North Platte Telegraph
Bruce Furniture, Mid-Plains Community College & Tami Timmerman-Lashley
E2
SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Area nurses recognized for their compassion, skill
and Grand Island plate- let and plasma donation sights. She is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Her donors and staff all highly respect and love her. She is a very compassionate and caring nurse. Peggy has been in nursing for 47 years. In the early years she worked in a small com- munity hospital that required her to know all aspects of medical care. It spanned from labor and delivery to emergen- cy services. For over 30 years she has worked for the Red Cross. She is currently the apher- esis supervisor here in North Platte at the Cottonwood Street site. Peggy is one of the kind-
More than 300 nurses and health care work- ers were nominated to be recognized between Feb. 17 and March 31. Here are the 10 honor- ees, along with what people had to say about them. For all nominees, turn to page E3. Mara Wardyn Becoming a nurse during a pandemic for so many of us has been hard and taxing. Mara has worked many hours in the PCU and ICU COVID-19 units. She has so much grace and com- passion for her patients. Always taking the extra time for her patients. Dani Smith Dani is the day-shift
fice duties and all that entails. She is a true ex- ample of a team player. Michelle Miller Michelle is a charge nurse at Linden Court and provides compassionate and ex- ceptional care to all the residents. She has a delightful sense of humor and high stan- dards of excellence. She mentors others in the nursing department and is a valuable lead- er on her team. We love Michelle! Peggy Baker Peggy Baker has been an American Red Cross nurse for over 30 years. She is supervisor of both the North Platte
Dani Smith
Michelle Miller
Peggy Baker
Zackary Cooper
Mara Wardyn
Samantha Beck Alyssa Bauer Wardyn, Smith, Cooper, and Sprague photos courtesy of GPH; Miller photo courtesy of Photographic Images; Beck photo courtesy of Samantha Beck; Smyth photo courtesy of Heidi Smyth; Bauer photo courtesy of McCook Clinic. Shayla Hecht Liane Sprague Heidi Smyth
RN coordinator on the ICU unit at Great Plains Health. She goes above
and beyond for not only her patients but for her staff as well. She
picked up a number of short shifts all while still working on her of-
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E3
SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
WIN from Page E2
Shayla has been working tirelessly in this pandem- ic. She has been working long hours many times in the COVID-19 unit, spend- ing so many hours away from her family to care for those in need during these trying times, dealing with the stress and emotion- al toll but yet still being a positive light in these dark times. She is just one of the many amazing nurses who are giving everything they have to keep our communi- ty safe. Liane Sprague She is an amazing nurse working in infectious dis- ease. Not to mention she took on extra shifts at the hospital when there was a shortage of staff. All while
friend. I am proud to nomi- nate Samantha. Shayla Hecht Shayla goes above and beyond in everything she does, but especially in the care that she provides her patients. When she is work- ing, she pours her whole heart and mind out to make sure that her patients are safe and that they feel loved. She sacrifices much in her own life to be able to make sure her patients are getting the care they de- serve. Shayla is a co-worker and dear friend of mine and the dedication that she has for this profession is inspiration- al to me and I’m sure other nurses and health care staff that work alongside her.
being a single mom with lit- tle support system. Liane has the biggest heart! Heidi Smyth She is my daughter and I know she put herself through nursing school to follow in her grandmoth- er’s footsteps. I can’t help but see the little girl I once held, and now she is such a professional, caring and knowledgeable nurse. It brings tears to my eyes and I am so very proud of the woman she has become. Alyssa Bauer Alyssa is a nurse practi- tioner at McCook Clinic. She has always provided us with wonderful care. Thank you, Alyssa!
