Beverley Causey-Smith Rita Stevens, a dedicated registered nurse for 25 years, is a bubbly miracle worker.

Her speciality is birthing babies and teaching childbirth classes through The Nurses Practice.

She describes herself as friendly, outgoing, driven, forthright and honest, patient and compassionate.

The Nurses Practice closed their Smith's parish office March of last year and since that time Mrs. Stevens and her partner, Nurse Liz Boden, have worked out of their respective homes.

"I have my phone, fax, mini copier and computer set in the middle of my kitchen table and we eat on our glass dining table,'' Mrs. Stevens said.

When asked about her career and where she is today she explained: "I am where I am today because of lots of gruelling hard work, especially way back then 25 years ago.

"I was scrubbing bed pans, washing floors, cleaning instruments and trying to help patients get the best possible care.

"There was no high tech equipment. There was no ultra sound to see and hear a mother's unborn child. There was no doppler to transmit images.

"Rather we used a device shaped like a funnel which was placed on the mother's abdomen and we listened with our ears for the racing sound of the baby's heartbeat inside the womb.'' Mrs. Stevens received her nurses training in the US and her first job was working in Labour and Delivery on the 3-11 shift.

In 1982 she came to Bermuda and worked at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and made a change to work for Dr. Ian Fulton in 1989 until 1997.

"I started working for The Nurses Practice in 1994, while I was employed with Dr. Fulton. At first it was just on a part-time basis and it became my full time job in 1997,'' she said.

Mrs. Stevens is fascinated by the birth process and says that she enjoys her rapport with the people she meets on a daily basis.

She thrives on sharing her knowledge and training with pregnant women and their families.

"I knew I wanted to be a nurse from the time I was eight years old.

"My aunt, Louise Palmer was an evening shift nurse who lived with my grandmother. I would go there on a daily basis and we children had to be relatively quiet during the day when we played so as not to awake Aunt Louise.

"She worked the evening shift from 3-11 and when she came out to go to work with that white starched dress, white stockings and shoes, hat bag, scissors and things she looked like an angel.

"She would say, `I'm going to the hospital to tend the sick.' She was my role model - I admired her so much and I wanted to be just like her! Sadly, she died two years ago.'' Mrs. Stevens is a woman of enormous talent who makes a difference in the lives of people each day.

To her, every birth is a precious and spiritual moment. She gets close to people and shares their moments of joy and sometimes sadness.

She encourages young people interested in nursing to take every opportunity to learn all that they can while they are in college.

"Find out what you love about medicine and learn as much as possible.

"Technology has impacted the medical field tremendously in the last 10 years and is advancing all the time.

"Nursing has a dark side. I have seen women lose babies, I have felt their tears and listened to their pitiful sobs.'' She says of all of her accomplishments that she values her nurturing role of mother and wife the most.

"My 19 year old daughter, Tiffani, graduates from Bible College in May and my ten year old son, Christian, is a great child.

"I think 20 years of marriage is a huge achievement too.

" I am extremely family oriented and I am proud of my family who are a great support to me.'' Her dream for the next decade is to continue teaching childbirth classes as she is passionate about sharing her knowledge and helping others.

"Work, making connections with patients, and learning new things make me happy.

"Any form of child abuse, to a baby or any child, such as physical, verbal, or emotional makes me very sad,'' she concluded.