She has cared for thousands of children during her 51 years of service as a nurse.

Ms Baker retired from Bendigo Health's special care baby unit on Friday after 30 years in the role of manager.

Ms Baker and her team nurse newborn babies to a level of health they require to leave the hospital. 

She said hard work and study got her where she was today.

"Family's look up to you with regards because of your skills and I meet them when they are generally at their most vulnerable," she said.

"We do all the hard things but parents always appreciate full explanations of what you are doing and what you think the outcome will be."

A lot of things have changed for Ms Baker over the years.

She said one thing remained the same - a good work ethic.

"Consistency and being prepared to work hard," she said.

Ms Baker said seeing the babies come back to visit was rewarding.

"We rarely recognise the babies when they return but we recognise the parents and hear about their journeys," she said.

"The idea is to look after them, send them off home in a confident manner and they can just be a family unit."

She said she worked with the hospital to establish the special care unit as an individual ward.

She helped in the early years of teaching midwives how to best deal with sick babies.

"I taught them about the various aspects of neonatology," she said.

Ms Baker said the job was close to her heart.

She said the weight of thousands of hours of overtime faded when she saw the parents and children happy and healthy.

"The satisfaction that the baby goes home well," she said.

"You don't get too heated with the parents, you must remain calm.

"We include the parents in the procedures.

"It helps them understand the process."

Ms Baker plans to continue with her passion for travel in retirement.

"My most recent trip took me to Asia, Kathmandu, India, Peru and England," she said.

"I will be heading to Queensland next week."

Colleagues respect and admire Rosemary Baker for her work in the field of nursing.

Bendigo Health's Women's and Children's Services senior manager Fiona Faulks said the entirety of the hospital were grateful for her service.

"Rosemary has been the cornerstone of the neonatal services at Bendigo Health for many, many years," she said.

"She was instrumental in setting up the Special Care Baby Unit initially and developing the service to the eight cot unit that exists today.

"Her gentle approach is appreciated by the families of the little babies she cares for.

"Bendigo Health is enormously grateful to Rosemary for the years of her life she gave to our service."

Bendigo Health's paediatrics director Andy Lovett said she was an outstanding addition to the workforce.

"She has been remarkable for being calm in crisis," he said.

"She's resuscitated more babies than any other nurse I know.

"That kind of experience is hard won and sorely missed.

"Her modelling of behaviour in the safe, efficient care of babies has influenced a generation of nurses within our hospital."

He said her influence over many babies' lives was incredible and long lasting.

"I think the outcomes for many of Bendigo's babies have been made strikingly better because of her skill and dedication," he said.

"There'll be hundreds of Bendigo families out there, some will be very aware of the difference this woman made to their babies' lives.

"Nothing flusters her. When there is an emergency we all get a fast heart rate.

"She just does her job efficiently and effectively no matter what the situation and that's a really rare gift.

"Those parents form a deep relationships with nurses like rosemary.

"She is a quiet spoken humble woman. You don't get two words out of her.

"Bendigo should be proud of what she's done."