nurse at Great Plains Health and is amazing with his pa- tients! He worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to take excellent care of every- one he helped! Thank you for all you do! Samantha Beck Samantha is a CNA at one of the local nursing homes; she has seen how this pan- demic has affected the residents first-hand and how hard it has taken a toll on them. She goes to work won- dering how she can make a resident’s day, whether it is just by talking to them or by making them laugh. She goes above and beyond at her job, working long shifts, ex- tra shifts or coming in on her days off to help. She is an amazing mom, wife and
est souls I have ever met. She has a heart of gold, and her patients see and feel that every time they have an en- counter with her. Peggy is respected by her team as well as all of the donors that come in. It amazes me to think of the thousands of lives that she has impacted over her career. She is empathetic, compas- sionate, patient, caring, an amazing leader, has integ- rity and still has a desire to learn new things. She is the type of nurse anyone would be blessed to have caring for them. Zackary Cooper Zackary is a critical care
C ongratulations to all nurses who were nominated
GPH Donavon Lillard — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Dorcas Achieng — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Eddielyn De Guzman — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Eleath Levy-Sterling — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Elena Ramos — Registered Nurse Diagnostic Imaging at GPH Elizabeth Clair — Registered Nurse NICU at GPH Elizabeth O’Brien — Registered Nurse Diagnostic Imaging at GPH Emily Maxwell — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Emily McKain — Clinic RN GPPN Orthopaedic Providers at GPH Emily Michl — Registered Nurse Oncology Providers at GPH Emily Rongisch — RN Critical Care at GPH Emily Swanson — Registered Nurse
Oncology Providers at GPH Caroline Burris — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Carrie O’Brien — Registered Nurse Diagnostic Imaging at GPH Cathy Hinrichsen — Registered Nurse II Medical Oncology at GPH Cedrick Bayudan — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Chelsie Margritz — Home Health-Hospice RN Home Health Services at GPH Cherry Marquez — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Cheryl Murphy — Clinic RN GPPN Pain Management Providers at GPH Christina Blanton — Home Health-Hospice Christina Yoshida — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Christine David — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Cindy Litz — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH RN Home Health Services at GPH
Care at GPH Beccah Mortensen — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Bekah Mallory Bernard Gallenberg — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Betsy Houlden — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Boreum Yu — Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH Breanna Steffes — Registered Nurse Diagnostic Imaging at GPH Brenda Deibert — Registered Nurse Float Pool at GPH Brianna Woods — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Caala Clang — Clinic RN GPPN GPPN Float Pool at GPH Calli Pankonin — Clinic RN GPPN Pain Management Providers at GPH Candice Myers — Registered Nurse Diagnostic Imaging at GPH Carla Stuart-Dean — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Carmen Schmoldt — Registered Nurse
Medical Oncology at GPH Amber Higgins — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Amber Rathbun — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Amy Curtis — Weekend only Worker (WOW) RN Women’s and Children at GPH An Dang — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Angela Rodda — Weekend only Worker (WOW) RN Emergency Department at GPH Ann Ria Diaz — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Annie Culangab — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Antonette Marie Pasquil — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH April Jessa Suazo — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Ashley McNeel — Registered Nurse Charge Medical-Surgical at GPH Ashley Sandoval Bailey Rasmussen — Registered Nurse Heart Institute Services at GPH Bea Ramona Onate — Registered Nurse Critical
Cindy Smith Colleen Sexson — Registered Nurse Wound Care Providers at GPH Cortney Scott Courtney McColley — Clinic RN GPPN Heart Institute Providers at GPH Dana Barron — Clinic RN GPPN General Surgery Providers at GPH Danika Dizmang — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Dawn Mallory — Home Health-Hospice RN Home Health Services at GPH Dawn Miller Debra Tines — Home Health-Hospice RN Home Health Services at GPH Denise Smith — Clinic RN GPPN Pain Management Providers at GPH Derek Farmer — Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH Dezarae Herrick — Clinic RN GPPN Heart Institute Providers at GPH Diane Baumgartner — Registered Nurse Coordinator Surgery at
Abbey Jones — Clinic RN GPPN Heart Institute Providers at GPH Addie Schaeffer — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Adrienne McDaniel — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Alecia Doman — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Alexandra Preitauer — Registered Nurse Special Procedures at GPH Alison Pavelka — Registered Nurse NICU at GPH Allison Kramer — Registered Nurse Heart Institute Services at GPH Alyson Weathers — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Alyssa Sommer — Registered Nurse Heart Institute Services at GPH Alyssa Walker — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Amaka Ozichukwu- Emenike — Registered Nurse Float Pool at GPH Amanda Harwager — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Amanda Miller — Registered Nurse
