Newswise — After 45 years of service at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, nurse Tommy Covington admits he has thought about retiring. “But what would I do?” he shrugs. “I still love my job so much. I’m not ready yet.”
Covington is the kind of caretaker that his colleagues admire and his patients and families adore. Covington, a soft-spoken, teddy-bear-like veteran, is a legend at CHLA where he works the night shift (7 pm to 7 am) on the hematology-oncology floor. He and the rest of the CHLA nursing staff will be celebrated during National Nurses Week, May 6-12.
“Since June 20, 1970 I have worked on this floor,” Covington proudly states, noting that his preference for working three 12-hour shifts during the evening is due in part to better traffic flow when commuting from his Valencia, Calif home. But his real reason for working nights? “You’re working during a period that most people don’t want to work and I wanted to try to give all I could.”
Covington’s nursing career started in 1964 by accident, he says, explaining that he was originally attending school to become an optical lens grinder. Following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Covington says the country shifted. Society was different and he felt compelled to get involved and he volunteered to enlist in the Navy. He was called into action and told he could either be a ship fitter (a mechanic) or a dental technician. Neither assignment thrilled him. He expressed his interest in the medical field and was sent to corps school in San Diego for 16 weeks, followed by an assignment as a hospital corpsman doing bedside nursing in Corpus Christi, Texas. Covington took care of injured, sick and maimed members of the military who were serving in Vietnam.
In 1966, Covington was sent to Guam for 17 months, intermittently taking part in several medical missions to Vietnam, before returning to San Diego in 1968. He went to Los Angeles Trade Tech College and was told there was a shortage of male nurses, so he enrolled in the RN program – despite the fact that many people questioned his decision to enter “a female profession. Why don’t you be a doctor?”
Soon after he was sent to CHLA, finding a home on the hematology-oncology floor, a very difficult place to work given that many of the patients do not have a good prognosis. Covington’s military background helped form a tireless work ethic and poise when dealing with the challenging health situations his patients endure.
“It’s difficult,” he says of the work he does with very sick children. “I try to live in the now and let the future develop around me. Many of my patients have succumbed to their disease. We work toward a finale of them dying and when there’s a remission or a recovery we rejoice in that.”
Over the decades, Covington has remained in contact with many families whose children were treated by him at CHLA. “We communicate throughout the year with phone calls and holiday cards and it’s wonderful,” Covington says. One family, whose child died 20 years ago, has remained in close contact with Covington. “We fish together, we email, we talk and we reminisce about their child we took care of and the love we shared.”
Two months ago, Brittany Thornton’s 22-month-old daughter Jessica was fussy and would go to sleep. “It was about ten o’clock at night and she just kept crying. Tommy came to the door and asked if he could help. He picked her up and it was like magic – she stopped crying immediately and laid on his shoulder,” Thornton says. “He took her for about two hours and let me sleep. And then he brought her back to me and she was sound asleep.” During the family’s months-long stay at the hospital, Covington has become a trusted friend. “He peeks in and says hello. He’s the only one that can make Jessica stop what she’s doing and smile. He is so cheerful and kind and loving – you can tell he cares a lot about what he is doing.”
He never intended to work in pediatrics. But, “I fell in love with the kids here,” Covington says. In 1983, he fell in love with his wife Laurie, who is a staffing coordinator at CHLA. The couple has a son, Joe, who also works in CHLA’s staffing department. “We’re a close knit family. We work different shifts at the hospital, but I like knowing they are right there,” Covington says.
When Covington isn’t working, he’s indulging in his favorite pastime – fishing. Last Christmas Eve, Bachelorette stars Trista and Ryan Sutter surprised Covington by featuring him in their unsung heroes who work the late shift video. Sponsored by Coffee Mate, Covington thought he was headed out for a little coffee break. Instead he was invited into a decorated Airstream, thanked for his dedicated service and gifted with a fishing trip.
“Love is the reason I do what I do,” Covington says. “Even though at times it is painful when you have a loss. But it’s rewarding. I love my job.”
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