Nurse helped teenage mom 24 years ago\, today they work together

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Nurses do many jobs in a hospital, and strive to comfort every patient they encounter.

But sometimes, a nurse's impact is bigger than they expect.

41 nbcs amber lake spoke with two nurses -- from coliseum medical center -- on their interesting relationship.

Amber... cathy sumner is the director of labor and delivery at coliseum medical center, and kathy tillman has been a nurse with coliseum for almost forty years.

The odd thing is, tillman was sumners nurse years ago.

23-34 135-143 45-109 120-130 *nats:laughing what's so funny?

Probably the fact that kathy tillman, a long time nurse with coliseum medical center now works for cathy sumner.... sumner was transferred to coliseum medical center, as a patient, almost 24 years ago after giving birth to a premature baby.

Now... almost 24 years later... cathy sumner is kathy tillmans boss.

Kathy's been a wonderful director and has brought a lot of needed change to our niccu and the nursery and mother baby area in general.

Sumner arrived at the hospital, a teenage mother who dropped out of high school... had no answers to her babys condition and wasn't being taken seriously.

Tillman changed that.

We had many conversations because they would have us leave during visiting hours but i was that mom that was right there at the bed side.

Like i said i was very young so she took the time to explain things, treat me like i was a mom, not just a teen mom.

She encouraged me to go back to school.

Told me i could do anything i wanted to do, that i needed to follow my dreams. and now, that teenage mom grew up to become tillmans boss.

Tillman says that nurses have a big job, and if it wasn't for them... the hospital wouldn't run without the nursing staff people come in, you don't know what they're bringing with them, kathy didn't know what i was bringing with me but she treated me like a person like a mom and that's what i needed at that time.

Sumner said being treated like a person was the best gift, tillman could give her.

It's been a job that i have cherished all these years.

And will continue until they put me out in the pasture.

Sumner and tillman say that developing a personal connection with their patients means a lot to them.

Both