Nancy Freybler, a Surgical Nurse with Van Diest Medical Center (Webster City, IA), gives the Iowa Hospital Association some insight into what a surgical nurse does, the camaraderie among nurses and what kind of person who becomes interested in this type of career.

For more information on health care careers in Iowa, click here.

(Watch this video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/tCqtgsiUntA)

So it’s no surprise that people who find reward and success in the hospital setting also flourish in the military. And it’s also why Iowa hospitals wholeheartedly support their employees who have made that commitment to serve. 

Carrie Riley poses by an Air Force medical evacuation plane

One of those employees is Carrie Riley, a nurse at Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah.  Like many medical professionals who have joined the military, Riley wanted to support those on the front lines who put their bodies and lives harm’s way every day.  “When I joined, the war had been going for a while. This just seemed like a way I could use my own skills to take care of them (injured soldiers),” she recently explained to the local newspaper, the Decorah Public Opinion. 

But unlike most others, Riley is twice as old as the soldiers she treats.  At age 45, those soldiers are like her own children, who are in their early and mid-20s.  “I think this is a remarkable feat for a woman in her early 40s to opt to join the military, let alone serve in a war zone,” said Riley’s husband, Bruce, who is also a military veteran. 

Riley’s war-zone deployment began in early August when her unit, the 109^th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron of the Minnesota Air National Guard, went overseas with the mission of stabilizing and caring for wounded soldiers who are being flown out of Afghanistan and Iraq to military hospitals in Europe.  The transports, which use Air Force cargo planes that have been converted into massive high-tech air ambulances, typically take nine hours each way. 

“It’s a fluid environment. You’re moving constantly. We have a place to stay, but you carry enough stuff with you to last a couple of weeks,” she explained. 

Riley said she is thrilled to be part of the military effort and is inspired by those she cares for.  “They have these awful injuries, yet they have the best attitudes. It’s amazing really, but it’s also why it’s so great to take care of them,” she said. “I just want to contribute to helping the troops. No matter how you feel about the war, people are over there still getting hurt and injured.” 

The experience is also made positive by the support she gets from her employer, Winneshiek Medical Center.  “The staff has been awesome. I’ve been doing this for three years and they’ve been really supportive. I’ve been gone three or four weeks at a time and my coworkers have covered for me.” 

“Carrie is an inspiration of service to her colleagues and peers at Winneshiek Medical Center as well as to myself,” said Dan Wener, the hospital’s CEO.  “She is using her expertise and compassion to benefit our soldiers, while placing herself in harm’s way.  Carrie’s love of country is evident in her actions, I am proud someone of such character is part of Winneshiek Medical Center.”

Sheryl Stoolman, nurse and emergency responder

Thursday morning wasn’t the first time Sheryl Stoolman volunteered to accompany a patient from Carroll to Des Moines.  In 2006, a severe snow storm was underway when the nurse from St. Anthony Regional Hospital said she would ride in the ambulance.   

She did it again on Thursday, taking her usual position – beside her patient, providing treatment, comfort and reassurance.  Sadly, that patient would be Sheryl’s last.   

The ambulance was about 38 miles east of Carroll on Highway 30, about halfway between Jefferson and Boone, when it encountered a semi about to make a left turn.  Suddenly seeing the ambulance coming up behind him, the semi driver moved toward the right lane.  At the same moment, the ambulance, driven by Robert Genzen of Manning, also moved to the right lane and his vehicle struck the back of the trailer.   

The collision killed Sheryl and her patient, 75-year-old Norbert Hoffman of Carroll.  Genzen was also injured and was flown to Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines.  The semi driver was not seriously hurt.   

Paramedic Wendy Baker, also riding in the rear of the ambulance, was taken to Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson.  Iowa State Patrol officers said that when they arrived at the accident, Baker was working feverishly to treat Sheryl, Genzen and their patient, ignoring her own injuries.  They had to pull her away.   

Sheryl was a nurse at St. Anthony for more than 25 years.  Over those years, her responsibilities included trauma nursing educator, organ donation program leader and coordinating the local emergency medical services team.   

Sheryl Stoolman, with St. Anthony Regional Hospital CEO Gary Riedmann, just after she received her Iowa Hospital Heroes Award in 2007.

 Living within walking distance of the hospital, Sheryl had no real concept of “on-duty” or “off-duty.”  She regularly attended to the bumps and scrapes of neighborhood children and checked on elderly neighbors.  She took personal time to visit and counsel the parents of a young cancer patient – before, during and after treatments.  More than once, she provided them with a calm, reassuring presence, even during several fretful, middle-of-the-night calls.   

