Double Vision

Walking in to MountainView Hospital’s Neuro ICU, you might do a double take, with two twin sisters working on the unit.

Not only are Estela I. and Celia A. both nurses working on the same unit; they have been working together, as nurses, for 40 years.

“She’s older by three minutes,” Estela said of her sister Celia. “But I’m the bossy one.”

The path of the sisters has really mirrored each other, in life and career. The pair went to nursing school in the Philippines, then moved to Brooklyn New York after being recruited to fill nursing vacancies. For 18 ½ years the twins worked side-by-side, before moving to a New Jersey hospital to work for five years.

The sisters moved to Las Vegas in 2005 and have been at MountainView Hospital since then. When they first moved to the desert city, the sisters, along with their families, bought houses next to each other. Their daughters are close in age and are also close.

“We carpool together, we go shopping together, we travel together, we work together,” Estela said.

The sisters even took the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) exam together – luckily both passed!

While the sisters don’t live next door to each other anymore, they still live close enough to carpool to work.

“Everybody gets confused with us all the time,” Celia said with a laugh, adding that new residents and physicians often do a double take when they first start working on the unit.

Another perk to working together, they call in sick less.

“If you put us together, we can’t call in sick,” Celia said. “The other one will get mad if we do!”

While they never pulled a “twin swap” during their careers, there may have been a time during school when one twin filled in for another.

Celia and Estela said they’ve stayed at MountainView not just because they get to work together.

“It’s the people that are here, they are compassionate and friendly,” Celia said.

Like everything they’ve done throughout their career, the sisters are also looking toward retirement, together, in July 2025.

“We pioneered this unit,” Estela said, reflecting on their career and the changes over the past four decades.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without her,” Celia said in response.

They laughed at, and with each other, and went back to their patients.