Angela Korver never liked the sight of blood and never planned to become a nurse. But when her daughter began struggling in school, the 45-year-old administrative assistant and recent cancer survivor decided to join her in classes. “I never wanted to be a nurse, never,” Angela admitted before Mother’s Day in her MultiCare Deaconess Hospital uniform.
For Angela’s daughter, Brittany Payton, a love of caregiving began at 17, when her newborn daughter became seriously ill with RSV. “Seeing the nurses care for my baby so tenderly, I knew I had to do the same,” Brittany recalls. But school was hard: she had to care for her family and nearly quit college after a failed semester.
Her mother wouldn’t let her give up. “I said no,” Angela says. They took prerequisite courses together and applied to nursing school. Unexpectedly, Angela was accepted and Brittany was not. “I cried. It was her dream, not mine,” Angela remembers. But her daughter insisted her mother go, and Angela graduated from the program in 2011.
Right after graduating, Angela helped Brittany reapply and supported her financially. “Although it wasn’t my dream, now I’m sure it was God’s will. My work as a nurse allowed me to support my daughter,” Angela explains. Brittany was accepted, studied full time, and graduated in 2014. “I wouldn’t have finished without my mom,” she admits.
Today the mother and daughter work together at the Pulse Heart Institute at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, an eastern Washington city about 450 kilometers (about 280 miles) from Seattle—roughly the distance from Paris to Lyon. Spokane is the largest medical center for the state’s largely rural eastern region and neighboring states, including Idaho and Montana. Their employer, MultiCare, is a nonprofit network of hospitals and clinics covering Washington and operating more than 10 hospitals and hundreds of medical centers from Tacoma and Seattle to Spokane. Because of that statewide presence, MultiCare hires nurses in all regions, making it one of the largest healthcare providers and employers of medical staff in the Pacific Northwest. At one time they weren’t allowed to be placed in the same unit due to rules, but now at MultiCare they can work openly together, feeling an unspoken bond that helps coordinate patient care. “We really complement each other,” Brittany says.
Despite their friendly rivalry, Angela admires her daughter. “She’s a rock star: she can start an IV on anyone. I can’t do that,” the mother says with a smile. They have participated together in Christian medical missions around the world, including through Washington-based organizations such as World Vision (in Federal Way) and Mercy Ships (in Lynnwood). In addition, many nurses from the region take part in international humanitarian projects through the University of Washington’s global health programs and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Angela and Brittany hope to keep helping people for many years to come.
Brittany now has a seven-month-old grandson, and on Mother’s Day all four generations will gather for a family tea for the first time. “My mom has always been my biggest support and inspiration. I love working with her and being her family,” Brittany concludes.
Based on: WA mother and daughter help each other through nursing school