour shifts, and when called upon, she works a double and sometimes triple shift. “You can’t walk out,” she says.
“I get up every morning knowing my patient is looking for me,” she says. “I get so much satisfaction.”
“My husband, Keith Limerick, gives me lots of support and encouragement,” Ms. Limerick says. “He has had the most influence in my career.
She has been in the health field for 28 years.”
