The date was July 17, 1950 and little Sandy Humphrey burst into the world inside a delivery room at IU Health Methodist Hospital.

She was the daughter of a mother who was a homemaker and a father who worked in the insurance industry. She was a sweet, precious little bundle.

Yet, as the nurses and doctors took care of baby Sandy nearly 68 years ago, they could have had no idea just what this hospital would mean to her – for years to come.

Methodist has, literally, been Humphrey’s life.

She had her three babies at Methodist — Stephen in 1979, Jacob in 1982 and Anne in 1983 — and she landed her first nursing job at Methodist in 1972.

“It’s been a good home to me,” Humphrey said Thursday after getting off her 12-hour shift in labor and delivery. “It really has.”

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Growing up in Indianapolis, Humphrey didn’t really think about becoming a nurse. To put it in her words, she was lousy at math and science.

She really liked caring for people, though, so Humphrey thought social work might be a good fit.

But on her first campus visit to the University of Evansville, she and her parents happened to run into the dean of the nursing school. She took Humphrey into her office.

By the time she left Evansville, her path had been set. She would become a nurse.

When she graduated in 1972, Humphrey landed a job back at Methodist in the intensive care unit. She liked it there a lot and got tons of experience.

Over the next four decades, she had several different jobs at the hospital, including hospice care, training units on a new computer charting system, high-risk OB LifeLine, infection control, teaching, post partum and now – labor and delivery.

She came to the unit in 1996 and has been a part of delivering thousands of babies. Even after 22 years, she doesn’t ever take for granted that little lullaby that plays inside Methodist when a healthy baby is born.

“When I hear it I say, ‘Thank you Lord for another new life,’” she says.

“And thank you for letting me be part of a miracle every night I am at work.”

More with Humphrey

Personal: Humphrey has three children with her late husband, who died of cancer 14 years ago. She has six grandchildren, who are the fifth generation to live in Indianapolis.

Outside of Methodist: She loves being outdoors, doing yard work, gardening and spending time with her grandchildren. She can sometimes be found at a state park, hiking the entire day. The family enjoys spending time at their cottage at Lake Wawasee.

What does it take to be a great nurse? “Individuality, because everybody comes into it with their own personality. It takes compassion. It takes a deep care of people. It takes the desire to want to help people. Yes, you have to have your science and math and the knowledge, but you have to have a willingness to see the heart and not just see the patient.”

— By Dana Benbow, Senior Journalist at IU Health.

   Reach Benbow via email dbenbow@iuhealth.org or on Twitter @danabenbow.