for the penson family nursing is a family business for years now mike penson has worked alongside his wife retta penson and their two daughters tayler and carly penson at dignity health central coast hospitals along the central coast of california during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic their work has been relentless but still the family made time to be together on fathers day we went out played a little bit of golf had a nice dinner watched a little tv thats it mike penson told abc news more health care workers fear losing their jobs during coronavirus pandemic his daughters were just kids when they first posed in nurse hats and he still remembers the moment they told him they wanted to be just like him when they said they wanted to do it i thought it was great i know that both of them are really caring he said it just seemed like it would be a good fit for them to become nurses so im really proud that they did from left to right carly mike retta and taylor penson are seen here during an interview with abc news abc news mike and retta gave their oldest daughter tayler a real stethoscope as a teenager after she expressed interest in their profession she still uses it today when i got this as a present it kind of just confirmed my choice she told abc news i know how much its made an impact in their lives and then for me to be able to hold this kind of power it meant a lot she now works right alongside her dad in the intensive care unit of french hospital medical center in san luis obispo more icu nurse talks how covid19 has changed her life mike is aware of the dangers his family faces every day they have all treated patients with covid19 and taylers younger sister carly works in the emergency room we have the ppe so its like taking care of any other patient we just have to be more careful using the ppe carly told abc news mike penson is grateful for his family and the common ground theyve gained more nearly 600 us health care workers have died of covid19 now everyone at the dinner table can understand what everyones talking about mike penson said its interesting hearing what they do or what they learn and comparing it to what we had its been fun everybodys been working really hard this is a serious situation that were all in right now he added and well do what we can to keep everybody healthy