Sister Lise Tanguay has devoted her life to helping sick people. Nearly 60 years ago, she joined the Augustines, a religious community that laid the foundations for the provision and administration of healthcare in Quebec.1 She recounts the past with emotion and gratitude and offers us, clearly and optimistically, her wishes for the future.
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Hello, Sister Lise. Thank you for welcoming us to Le Monastère des Augustines, which is now a non-denominational place of accommodation open to the public, but also your home. How long have you lived here?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“I arrived in 1965. I did my nursing studies from 1961 to 1964, then I taught for a year at the nursing school. The nun who was in charge at the Hôtel-Dieu de Saint- Georges left to do her master’s degree in the United States and asked me to replace her. That changed my plans, because I wanted to enter the community, but she told me that if I really had the calling, I would also have it the following year (laughter). This allowed me to gain a great year of experience and live in an apartment. “Then, I entered the community, took the three-year training, and started working at the Hôtel-Dieu in 1968. I have very good memories of this; we formed a beautiful family as a healthcare team. Eventually, I also specialized in psychiatry, because the field really interested me.”
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So, before becoming a nun, you lived life as a young woman in Quebec City?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“Yes, and I had a great childhood. I had a great group of friends; we liked to go skating and dancing. We met up on weekends; it was nice. I even had a boyfriend at one point. But the calling was stronger.”
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How did you feel this calling?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“I was very young, seeing my mother take care of sick people, when I felt it, and around age 12 or 13, I knew Iwouldbecomeanun. Iwantedtogivemylifeforsick people. It’s hard to describe, but I felt it inside. It’s mysterious, the calling. It’s like love: when we decide to share our life with someone in particular, why do we choose that person and not someone else? It’s a beautiful mystery!”
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The nursing profession, especially since the pandemic, is going through hard times. Nurses are overworked, their working conditions are deteriorating, and many are leaving the healthcare system despite increasingly pressing needs. How do you see all that?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“The healthcare system isn’t really easy for these young people to live with. In the 1980s, all the experienced nurses retired, and that’s when the system started to break. We can’t replace people who have extensive experience in the care field overnight with people who are just starting out in the profession, even if they’re full of goodwill. It was necessary to take advantage of the experience of the old ones and continue the transmission. But we ended it too quickly, and we’ve never recovered from the impact of that decision. “However, I was hospitalized two years ago, and I have to say that I found the care impeccable. The staff was really good, even if everyone was overloaded. I was also able to benefit from new care techniques and technologies, which are extraordinary. We shouldn’t shun progress, but today’s nurses need to be very skilled and alert to be able to follow all that.”
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What does it mean, to you who have been a nurse, to “take care?”
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“First, it’s about being attentive to the person you’re with. It’s considering them not only through the care they have to receive, but as a whole. You’re taking care of the per- son physically, yes, but also psychologically. They may be experiencing stress and anxiety. They probably have family or friends around them, but maybe not either. You can’t just consider the illness or the person you see on the outside; it’s much deeper than that, and it’s so beautiful when you get to know people. Needs are also different from one person to the next.”
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Do you have any regrets about the life you’ve chosen? Do you feel like you’ve missed out on anything?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“I’ve never regretted anything. And it’s not like it’s always been rosy! There are problems everywhere. Community life consists of women who live together but didn’t choose each other and didn’t receive the same education, so naturally, there were more difficult moments. And of course, around age 30, I asked myself questions. I told myself, ‘if I continue down this path, but I leave the community in a few years, it will be too late to have children.’ I dreamed a few times of rocking the child while saying my prayers. That wouldn’t necessarily have been incompatible, but in the context of a life of devotion, it was impossible, so I had to make a choice. It’s normal, as a woman, to ask yourself questions at certain points in your life. But fundamentally, these questions never made me doubt my choice, and I was very happy.”
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What would you like to leave behind?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“Generally speaking, I’d like people to give themselves the tools to live a balanced life that suits them and a life where they have time to be together. I was very moved, during the pandemic, by the testimonials of those who rediscovered their families and the meals shared together. That’s what I’d like: for people to rediscover themselves and live together for real, to give time to the essential things, to sharing and rest. Yes, work is important, but to the detriment of people and families? It’s essential to take the time to talk to each other; you don’t just have to watch TV and be on your cell phone.”
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Do you have one? A cell phone?
Soeur Lise Tanguay
“Ah, of course, I have one, and I wouldn’t want to do without it (laughter)! We can use anything, but we have to use it wisely. We would be unhappy if technology disappeared! But moderation is always in good taste.”