Values, service highlight nursing career spanning 59 years

For 59 years, Jacqueline “Jackie” Brock has built her nursing career around a simple calling: caring for people when they are at their most vulnerable. At Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, she has served patients in orthopedic nursing, the emergency department, operating room and registration area, bringing the hospital’s mission and values into each role.

Her journey to nursing began at 8 years old, when she decided to pursue the career. She attended St. Agnes Hospital School of Nursing for its three-year program and decided to remain at the hospital after graduation because of its mission and values.

Now 80, Brock is retiring from nursing at the hospital. Her Aug. 14 retirement celebration included a blessing, special dedication and a “tunnel of gratitude” sendoff with current and former associates to celebrate her 59 years of service.

Brock began working at the Catholic hospital July 3, 1967. Her various roles have included orthopedic head nurse, emergency department leader, operating room circulator nurse and nurse advocate. She ends her career working in the registration area of the hospital.

“I was raised in a Christian, loving environment, and that seemed to be the way they were and the way they felt about people,” said Brock about the staff at Ascension St. Agnes. “When you come in, you come in wide-eyed and want to change the world.”

The family atmosphere and teamwork set by the Daughters of Charity, administration and colleagues were special and important for Brock.

“It was like a family, so that’s what kept me grounded,” she said. “That was what made me realize that I was where I was supposed to be. I was home.”

Brock’s motto throughout her career has been to do the best you can do in this world. As a nurse, she has helped thousands of patients feel at home and safe while in her care. Some of her most impactful memories include being with critically ill patients as they were preparing for death and making patients feel comfortable during their hospital visits.

“Being in healthcare, you really get to know people in their most vulnerable moments,” she said.

Over time in her nursing career, Brock has witnessed attitudes and perspectives change among her peers. Now, many nurses leave working at a hospital for positions that don’t require as much intensive labor or have a higher salary.

“Nursing is challenging,” said Brock. “If you go in with the forethought that you are going to do the best that you can in this world, then I think nursing is what you should be in.”

You have to go in and be a survivor and have dedication, she said.

In retirement, Brock is looking forward to taking meditation classes, volunteering with women who have been abused, getting involved with the Coming to the Table organization to discuss racial wounds, and spending time with friends and her daughter, Erin, who is a teacher. Her husband, Odell, passed away from an illness in 1983.

For people considering nursing or any job in the healthcare field, Brock encourages them to surround themselves with compassionate and kindhearted people.

“With all the negativity that’s in this world, there are good people,” she said, “and with having good people in this world, those are the people you want to embrace.”

Brock feels that she has lived her calling. 

“It has never felt like a job,” she said. “It was what I wanted.”

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