Twin sisters retire from nursing job together at 42 years

ABINGTON, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Two twin sisters, with a combined 84 years of experience at Abington Jefferson Health, are working their final shift in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

The silence in the maternity ward at Abington Jefferson Health is elusive. Bertha Campbell already delivered one newborn and still has eight more hours in her shift. If you take away the mask, this day could feel ordinary.

"It's just something that for 42 years you've done, so that's what you do," she said.

Except, this is her favorite kind of shift. Her twin sister, Mary, is here, too.

"Sometimes, I will take care of a patient and bring the patient over to Mary and they'll be like, 'What's going on here?'" she said.

Mary and Bertha are identical twins. For them, this career has always been about family.

"I think it's been a good career when you have children because when we had kids, we babysat for each other," said Mary.

Bertha is a labor and delivery nurse; Mary helps new babies and moms.

"There are parts of us that are different, Bertha said laughing.

The two graduated from nursing school together in Abington and didn't go far after that.

"We started together, we were hired by the same person, now we're leaving together," said Mary.

That's the other different thing about this shift. It's their last. Their coworkers are going to miss their combined 84 years of experience.

"They taught me how to care for other people through resilience," said their coworker Anna Chen.

"They always put their patients first. They're great team players," said Nancy Machon.

A proper send-off after more than 40 years on the job would usually mean a big retirement party. That can't happen with the pandemic, but the twins say they're getting a gift much better than that; they get to see their families.

"My granddaughter wrote me a letter and said she's going to see both of us down the shore on the 15th of July," said Bertha.