Local inducted into region Nursing Hall of Fame

Irene Mendes says some of the most effective medicine doesn't come in a bottle.

"A hug will go a long way," she said.

For her 34-year service as a registered nurse, Mendes was recently inducted into the Central San Joaquin Nursing Hall of Fame, a project created in 2004 to recognize outstanding nursing professionals.

Mendes spent the bulk of her career working for the Kings County Office of Education as a school nurse and worked the last 10 years for the Corcoran Joint Unified School District.

Although Mendes said she would rather "do her work than talk about it," she is still excited about the award.

"It makes me so proud to have been nominated by my colleagues," Mendes said. "I worked so hard to get to where I am, and it was all so worth it."

In 1973 after being left a widowed mother of two, Mendes, who has been a resident of Hanford for 40 years, decided to take the advice of a neighbor and enroll in the nursing program at College of the Sequoias or COS.

"My only job experience up to that point was waitressing, and suddenly I was left with a family to support," Mendes said.

She received her associate degree from COS in 1975 and graduated with her bachelor's degree in nursing from Fresno State in 1982 and began working at Hanford Community Hospital as the head nurse in maternity.

Mendes went back to school two years later, and in 1982 received her bachelor's degree in nursing from California State University, Fresno.

In 1984, after spending two years with the Kings County Health Department, Mendes went to work for the Kings County Office of Education and knew that's where she wanted to stay.

"I knew that in the school system was where I belonged; I loved the kids and I loved working with them," she said.

In charge of nearly every school in Kings County, Mendes said she loved the work, but felt that there was little time to connect with any of the kids.

 "It was great getting to know all the different students at all of the different schools I visited, but it was hard not having just one school with one group of students."

After 15 years, Mendes left the county office and went to work in Corcoran as the Health Services administrator, serving as the Healthy Start coordinator -- a statewide program aimed at aiding families with health services and education.

"It was great to finally have just one district to worry about," she said. "I really got to know the kids and families that I worked with."

Mendes said besides making kids and families healthier, her greatest reward has been getting to play grandma.

"I always told the kids in Corcoran that I loved being their nurse so that I could be grandma, too; grandmas get away with giving sound advice," she said. "The kids know that I want the best for them -- I let them know that they are capable of anything and I think they listen; people listen to grandmas, we've been around a long time."

Among her many duties as a school nurse Mendes also belonged to 13 different nursing affiliations, including the California School Nurses Organization, the National Association of School Nurses and the American School Health Organization.

She is also a past vice-chairwoman of the Kings County Maternal Child Health/Health Department Advisory Board and served on the Kings Community Action Health Advisory Counsel.

Candace Hilvers, program manager for school health programs in Tulare County, nominated Mendes for the award, and said she couldn't think of anyone more deserving.

"Irene is the person you go to if you need an answer to a question or anything; she knows it all," Hilvers said. "She is also so dedicated to school nursing and gives her everything to anything she works on; Irene is an outstanding leader and is never too busy for the kids."

Mendes is happy to be moving into another stage of life, but said she will miss the kids she worked with for so many years.

"My priority in life are kids and their families," she said. "Our job as a nurse isn't to just put Band-Aids on boo-boos, it's to care."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2424.

(Oct. 6, 2009)