Please see NURSE, Page E4
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SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Behavioral Health Services at GPH Emily Thompson — Registered Nurse Coordinator Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehab at GPH Emma Webster — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Erica Brown — Registered Nurse Charge Emergency Department at GPH Erin DeFruiter — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Erin Pascoe — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Ethan Suh — RN Medical-Surgical at GPH Fredalie De La Fuente — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Fulvio Calamba — Registered Nurse Special Procedures at GPH Giavanna Anderson — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Gina Melcher — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Gladys Kamuiro — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Grace Kamau — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Grace Nebechukwu — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Grayce Jorgensen — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Halley Helleberg — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Hannah Anderson Hannah Kirkpatrick — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Haylee Mitchell — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Hayley Jenny — RN NICU at GPH Heather DeWitt Heather Frederick — Registered Nurse Wound Care Providers at GPH Heather Haneborg Heidi Magpali — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH NURSE from Page E3
RN Home Health Services at GPH Leah Pawlowski — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Leah Wescoat — Case Manager- RN WOW Case Management at GPH Lee Cornelison — Diabetic Educator-RN Diabetic Management Registered Nurse Charge Emergency Department at GPH Lindsay Schwartz — Registered Nurse II Medical-Surgical at GPH Lindsey Voelkel — Registered Nurse Charge Medical-Surgical at GPH Lisa Rosenof — Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH Lisa Shippee — Clinic RN GPPN Brain and Spine Providers at GPH Lisa Stiffler — Registered Nurse Coordinator Medical- Surgical at GPH Lori Gager — Program at GPH Leslie Torres — Lisa Glaubitz — Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH Luciana Gordon — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Luzviminda Pawlowski — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Madonnna Tan — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Makayla Tetley — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Makenzie Lienemann — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Malinda Harvey — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Marcia Spady — Registered Nurse Charge Medical-Surgical at GPH Mark Anthony Gante — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Martha Okonji — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Marvia Runners- Swaby — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH
RN Home Health Services at GPH Kaycee McCoy — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Kayla Dotson — Clinic RN GPPN Nephrology Providers at GPH Kayla Heflin — Registered Nurse Quality Management at GPH Kelli Monheiser — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Kellie Mahanes — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Kellie Tagwerker — Registered Nurse IV Administration-Staffing at GPH Kelly Anderson-Benell — Registered Nurse Charge Surgery at GPH Kelly McKay — Clinic RN GPPN Neurology Providers at GPH Kelsey Sellers — Clinic RN GPPN Orthopaedic Providers at GPH Kendra Lampe — Case Manager-RN Case Management at GPH Kierra Knox — Registered Nurse Coordinator Heart Institute Providers at GPH Kim Roe — Registered Nurse Medical Oncology at GPH Kimberly Haney — Clinic RN GPPN General Surgery Providers at GPH Krista Struckman — Registered Nurse II Special Procedures at GPH Kristine Joy Atinon — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Kylin Brooks — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Kynzie Cox — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Kyrstin Townsend — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Latoya Jones — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Laura McWha — Physician Liaison-RN Quality Management at GPH Lauri Swanson — Home Health-Hospice
Providers at GPH Jennifer Suurvarik — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Jens Doblies — Registered Nurse Float Pool at GPH Jesirae Earl — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Jessica Buffington — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Jessica Thompson — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Jhamar Manacmul — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Jill Miles — Clinical Data Specialist - RN Quality Management at GPH Joahnna Jane Patrona — Registered Nurse Special Procedures at GPH Jolene Sitorius — Registered Nurse IV Administration-Staffing at GPH Joni Sandoval Joy Fleck — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Judy Gifford — Registered Nurse Special Procedures at GPH Julie Didier — Care Management RN Contract Svcs-GPHIN Care Coord at GPH Juyeong Jeon — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Kaitlyn Greeley Kalie Beckmann — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Kallie A. Boyer Kallie Shepherd — Clinic RN GPPN GPPN Float Pool at GPH Karen Waite — Coordinator of Bariatric Surgery at Great Plains Health Karlee Schow Karri Wallace — Clinic RN GPPN Pulmonary Providers at GPH Katherine Bruns — Registered Nurse Coordinator Women’s and Children at GPH Katherine Wartman Kathleen Tubal — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Kathryn Dailey — Home Health-Hospice
