Nursing in her 90s

South Haven woman reluctantly retired after 69 years

By Karen Flaten

At 91 years old, Natalie Rosen of retired from nursing after spending 69 years in the field.

“I loved it!” she said. “And I didn’t want to stop. But I fell, you see, and it became quite difficult.”

Natalie’s fall resulted in several broken ribs in 2024. The recovery was long and arduous, and she realized that trying to work while recovering from the fall was nearly impossible. So she decided to retire. But it was tough to quit doing what she loved.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye to everybody,” said Natalie, discussing the only thing she regrets about retiring in mid-2024. She had planned to retire at the end of 2024, but the injuries sustained in her fall earlier in the year persuaded her to retire mid-year.

Natalie considers herself lucky to have found a career which gave her good pay, offered opportunities for advancement and – eventually – allowed her to do what she really wanted to do. Interested in psychology right from the start, Natalie hoped to specialize in mental health, and continued to look for jobs in the mental health field.

Although Natalie loved her career and everything she was able to do, it was not Natalie’s childhood dream to be a nurse.

“I did not intend to be a nurse,” Natalie chuckled, remembering how she happened to go into nursing. Natalie grew up in St. Cloud. After high school, she initially enrolled at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, where she completed the first year of a liberal arts program. At the time, the liberal arts program at the College of St. Benedict prepared women to be teachers. But Natalie knew she did not want to be a teacher. After her first year at St. Ben’s, she spent the summer working at Glacier National Park, intending to decide how to proceed with her education and vocation when she returned from her summer job.

But upon her return from Glacier National Park, she discovered that her mother had enrolled her in the nursing program at St. Gabriel’s School of Nursing - without discussing it with her.

“I’m not going,” Natalie told her mother.

But her mother packed her bags, put them in the car and said, “Get in!”  She drove Natalie to Little Falls, where St. Gabriel’s School of Nursing was located. Her mother deposited Natalie and her luggage on the grounds of St. Gabriel’s, and then drove away.

“You could do things like that then,” said Natalie. “It was a different time.”

Shocked and angered at her mother’s treatment, Natalie had no intention of staying at St. Gabriel’s. But as she stood at the entrance to the school, Sister Mary Elizabeth, the Program Director at the time, came out of her office. “Why don’t you come in?” she asked – and then continued, “You’ll have a place to sit in case you want to make a phone call.”

Natalie complied, and entered the building, where Sister Mary Elizabeth began talking with her. At one point she suggested that maybe Natalie didn’t have the ability to complete the program.

Stung by this comment and feeling a bit defensive, Natalie decided to stay. Surprisingly enough, she found she liked the classes, liked the learning, and liked the program in general. Not only was she good at it, but she made friends with her classmates, enjoying the camaraderie as well as the learning experience. Natalie began to realize she was happy at St. Gabriel’s and did not want to leave. In the end, she stayed – and graduated from the 3-year nursing program in 1955.

“My mother apologized for years for doing that to me,” said Natalie, “but I always told her not to apologize. No, I told her, ‘I liked it and it was the best thing you could have done!’” she remembered.

After Natalie graduated from St Gabriel’s School of Nursing, she returned to her parents’ home in St. Cloud and began working as a nurse at the St. Cloud Veterans’ Home. In 1956, after her marriage, Natalie and her husband moved to Willmar, where he worked. There Natalie found a position as a surgical nurse in the Operating Room of the General Hospital in Willmar. But this job was not to her liking, so after a period of time, Natalie found another job at the Willmar State Hospital, working with mentally ill patients. And there she found her true calling.

Natalie’s husband was transferred to the Twin Cities, so soon they moved to the Minneapolis area. Natalie took a position at the University of Minnesota hospital, eventually enrolling in a master’s program at the U of M. Her intent was to work in mental health in a clinic. In 1982 Natalie completed her Master’s Degree, but nursing jobs were hard to come by in those days. So – even though she had never wanted to teach – Natalie found a job teaching at St. Mary’s Junior College.

In 1984, the largest RN strike in the history of nursing in Minnesota took place. As Natalie remembers it, the largest issues were hours and pay. The strike was successful, with salaries going up and same-day surgeries becoming the norm, which saved staff time. Natalie was thrilled when the strike brought these positive changes to the profession.

Natalie worked many types of nursing positions, including working in the Outpatient Clinic at Abbott Northwestern for 25 years. In addition, she worked for Hennepin County as an on-call Mental Health Nurse; worked as a contractor for General Mills as an in-house Nurse Practitioner; and worked as a Nursing Supervisor at Ridgeview Hospital in Waconia, as well as other positions. In 1979, she was honored to be involved in a Minnesota Supreme Court Study on the Mentally Disabled and the Court. She taught at Mankato State University and completed the Nursing Practice program there, becoming a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Natalie’s aim was always to work in a clinic, in the mental health field. In 2017, Natalie resigned from Abbott Northwestern to work as an independent contractor at Associated Clinic of Psychology, from which she retired in 2024.

By the early 1990s, as changes in nursing continued, Nurse Practitioners (those with a Master’s Degree in Nursing) were able to prescribe medications without the supervision of a doctor. It took a special examination to be given this authority. Before that change occurred, Natalie would often interview a patient, write up her findings, and would then talk to the doctor on staff. Then they would both see the patient, and the doctor would prescribe the medication.

As nurses became empowered, Natalie enjoyed her work even more. And once she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, Natalie became “Dr. Rosen” to patients, finding that both she and her patients were more comfortable with her prescribing medication with this title.

“The main thing was being able to give patients medication based on your own understanding, rather than having to have your decisions approved by a doctor,” said Natalie, as she recalled nursing practices in the past. Recognition and respect were important to Natalie in her career.

Natalie and her husband of more than 50 years, Carl, lived in the Minneapolis area for many years. Just four years ago they moved to South Haven, close to one of Natalie’s four children and grandchildren. Natalie remembers coming to the area as a child with her family. In those days, the family used to rent a cabin on Pleasant Lake near Annandale in the summers. She also remembers staying with her family years ago at a cabin on Pearl Lake near Kimball.

Natalie and Carl have loved the “Heart of the Lakes” community. Most notably, Natalie has been very happy with the Health and Wellness Center in Annandale. She met so many people that were special to her. Now that she and her husband are planning a move to a 55+ facility in Maple Grove, she found that many of the people she met at the Health and Wellness Center offered to help with packing for their move.

“They are wonderful people!” she exclaimed.

Natalie recalled a special friend from her time at St. Gabriel’s School of Nursing, named Anne. They maintained contact for many years. Recently, after Anne had a difficult bout with cancer, Natalie visited with her, brought flowers, and they enjoyed their time together. But Anne’s cancer returned and she did not survive the illness. Natalie was devastated by her loss after so many years of friendship.

Thinking of her life and her career, Natalie said that one of the most important things she found is that she values friendships.

“It’s important to maintain contact!” she said. “You have to make an effort!”

 “As you travel through life,” Natalie expressed thoughtfully, “you meet people; you need to treasure those friendships, to nurture them.”