Sheryl was truly a community nurse, a caregiver for all of Carroll.  That is why in 2007 Sheryl became one of the first recipients of the Iowa Hospital Heroes Award.  The coworkers who nominated Sheryl for the award said her work and dedication not only impacted St. Anthony, but the entire community.  More than an amazing nurse, they called her “Carroll’s hero.”  

Gary Riedmann, St. Anthony Regional Hospital CEO and a member of the IHA Board, said the hospital and community are working to cope with the loss: “Sheryl Stoolman was an exceptionally kind, gentle, professional nurse.  For many in our community, Sheryl was their guardian angel, always there to support and help out.  Our prayers and thoughts are with her family.  We miss Sheryl.”  

The ambulance trip in the 2006 blizzard, like Thursday’s run, was just a small example from Sheryl’s long career of generous giving and constant caring.   

That’s the way Sheryl Stoolman lived – selflessly, compassionately, courageously – all the way to the end. 

Julie Larson is a nurse practitioner at Hancock County Memorial Hospital in Britt.  Julie was kind enough to take a few moments out of her very busy schedule to sit down with us and answer a few questions about her career and what advice she can provide to those who may be interested in pursuing this as his or her own nursing career.

YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmYBxOVo4oc

National Nurses Day has been in existence since 1965 with its inception by the International Council on Nurses as a day of recognition for some of the health care system’s finest and most dedicated and caring staff members.

Recognizing the dedication and commitment of Iowa nurses, the 6^th Annual “100 Great Iowa Nurses” event was recently held at the Iowa Events Center, showcasing 100 of the best nurses as nominated and selected by their peers from across the state.  Not surprisingly, the vast majority of these nurses work at Iowa’s community hospitals.

We all know a great nurse and today everyone should take the time to thank them for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the patients they serve.  Iowa nurses provide care to patients around the clock in the best and worst of times.  National Nurses Week provides the opportunity to give back by simply saying, “Thank You.”

Here are a few Web sites that offer free, electronic Nurse Day cards to send:

• 123 Greetings
• Blue Mountain
  

“You can’t go somewhere like this and not have it change you,” said Johnson, who has been in nursing for 18 years.  “CNN and all of the other images you see on TV don’t do it justice.  They don’t even come close.”

Johnson traveled with fellow Trinity Bettendorf ER nurse Catherine Jones to Port-au-Prince in the weeks following the catastrophic 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12.  Johnson and Jones were two of 12 from across the country who provided aid as part of a group coordinated by international relief organization Project Helping Hands.  Johnson had heard the group’s founder, Jeff Solheim, speak at a medical conference a few years ago and was impressed with their outreach efforts in third world countries.

“I contacted him afterward and told him, ‘If you ever need help, let me know if you have a need greater than the response,’” Johnson said.  “Immediately following the earthquake there was an urgent call put out; the need was that great.”

That’s an understatement.  After paying their own way to the impoverished island and bringing only the medical supplies they could carry with them, the nurses were inserted into an area with an 80 percent mortality rate.

While there, they witnessed lines of people waiting for hours in the sweltering heat for food and care.  They encountered survivors with tuberculosis begging for a job because their starving family needed food more than they needed medical attention.  And they were overcome by the smell of 60 decaying infant bodies, crushed in the rubble near an orphanage.

Johnson shares more details in a series of video interviews posted by the hospital.

Traffic was unusually heavy and stop lights showed no mercy when Jennie Love headed home later than usual one summer evening.  Almost home but stopped once again, she was suddenly jolted by a car slamming into her vehicle’s rear bumper. 

The stoplight turned green just then, so she pulled around the corner and stopped by the curb.  As the young man driving the other car pulled passed Jennie’s car, Jennie saw he seemed more than a little upset, even though there was little damage to either vehicle.  When she approached his car to talk things over, Jennie discovered the young driver was not able to speak much more than an incomprehensible mumble and was having trouble breathing.

That’s when years of nurse’s training and practice kicked in.  Jennie asked him if he was choking and he nodded yes. As she helped him out of the car, his breathing stopped completely, so she performed the Heimlich maneuver as she yelled to a bystander to call 911.  Fortunately, Jennie was able to dislodge the food that was obstructing the young man’s airway.  In a few moments, he was breathing and then talking when paramedics arrived.

Now Jennie learned this was no accident. About a block before the accident, the other driver began choking on a piece of food.  In desperation, he purposely drove into Jennie’s car to get her attention.

“I believe that it was God’s plan that I was delayed that evening at work and that the stoplight turned red just before I got to it,” Jennie says,  “I also believe that with all of the traffic right then that God led this young man to hit my car, someone who had been trained in what to do.”

Jennie has since learned from the young man’s mother that he is enrolled in college – to become a nurse.

