Nurse Donaldson retires after 35 years

Starting off from the very first day Liberty opened, Ms. Donaldson has been the face of the nurse’s office. She was a registered nurse for 35 years and announced her retirement in March.

Ms. Donaldson started her career as a candy striper in high school where she volunteered at a local hospital and nursing seemed so exciting and fun.

She worked at St. Louis Children’s Hospital for 18 years then office nursing for 6 years at a pediatrician’s office and then she got into school nursing for about 10 years in elementary, middle and high schools.

High school is her favorite. She enjoys all the challenges that go along with the job.

“I love working with teenagers and I think that high school nursing is very challenging and rewarding. The problems that you encounter in high school are bigger just because we are dealing with young men and young women,” Donaldson said.  

Along with the challenge, Donaldson enjoys knowing she has a good support system, with dealing with issues such as drug, pregnancy and bullying issues.  She likes working with guidance counselors to provide the best needs for students.

“I really like being in a team setting where I can work with our guidance counselors in order to help students with whatever they need,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson received a lot of love from the Liberty staff her last day. Mrs. Renninger brought in several gifts throughout the day from the staff with stuff she liked such as Cheez-its and Diet Coke, which are her favorite snacks. She also received flowers from staff, cake in the guidance office and cards from students.

“It’s been a day brightener,” Donaldson said.

On her first day as a retired nurse, she had hip surgery on March 29 for a muscle tear in her left hip. It was an old tennis injury that has progressed over time.

She is looking forward to her plans to travel with her husband and visit with her three kids and five grandchildren who all live out of town. She would like to go on medical mission trips, get back into tennis and continue wedding planning for her daughter who is getting married this summer.

Liberty welcomes in our new nurse as she adapts to the school

Our new nurse, Bridget Thomason has been a registered nurse for 21 years. She was a nurse at South Middle School since 2011 and was a substitute nurse in the Wentzville School District prior to that.

She is excited about the change of going from middle school to high school; especially at Liberty.

“I think change is always good, I’m excited because I like this age a little bit better than the middle school age,” Thomason said. “I love this beautiful school. It’s awesome and big and all the teachers and principals are nice.”

Mrs. Thomason has been married for almost 20 years and has three kids: ages 12, 15 and 17.

She loves spending time with her family and in her spare time she like to to water ski as well as spend time at Bull Shoals Lake and doing crossfit.

“It’s just a hobby, I do it and I coach a couple kids classes, it’s a lot of fun,” Thomason said.

With having a passion for taking care of kids and having an aunt who was a nurse, Thomason thought nursing might be what’s for her.

“I went to college for nursing and never looked back,” Thomason said.

She’s excited about continuing her career at Liberty and loves her new big and bright office.