Mary Jane Cacapit — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Mary Pascoe — Home Health-Hospice RN Home Health Services at GPH May Marichu Cabal — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Meesha Keeling — Registered Nurse Charge Special Procedures at GPH Megan Hejtmanek Megan Hynes — Registered Nurse Float Pool at GPH Megan Jenik — Weekend only Worker (WOW) RN Emergency Department at GPH Megan Schroeder — Registered Nurse Coordinator Heart Institute Services at GPH Megan Williams — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Melissa Ebert — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Melissa Nemechek — Registered Nurse Medical Oncology at GPH Melissa Stacy — Weekend only Worker (WOW) RN Emergency Department at GPH Melvin Pendleton — Registered Nurse Charge Emergency Department at GPH Merry Sedlacek — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Micaelia Hernandez — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Michelle Burnett — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Michelle Gutschenritter — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Michelle Pagel — Registered Nurse II Women’s and Children at GPH Miranda Stagemeyer — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Myndi Merrihew — Weekend only Worker (WOW) RN Critical Care at GPH Nancy Beacom — Registered Nurse Coordinator Disease
Heidi Weir — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Medical-Surgical at GPH Hillary Zysset — Clinic RN GPPN Pediatric Providers at GPH Holly Sward — Registered Nurse Charge Medical-Surgical at GPH Hope Hartig — Helen Maizo — Registered Nurse Diabetic Educator-RN Diabetic Management Program at GPH Huiju Jeon — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Hyewon Kim — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Ivan Bumatay — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Jacqueline Fernandez — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Jami Comer Jamie Matson — Registered Nurse IV Administration-Staffing at GPH Jamie Simants — Registered Nurse Special Procedures at GPH Jamie Sosa — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Janeen Cook — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Janeice Potthoff — Registered Nurse Coordinator Home Health Services at GPH Jasmine Hahn — Employee Health and Wellness Coach-RN Human Resources at GPH Jena Ziemba Jennifer Cook — Registered Nurse Oncology Providers at GPH Jennifer Diaz — Clinic RN GPPN Pediatric Providers at GPH Jennifer Hagen — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Jennifer Johnston — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Jennifer Kleewein — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Jennifer Lantis Jennifer Nutter — Clinic RN GPPN Pediatric
Please see NURSE, Page E6
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SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
This year, we cannot say “thank you” enough to the brave nurses on the front line. When the coronavirus swept into our communities, you answered the call. Every day you put the needs of others first. Doing the job you were called to do. You never give up. And once this pandemic is over, we will still find nurses in the same place – being the heroes you have always been. CHIhealth.com Thankyou, nurses. Youareourheroes.
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SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Registry at GPH Natalee Little — Case Manager-RN Case Management at GPH Natalie Clarke-Lindo — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Natasha Ekomaye — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Neissa Becker — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Neyva Flores-Lopez — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Nicole Tomlinson — Registered Nurse Charge Critical Care at GPH Nursing Staff North Platte Care Center Patricia Plugge — Registered Nurse Patricia Smith — Case Manager-RN Psychiatry Providers at GPH Philip Miller — Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH NURSE from Page E4
Medical Oncology at GPH Phyllis Karekia — Clinic RN GPPN Pain Management Providers at GPH Racquel De Polonia — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Randi Munson — Case Manager-RN Case Management at GPH Rawnie Barnes — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Rebecca Colson — Registered Nurse Medical Oncology at GPH Rhonda VanSkiver — Clinical Data Specialist - RN Quality Management at GPH Registered Nurse Charge Emergency Department at GPH Ronda Edwards — Clinic RN GPPN Pain Management Providers at GPH Rosalie Albertson — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Roberta Brandt Robin Hager —
— Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Sarah Roth — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Sarah Tullis — Registered Nurse Observation at GPH Scott Tool — Registered Nurse Surgery at GPH Seoyoung Lee — Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Services at GPH Shane Cumming — Registered Nurse Coordinator Critical Care at GPH Shawnae Howard — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Shea Simmons — Registered Nurse Wound Care Providers at GPH Shelby Schultz Shelia Markley — Registered Nurse Oncology Providers at GPH Shelly Veldhuizen — Clinic RN GPPN Endocrinology Providers at GPH Sheryl Jay Sagnep — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Shiloh Folchert — Registered Nurse Special Procedures at GPH So Hui Bak — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Song ey Shin — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Sonya Maassen — Registered Nurse Coordinator Orthopaedic Providers at GPH Staci Thompson — Registered Nurse
Oncology Providers at GPH Stacy Dotson — Registered Nurse Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehab at GPH Stacy Haman — Registered Nurse Charge Critical Care at GPH Stacy Hastings — Clinic RN GPPN General Surgery Providers at GPH Stella Anene — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Stephanie Bowden Steph Jacobson Stephanie Schultz — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Stephanie Seamann Stephanie Wiesen Sudha Baniya — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Sung Hwa Jung — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Susan Caudillo — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Sylvia Mintle — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Care Management RN Contract Svcs-GPHIN Care Coord at GPH Tammi Schram- Guernsey — Registered Nurse Coordinator Endocrinology Providers at GPH Tammy Prock Tera Riley — Clinic RN GPPN GPPN Float Pool at GPH Teresa Donohoe — Registered Nurse Wound Care Providers at GPH Tabitha Edelman Tamela Spies —
Rosanne Trumbull — Inpatient Physician Coordinator at GPH Ruth Summerson — Registered Nurse II Women’s and Children at GPH Sali Lindenberger — Registered Nurse Radiation Oncology Providers at GPH Sally Brecks — Registered Nurse Coordinator Family Medicine Providers at GPH Samantha Ady Samantha Headley — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Samantha Whiley Sandra Messersmith — Home Health-Hospice RN Home Health Services at GPH Sara Boyer — Registered Nurse Women’s and Children at GPH Sarah Bartels — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Sarah Jane Avendano
Teresa Martin — Registered Nurse Medical Oncology at GPH Teri Schledewitz — Registered Nurse Emergency Department at GPH Tessa Nordquist — Registered Nurse Charge Critical Care at GPH Theresa Keller — Clinic RN GPPN Neurology Providers at GPH Thomas Randall — Registered Nurse Heart Institute Services at GPH Tracy Fuqua — Registered Nurse Same Day Services at GPH Treu Gibson — Clinic RN GPPN Pediatric Providers at GPH Trevor Blake Specialist - RN Quality Management at GPH Virginia Erdman — Registered Nurse Coordinator Surgery at GPH Whitney Bollinger — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Whitney Huebner — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Whitney Trumbull — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Yanina Ivanovych — Registered Nurse Wound Care Providers at GPH Yeojeong Jang — Registered Nurse Medical-Surgical at GPH Yugeun Oh — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Yujin Lee — Registered Nurse Critical Care at GPH Vicky Gayman — Clinical Data
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SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Daughter gives vaccine to oncology nurse mom By HEIDI STEVENS Chicago Tribune As soon as the million Americans. “At the beginning I was keeping a log,
“We’re just so excit- ed to have a vaccine,” Murphy said. “I was like, ‘As many hands as they need. Let’s get this in people’s arms.’” Griesmaier signed up to receive her first dose of the vaccine at 9 a.m. on Dec. 18. Murphy signed up to work one of Northwestern’s vac- cine tables all day on Dec. 18. Griesmaier is Murphy’s mom. The two have leaned on each other and drawn strength from each oth- er and shared tears and the occasional lunch (when there’s time) and rides to work (masked, with the car windows down) as the novel coronavirus crashed through our lives, in- fecting more than 32
‘How many patient ex- posures do you think you had today?’” Griesmaier said. “And then I was checking it against the statistics on TV. I mean, it was nuts. I was really so worried about how things were going for her.” Griesmaier was in awe, she said, of her daughter’s calm, and her lightning-fast mastery of COVID-19 protocols and person- al protective equipment needs and severe respi- ratory illnesses. “I’ve been a nurse for a very long time,” Griesmaier said. (Forty years, to be exact.) “I just kept thinking,
COVID-19 vaccine be- came available to her department, Lynn Griesmaier, nurse co- ordinator for breast medical oncolo- gy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, jumped at the opportunity. “I took the first avail- able spot,” Griesmaier said. “I said, ‘I’ll go anywhere, at any time.’” As soon as ad- ministering the nurse Lizzy Murphy, education coordina- tor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, jumped at the opportu- nity. COVID-19 vaccine became an option,
Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune Registered nurse Lizzy Murphy, left, gives the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to her mother, Lynn Griesmaier, who is also a nurse, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Please see MOM, Page E9
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E8
SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Medical setback fuels passion for nursing
one day.
