Family of nurses continues generations of saving lives at Christ Hospital
By Ashley Kirklen
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CINCINNATI (WLWT) — As National Nurses Week comes to a close, a West Side family is celebrating their remarkable three-generation legacy in nursing, with over 275 years of combined service in the field.
Sisters Charla Payne and Megan Henley, along with Charla’s daughter Madison McCreary, have dedicated their careers to helping deliver babies in the area, making nursing a calling that defines their family.
Charla Payne, clinical nursing director of the women’s health service line at The Christ Hospital, said this year will be No. 31 for her.
Megan Henley, assistant manager at Liberty Birthing Center, has been in the field for 26 years.
Madison McCreary, a labor and delivery staff RN at The Christ Hospital, has been a nurse for five years.
Together, the three women have over 50 years of nursing experience, but their family’s connection to the profession goes back even further.
“Our mom is a nurse and her sister is a nurse, and her sister is a nurse, and they both worked in the NICU at Christ and then out here at Liberty,” Payne said.
For the family, nursing was always a natural choice.
“Yeah, I knew what I was doing from the time I was itty-bitty. Yes,” McCreary said.
Beyond the family legacy, their passion for nursing is fueled by the honor of supporting patients during life’s most significant moments.
“It was just always kind of understood and, and viewed as an honor to sort of walk with people through that space. If someone was having a baby or, you know, after delivery or something like that, it was viewed as a very important thing, or even if they had lost a baby that, you know, it’s an honor to be in that space with them,” Henley said.
The nursing tradition extends to nearly a dozen other family members, including Charla and Megan’s other sister, her husband, and others who have joined the profession. Even those who marry into the family are expected to embrace the nursing culture, which can lead to lively discussions during weekly Friday night dinners.
The legacy will continue, as Megan’s 18-year-old child is set to start at Miami University in the fall, beginning their journey in nursing.
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