NMI’s once-youngest nurse aide began career at 13 years old

Crisencia Maratita Songao Burch, who became the first registered nurse from Rota, actually started out as a nurse aide in October 1956 at the tender age of 13. That was soon after she finished 6th grade, the highest level of education available on Rota at the time.

“A doctor who defected from Czechoslovakia named Dr. Melnikoff hired me to work at the 22-bed Rota Hospital. I was only 13 years old when I started working as a nurse aid,” Burch said in an interview with Saipan Tribune.

Burch, who now lives in Virginia, visited the CNMI for a month with her husband, James Gregory Burch, a retired major in the U.S. Air Force and now a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Hours before going back to Virginia on Tuesday, the Senate surprised her with a commemorative resolution honoring her 26 years of “diligent work and service as a nurse” to Rota and the CNMI.

Senate Commemorative Resolution 17-7, authored by Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) and Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota), also honored Burch on her 30 years of retirement.

Burch, who has maintained her nursing license since retiring in 1981, is currently licensed to practice nursing in Virginia and other states. She is a member of the Fairfax Virginian Emergency Nursing Corps. She retired as a registered nurse in 1981, and left for Florida to be with her husband.

“I may be out of the CNMI for years but my heart will always be with Rota and the CNMI,” the mother of six said. Of her six children, two are in the field of healthcare.

Her love for helping others motivated her to take night classes at the Rota Convent even while she was already working at the Rota Hospital in 1956.

“I kept on learning. I was hungry to learn and I read every book I could find—English books, nursing books,” she said in an interview in the Senate chamber on Tuesday.

Senate floor leader Pete Reyes (R-Saipan) said that Burch worked as if she was a physician, not just a nurse or a nurse aide at the time.

“There was nobody else there. And that enabled her to be a nurse and a doctor,” Reyes said.

Three years later, in 1959, Burch began teaching the necessary skills, knowledge, and information in the nursing field to other newly hired nurse aides.

While Burch already established her career in the field of nursing, she pursued formal and advanced nursing education by attending the Trust Territory School of Nursing in Palau in 1961. After graduating, she worked at the Dr. McDonald Hospital in Palau. She returned to Rota as head nurse in 1962.

She went on to attend several courses in nursing and medicine to further hone her skills and knowledge. She passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurse in July 1981.

From 1972 to 1976, Burch also became the first woman elected as a member of the Rota Municipal Council. She retired as a nurse in October 1981.

“Throughout her many years of service, Ms. Burch has served the people of Rota and the CNMI with enthusiasm, love, loyalty, fairness, and dedication,” reads the Senate resolution, a framed copy of which was presented to Burch on Tuesday in the Senate chamber on Capital Hill.