‘There’s something wrong with her,’” Nicole Jarocha re- called. Madison, who lost about 20 pounds over two months and felt se- riously fatigued, had seen doctors for a few months, but nothing came of the appoint- ments. Her mother pushed for bloodwork and other tests, and Madison ended up getting admitted to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. “I had to stop ev- erything,” Madison recalled. “l can’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath.” Madison learned she has acute system- ic scleroderma. The more common vari- ety causes the skin to produce too much col- lagen, but in Madison’s case, her body produc- es too much collagen internally, which the body thinks of as for- eign and then starts attacking her muscles, tissues and organs. Overall, the disease led to at least 10 hos- pitalizations, several surgeries and proce- dures, numerous trips to Baltimore and the possibility of needing a double lung transplant
ing it. Subsequent testing showed she was clear of cancer and did not need chemothera- py. She said she feels a lot better with the can- cer behind her. “I got really lucky,” Madison said.
can do with nursing after school and ev- erything,” Madison said. Early in col- lege, while raising money for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children through the Knight-Thon, she col- lapsed and was taken to that very hospital for treatment. She went blind for more than a month, her mother said, as doctors sug- gested that flareups from Madison’s disor- der could have affected the connective tissues in the eyes. While Madison regained her eyesight, she is legal- ly blind without her glasses. Then last year, Madison was riding on the back of a moped with a friend when the vehicle crashed into a pole at 55 mph. Thrown more than 20 feet but miraculously alive, Madison had
bones in her foot. Still, she pushed forward through her recovery, and then an- other setback came: cancer. In June, she noticed a lump on top of her rib cage but thought it was just a cyst, which she gets often. By October, however, she realized it had almost doubled or tripled in size. Doctors diagnosed her with leiomyosarcoma, a can- cer of the
By CAITLIN HEANEY WEST The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.)
“The nurses that I had, I feel like I def- initely would not be where I was without them,” Madison said. “I kind of want to do for other people what they did with me.” Switching paths Madison realized go- ing into her senior year at Abington Heights that nursing was the career for her. Ready for a fresh start, she headed to Florida and plans to graduate this May with a nursing degree. She’s had re- search published, made dean’s list each semes- ter and was picked to participate in a re- search study. Madison expects to stay in Florida for another year after col- lege before hitting the road to work as a travel nurse. She’s con- sidering a career in bone-marrow trans- plants or oncology, having done clinical work in an adult on- cology clinic last year that showed her how much she enjoys caring for patients in a criti- cal setting. Eventually, she’d like to move into nurse education. “There’s a lot you
Madison Jarocha knows her life would look much different if illness had not touched her. From an autoim- mune disease that shook up her world as a teenager to broken bones to a cancer diag- nosis in her final year of college, the 21-year- old has faced — and survived — more than some people do in a life- time. Madison, of South Abington Township, Pennsylvania, is study- ing for a nursing degree from University of Central Florida. As a student in Abington Heights School District, however, Madison thought she’d one day study math- ematics. That, along with much more of her life, changed when she was 16. A basketball and field hockey play- er, Madison initially thought she was hav- ing issues with asthma when she started get- ting out of breath and passing out at prac- tice. When her mother, Nicole Jarocha, saw Madison for the first time in a few weeks, her intuition kicked in. “She walked into the house, (and) I turned to my sister and said,
Showing strength
Both Madison and her mother see how
Please see FUELS, Page E9
connective tissues and muscles. Madison underwent surgery on Nov. 30, dur- ing which doctors re- moved the affected area and tissue surround-
a concus- sion and broke sev- er- al
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
E9
SALUTE TO NURSES
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021
Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune Registered nurse Lizzy Murphy, left, asks questions as she checks in her mother, fellow nurse Lynn Griesmaier, before giving her the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Jan. 8.
MOM from Page E7
then the realization of it all finally hit us. So that emo- tional side of canceling your wedding, my mom was there for all of it.” And then, as the year like no other drew to a close, a vaccine arrived. And Griesmaier was scheduled to receive it on the day her daughter was sched- uled to administer it. “I knew my mom was com- ing that day, but there were 18 stations,” Murphy said. “The chances of all of it hap- pening just right ...” Murphy had received her first dose Dec. 17, the day before her mom was sched- uled to receive hers. Murphy knew the drill, and she also knew the emotions.
