NMMC-West Point staff honored Tamara Ivy’s 40 years of nursing service with a retirement reception April 9. Her husband, Charles, accompanied her for the event, which had a Dallas Cowboys theme.

WEST POINT, Miss.—Registered nurse Tamara Ivy has retired after 40 years with North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point.

Ivy graduated from West Point High School in 1978 and completed her Licensed Practical Nurse training at Itawamba Community College in 1980. “Growing up, I loved watching medical shows on television,” Ivy says. “It took too long to be a doctor, so I decided I wanted to become a nurse.” In January 1981 she joined the staff of Ivy Memorial Hospital, working on the medical-surgical and postpartum units.

When Clay County Medical Center (the predecessor to NMMC-West Point) opened in West Point in 1985, Ivy helped move patients from Ivy Memorial Hospital to the new facility. “We thought we were in heaven,” she says. “We were really excited. The hardest part was learning where everything was at the new hospital.”

In 1992, Ivy made history again by earning her associate degree in nursing as part of the first LPN-to-RN class at Mississippi University for Women. She earned her bachelor’s degree in health sciences from the University of Mississippi in 2012 and her master’s degree in health administration/education from the University of Phoenix in 2013.

Over the years she has also worked in the Emergency Department, Endoscopy, Intensive Care Unit and Short-Stay Surgery. She finished out her career as the hospital’s outpatient/telehealth nurse coordinator.

Ivy says she has enjoyed it all and retirement will be bittersweet. “I’m going to miss my coworkers and my patients,” she says. “A lot of people have helped me grow and mature in my profession. We’ve grown up together.”

Her immediate plans after retirement call for “sitting down and relaxing for a few months,” including a few trips with her husband, Charles. But Ivy enjoys her church and community service too much to relax for long. She is a member of Mt. Hermon M.B. Church, where she serves as a deaconess and helps with the women’s mission and youth group. She is also active in Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Progressive Foundation of Clay County. When not volunteering, Ivy enjoys reading and listening to music of all types.