By Alisha Bowling, Intermountain Medical Center maternity unit manager
Margaret Anglesey
Our maternity unit was touched and incredibly grateful last month for the support shown to us as we said goodbye to a beloved colleague who passed away. Margaret Anglesey was our maternity unit nurse educator. She’d worked for Intermountain just shy of 40 years and had touched many lives during her career here. Earlier this year, her health began rapidly decreasing when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
After a recent visit to one of our ICUs, we learned Margaret was being sent home on hospice care. We wanted to send her home with love, one last time, and let her know the impact she’s had on our unit, our staff, our patients, and our service line. We set up a surprise balloon release in her honor. We had current and previous co-workers come to celebrate Margaret with very little notice. It was amazing to see that kind of support.
Caregivers released balloons in Margaret's honor when she went home from the hospital on hospice
Margaret’s husband said on that particular day, Margaret was pretty down. He took her for a walk down to the lobby where she saw a large group holding yellow balloons. When she was wheeled outside, she realized all of these people were there for her. We explained to Margaret that the balloons were just a small representation of the lives she touched. We learned later that this moment helped Margaret feel so loved and it truly lifted her spirits. Margaret was sent home from IMC and passed away about a week later.
When we learned of her funeral plans, the managers at other hospitals in the Salt Lake Valley stepped up to help. We had nurses volunteer from all over the valley to help cover a few hours of the shift to allow our team to break away and watch a live-stream of her funeral broadcast in our education center. The unity and support was amazing. We had nurses from every hospital in the valley and even the Wasatch back come to help. The teamwork that occurred that day allowed my team the ability to honor a nurse who touched many lives. The impact Margaret had on so many lives allows her legacy to live on.