Griesmaier felt them all, the moment she walked into the hospital to receive her shot. “It felt so reverent,” Griesmaier said. “I’m just so grateful we’re getting to do this. I was in awe of the mo- ment.” Then Murphy’s table had an opening. And it was Griesmaier’s turn. “I thought, ‘I gave birth to her. And she’s going to keep me alive,’” Griesmaier said. Murphy administered the shot, which Griesmaier says she barely felt. On Friday, three weeks after that first shot, Murphy administered her mom’s second dose. “It feels sort of full circle,” Murphy said. “I wouldn’t be
a nurse without my mom. I owe my work ethic and everything and the opportu- nity to go to nursing school and have a great education to my parents. “I always feel like I can never repay her for every- thing she’s done for me,” Murphy continued. “This I feel like is the greatest gift I could give her.” “I’m just so proud of her,” Griesmaier said. “She’s done such beautiful work. Her heart is just — she’s a nurse, true and true. And it’s just amazing. Here’s your child. Here’s your daughter. How this all came together, it’s just amazing.” Griesmaier helps patients who’ve been diagnosed
with breast cancer. She sees fear and hope every workday, pre- and midpan- demic. “I’m just amazed at the resilience,” she said. “The strength and courage that my patients have and their families have, I’m always just amazed.” The arrival of this vac- cine, she said, gives her hope for their futures, for their ability to ward off a dan- gerous virus while their immune systems are already severely taxed. “It’s a good powerful mo- ment between us,” Murphy said. “And it’s also a sense of hope that we’re all moving in the right direction.”
‘How does she know all of this? How is she doing all of this?’” Working at the same hospi- tal was a tremendous relief, Griesmaier said. “Not only because I had such confidence in her,” she said. “But because I still felt like I could make sure she’s OK.” Murphy was supposed to get married on May 30. She and her mom had been plan- ning the big wedding for more than a year. “At the beginning it was like, ‘It’s going to be fine by May,’” Murphy said. “And
FUELS from Page E8
give her more insight into her career. “I just realized how resilient I was,” Madison said. “I have a really good perspec- tive on life. No matter what happens, I just try to keep a positive atti- tude.”
don’t think empathy can be taught or com- passion can be taught; you either have it or you don’t. ... I just think that her empathy and compassion is going to have a lot to do with the helping of her pa- tients.”
Madison just tried to focus on getting through whatev- er she faced at that moment, knowing it would soon pass. And believes everything happens for a reason. Trials can make her a stronger person or
tients and know what situation they’re in.” “She’s going to be the nurse that everyone wants,” Nicole Jarocha said. “I think first and foremost, as a nurse, the empathy and com- passion is like 90% of the medicine. I just
like to be a patient in the hospital,” Madison said. “I’ve had some good nurses and bad nurses. And I kind of know how I want to be treated in a hos- pital. ... I’ll be able to sympathize and also empathize with my pa-
much she has taken away from these ex- periences, especially when it comes to nurs- ing. “I know what it’s
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021 E10
SALUTE TO NURSES
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Minnesota nurse reflects on career with humor
was born Caroline Bunker in 1937. Her father, Frank Bunker, dabbled in poetry and served as a Sauk Centre postman. Her introduction to nurs- ing came as she suffered rheumatic fever at age 4. Idolizing her nurse, Mrs. Runion, little Caroline dreamed of following in her “Cuban-heeled white shoes.” Her father suffered a heart attack when she was 16. The principal pulled her from gym class, but a nun barred her from entering St. Michael’s Hospital because her gym clothes were deemed inappropriate. Quietly seeth- ing, she went home to change. She had applied to be a nursing aide at the hospital, which at the time was hiring only Catholic girls despite its standing as the Sauk Centre community hospital. One of the nuns, soon after the heart attack, called to offer her a job — saying later how the teen- ager impressed her by staying calm despite her fear and an- ger. Key nursing attributes. “I was mad, but I must have been polite because I became the test case — the first Protestant girl hired as a nursing assistant,” Rosdahl said.
