When not she’s not working a shift at Rockdale Medical Center’s ambulatory care unit, you might find Dorothy Reeves on a medical mission trip to Haiti, preparing and serving food to the homeless, or distributing clothes to refugees in Clarkston.
Service and nursing are seamless in Reeves’ life. Both stem from a desire to help those in need.
Every morning, Reeves asks for guidance so she can say and do whatever she needs to do to help others. “I couldn’t do anything without the Lord blessing me and giving me the desire,” said Reeves, 57.
Her grandmother inspired her to go into nursing and to care for others. Reeves became a licensed practical nurse in 1983 and earned her RN license in 1990. She worked in intensive care for many years but when the hospital where she worked closed in 2006, she was ready for a change.
Today Reeves works in the ambulatory care unit at Rockdale Medical Center in Conyers.
“I enjoy talking with patients and if there is something they need, I try to do it,” she said.
Co-worker Janet Stephens has seen Reeves provide tennis shoes for a homeless man, send encouraging cards to patients , visit former patients in hospice care and attend their funerals to comfort families.
“Dorothy reaches out and meets more than the physical needs of her patients,” Stephens wrote in her nomination. “You can look up the word 'service’ in the dictionary, but I see the word every day in Dorothy Reeves.”
Reeves arranges her schedule so she can practice at Mercy Heart Health Clinic twice a month, work on a Clark Howard Habitat for Humanity Build annually and spend a week in Haiti.
“I go with the docs here and we treat respiratory issues, stomach problems, high blood pressures and infections,” Reeves said. “All of us pay our own way. We take two suitcases of supplies that we have gathered and can pack whatever we want to give away in our own bags.”
On her last trip to the island, Reeves took little bags of jewelry, flip-flops, pencils, crayons, clothing and shoes.
“The rewards of nursing are seeing people’s health improve, to see them restored,” she said. “Your job is to function when others can’t, to be an advocate. Sometimes you recognize a medical issue and intervene before there’s a catastrophe. Sometimes it’s a material need. But sometimes what the patient needs is a chat or a hug. It may be as simple as your presence.”
Reeves’ grandmother, who raised her, modeled compassion as a nurse and in service to the community.
“She would take anything that people gave her, saying that you never know who is going to need that. When someone did, she’d give it away,” she said.
Reeves keeps her own community service room at home stocked with things that are for “whomever, whenever.”
“Someone always needs something. When you ask, you never know if you can help them, or they can help you, or whether you’ll help each other,” she said. “Even at work, when you’re in a hurry, you should always ask. How you nurse is who you are.”
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