Joyce Aldridge (left) and Laura Gray

As a veteran registered nurse, Laura Gray is known not only for her technical competence, but for her leadership and professionalism as well. Her nursing career has been distinguished and admirable, but perhaps a recent event captured the scope and meaning of what it means to be a hero better than anything else.

It was a typical winter evening in Iowa, with sleet and blowing snow.  For veteran nurse Joyce Aldridge, it was a good night to just stay in. While tending to household chores, she experienced some pressure in her chest that just wouldn’t go away.  Joyce decided to call her husband, Darrell, who was miles away.  Darrell suggested Joyce call her long-time friend, Laura Gray. 

Joyce and Laura had worked together as nurses at Keokuk Area Hospital (KAH) for 20 years.  Knowing that Laura keeps busy at home with her family, Joyce didn’t want to bother her.  Darrell heard the concern in Joyce’s voice and took it upon himself to make the call to Laura.  Immediately, Laura understood the severity of the situation and with her husband James, they arrived at Joyce’s house and witnessed the intense pain her friend was in; Laura insisted they go to the emergency room as fast as road conditions would allow. 

Arriving at KAH, Joyce was able to walk into the trauma room, but within minutes was in a full code situation.  While the physicians and emergency room staff were responding to this crisis, it was Laura who insisted on doing CPR and carrying out her promise to Joyce that she would not leave her. 

Today, Joyce is doing great and is back to work.  She credits many individuals for her happy ending, but had it not been for the persistence and life-saving work of her friend, Laura, she knows things might have turned out quite differently.

Edra Fouts
Stoddard Care Coordinator
Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines

At the John Stoddard Cancer Center at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Registered nurse Edra Fouts makes a difference in the lives of her patients and their families on a daily basis. From the first day she arrived at Stoddard, Edra did everything possible to make sure her breast cancer patients received the best care possible.  She cares for each and every one of them with her whole heart.

Recently, Edra spent several hours at the end of her day with a dying patient to help write cards to the patient’s three children and mother for special events (birthdays, Mother’s Day, graduations). Edra didn’t think twice about spending countless hours with the patient to make sure the cards were finished.

Somehow, Edra still finds time to dedicate herself to a number of other projects, including Pink Saturdays, a free mammogram screening partnership; serving on the Polk Metro Breast Cancer Committee; traveling to Washington, D.C. to lobby for breast cancer implants for her patients; serving as a Komen for the Cure board member for one year; facilitating a multidisciplinary breast cancer conference; and mentoring new Stoddard Care Coordinators. Edra has also made herself available for countless presentation requests on breast cancer, traveling to area businesses, churches and leadership groups to share her knowledge.

Edra is a Hospital Hero because of her endless dedication to her patients and in the fight against breast cancer. Watching patients who have become friends pass away from the disease is not an easy thing to do. But Edra strives to do everything possible to make sure her patients are receiving the best care and support they need to fight cancer. She never thinks twice about giving of herself and is truly an amazing nurse, friend and hero.

Sharon Ferguson
Registered Nurse
Mahaska Health Partnership, Oskaloosa 

Sharon Ferguson has been employed at Mahaska Health Partnership (MHP) in Oskaloosa for a little more than a year, but she has already made a tremendous impact.  Sharon has been a nurse for 36 years, working in many different arenas before landing her current position as Diabetes Educator for MHP Community Health.

Sharon spent many hours of her own time learning everything she could about the diabetes disease process. In a short amount of time, she has established great partnerships with many professionals and her relationship building efforts have allowed her to offer free blood glucose screenings at the local Hy-Vee pharmacy on two different occasions, screening more than 150 people and providing valuable information regarding diabetes maintenance and follow-up care.

Sharon started a free monthly diabetes support group in January and already has an average of 20 people attending. She organized and offered Diabetes Wellness in

Self-Management Education (WISE) classes, which currently boasts 39 participates completing the 10-hour classes. Thanks to her leadership and persistence, the Diabetes WISE program recently received certification from the American Diabetes Association.

Many patients and community members have benefited from Sharon’s wealth of knowledge and the compassionate care she gives to every individual, treating each person like family. Sharon has integrity, always placing her patients’ needs first.  Recently, she heard about a co-worker’s elderly neighbor who was traveling 30 miles to receive free diabetes supplies and offered to make a home visit to see how she could assist him.

Sharon whole heartedly deserves this award for exemplifying honesty, integrity, humanity, courage and commitment. She has worked through many obstacles throughout her endeavors and continues to persevere in her personal mission to educate the community about diabetes and help prevent some of the devastating complications it can cause when left unchecked. She has used her talents and expertise to improve our organization and the health and well being of our community. She truly is a living hero.