as a nurse, educator and text- book author. She used her pandemic isolation to chron- icle a career that started as a teenage nursing aide in her hometown of Sauk Centre, through her years as Wright County’s lone public health nurse in the early 1960s and the ensuing decades on hos- pital floors fromHennepin County to the University of Minnesota. Her cutting-edge use of behavioral objectives in nursing education in Anoka County led to 11 editions of “Textbook of Basic Nursing” — a widely used tome for stu- dent nurses. “Textbooks are putzy; this project was a lot more fun,” she said from her home in Plymouth. At a time when appreci- ation for nurses — and the need to laugh — are both jus- tifiably sky high, Rosdahl’s tales prompt chuckles while offering a firsthand glimpse from health care’s front lines. There are plenty of awful memories, like an autome- chanic’s blowtorch explosion that left himhorribly burned. Her humorous memories offset the heavy stuff. As a school nurse in the north- ern Minnesota town of Waubun, population about
By CURT BROWN (Minneapolis) Star Tribune On a 20-below-zero night in 1965, nurse Caroline Rosdahl explained to a patient that he couldn’t le- gally leave Hennepin County General Hospital because he was on a psychiatrist hold. “Next thing I know, he’s running down the third- floor hall with me right behind him,” she recalled. “He crashed right through the window, landed unhurt on a snow-covered bush and didn’t miss a beat — run- ning down Seventh Street in downtown Minneapolis.” Rosdahl called police, who asked how to identify the AWOL patient. “Well, he’ll be the only one running with an open-backed hospital gown and paper slip- pers,” she said with a laugh. “It didn’t take long before they brought him back.” That’s just one of the an- ecdotes in Rosdahl’s new self-published memoir, “The Naked City” — a title in- spired by that night in the psych ward. (It’s available on Amazon at tinyurl.com/ NurseRosdahl). Rosdahl, 83, recently re- tired after more than 50 years
Star Tribune via Tribune News Service
400, she asked students to fill out index cards with their birth dates, parents’ con- tact information, allergies and other basic informa- tion. In the small box labeled “Sex,” where students were supposed to put “male” or “female,” one girl jotted down: “Once in Waubun.” Writes Rosdahl: “It was a good thing it was only once,
because that space on the card was very small.” Humor, Rosdahl insists, is as important a trait for nurses as compassion and anatomical know-how. “If you don’t have a sense of humor, it’s almost im- possible to work as a nurse because things often turn so sad,” she said. An only child, Rosdahl
Georgia WWII veteran, nurse celebrates 100th birthday By SHANNON BALLEW Marietta Daily Journal, Ga. Inez Long of Marietta, Georgia, one of Cobb ever the doctors needed her to do. It was at the Numa base hospital that Long Jr. remembers his parents being the
Yuma in 1944 and would be together for 72 years. Inez Long was dis- charged when she was pregnant with their first child. When the war was over, the Longs and their daughter, Georgia, moved to Marietta. InMarietta, they had a son, Ed Long, Jr., and Inez continued her nurs- ing career at a local doctor’s office and later became an assistant at a dentist office, while her husband worked at Delta and Lockheed Martin.
“The war was on, and that was it,” she said of her decision to use her skills in supporting the war effort. Inez went through basic training in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Santa Ana, California, and spent the rest of her time stationed at the hospi- tal at Numa Army Air Field in Arizona. There, she tended to patients, administered medicines and shots, and worked on the floor, doing what-
that she be a teacher. She followed in her sister’s footsteps, and graduat- ed as a registered nurse fromEmory’s Crawford W. Long Hospital School of Nursing, according to family records. That hospital is now Emory University Hospital Midtown. She worked a little over a year as an in- dustrial nurse in a Savannah shipyard, en- listed in the Army Air Corps in 1943 during the Second World War.
hosts to many parties on their front porch and in their backyard, always loving to have company. Life has been quiet- er in recent years for Inez Long. She doesn’t remember as well since a stroke a few years ago, and she is hard of hearing. But she still enjoys walks and hav- ing company, though the pandemic has cur- tailed visits by family and friends.
she met her husband, Ed “Bud” Long, who served as a B-17 bomb- er pilot. As the family story goes, the two lieu- tenants first met when Ed Long was waking up from a tonsillectomy. He was just as struck by Inez’s beauty as he was by the punches she was landing on him, forcing him to breathe. The couple married in
County’s few surviving World War II veterans, celebrated her 100th birthday in January. “It’s good to be alive,” Long said before the ap- proaching milestone. BornMinnie Inez Scurry on Jan. 30, 1921, in the south Georgia town of McRae, Long said her older sister be- came a nurse despite their father’s insistence
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Happy Nurses Week! Thank you for all you do!
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