Meet several local nurses honored by Great Nurses program

NICU nurse care coordinator, University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City

Ann Mason grew up in Cedar Rapids and graduated from Washington High School in 1981. She and her husband, Jeff, have three grown children: Kyle, a Coralville firefighter, Natalie, a nurse at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Mollie, who, like her mom, is a nurse at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

How long have you been a nurse? What is your area of specialty?

I have been a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital for the last 33 years. It’s been 20 years at the bedside and 13 as the NICU nurse care coordinator with the Continuity of Care program.

How has COVID-19 affected your job? Any reflections to share on the past year?

My heart hurts for the parents who test positive with COVID and cannot see their newborn for days and for those parents who have babies in the NICU who cannot have siblings or grandparents visit. It has been a challenging time for many families.

I have enjoyed helping the NICU babies and their families the last 33 years. I am grateful for the experiences and relationships made during my nursing career. Nursing has been a rewarding profession.

Jennie Brantman

Cardiology case manager, VA Health Care System, Iowa City

Jennie Brantman recently retired after working 28 years as a nurse with a specialty in cardiology.

What’s an average day like for you, before COVID-19?

Prior to COVID, I was the open heart/valve coordinator and inpatient cardiology RN case manager.

An average day was spent assisting veterans with the referral to outside surgical facilities — whether that was within the VA or a local hospital — coordinating care/testing for the veteran and acting as a liaison between the veteran and the surgical center. Additionally, I coordinated the veteran’s cardiology care upon discharge from the inpatient setting.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

When COVID hit in March of 2020, my workweek changed from Monday to Friday to splitting my time as a cardiology case manager and working weekends in the intensive care unit, the COVID assessment clinic and the pre-procedure clinic.

I very quickly learned the importance of flexibility, courage and compassion and to extend those attributes to patients.

Any reflections to share on the past year?

The scale of health care challenges are unprecedented in these difficult times. We all have a role to play in supporting and advocating for the health of our communities and supporting nurses everywhere.

Nurses are the backbone of health systems around the world, and this has never been more apparent than now. For all the uncertainty of the virus and how long it might take before life returns to normal, there can be no doubt that nursing and health care will come out stronger from this pandemic and better prepared to face the challenges of the future.

Tell us a little more about yourself.

I am absolutely passionate about my family and my faith. God has blessed my life with a beautiful family to include two precious granddaughters, June and Ruby. My hobbies include cycling, my two naughty dachshunds and one great big mutt, and returning to calligraphy.

Any advice for people interested in going into nursing?

Nurses are dedicated to caring. It is an amazing profession combining skill, compassion, teaching and tenderness. A nurse is there at the most joyous times of life and in one’s darkest hour as they near death.

To make a positive impact on human life is extremely rewarding and an honor. To all who are contemplating becoming a nurse, I welcome you to this “warrior” profession and promise you that your life will be better because of it.

Kara Prickett

Nursing practice leader, Department of Nursing; University of Iowa Health Care; Iowa City

Kara Prickett grew up in Cedar Rapids, and now lives in North Liberty with her husband, an orthopedic nurse practitioner, and their two children.

How long have you been a nurse? What is your area of specialty?

I have been a nurse for 14 years and started my career in adult medical/surgical cardiology. I moved into management roles within the adult cardiac specialty. In 2014, I transitioned into a nursing practice leader role in nursing education.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

Since I work in nursing education, COVID created a need for education to be rapidly developed and deployed. Nursing educators worked quickly to transition much of our education onto virtual platforms and create cross-training for staff that would need to assume new roles.

We utilized many electronic platforms to deliver education to our frontline nurses. We heavily leaned on our Nursing Education (NEd.) app to disseminate just-in-time training since the information was rapidly changing.

Any reflections to share on the past year?

While it was challenging to change our education delivery model for almost everything we do, the necessity to try new methods and technologies helped us create new and better ways of providing education.

Anything people would be surprised to learn about you? Any interesting hobbies?

I love cycling, weightlifting, gardening and home improvement projects.

Any advice for people interested in going into nursing?

The nursing field is an amazing career because you have so many opportunities to help others, and there are endless options for career growth and development.

I started as a bedside nurse, transitioned to management for a few years and am now working in education with a strong IT component. I would have never imagined myself in this type of role, but I love the blend of nursing, technology and education. This trio allows me be creative and innovative in my work.

Karen Langner

Spinal cord injury/ALS case manager, VA Health Care System, Iowa City

Karen Langner is from northeast Missouri. Married with two children, she now lives in Swisher.

How long have you been a nurse? What is your area of specialty?

I’ve been a nurse for 34 years, many of those years working in nursing homes, specializing in geriatrics.

I began caring for our veterans in California at the naval hospital in 1994, when my husband received military orders to Camp Pendleton, and then at a naval hospital in Yokosuka, Japan. (After stints in Wisconsin and at UIHC and Mercy Medical Center), in 2015 I came back to the Iowa City VA as the hospice and palliative care case manager. In 2020, I transitioned to where I presently work.

What’s an average day like for you, before COVID-19?

Prior to COVID, the majority of my day was spent on the phone with palliative care or hospice veterans, with occasional contact with outpatients during the check-in process.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

In February 2020, I transitioned to a new position with spinal cord injury/ALS/spinal cord injury case management. While learning my new position, I was also detailed, in addition to my continuing my full-time position, to work in the COVID assessment clinic two days per week.

I had direct patient contact for assessment of positive COVID screening questions and those veterans who were needing COVID testing, either due to active symptoms or testing before procedures.

As the surge of COVID began in November 2020, I was detailed to the VA inpatient unit to provide additional resources to care for the patients. I was able to provide additional support on weekends and last-minute schedule changes to support the unit.

Any reflections to share on the past year?

It has been a busy year in which normalcy did not seem to exist at times. I was impressed with staff and their willingness to step up and fill in wherever needed. It was an honor to serve with them.

I have great appreciation of my family and other staff families for their willingness to be flexible and supportive of our calling as we strive to offer the best care to our veterans here at Iowa City VA. Even when the stress level was high, our staff rose to the occasion. I think we did an awesome job!

Anything people would be surprised to learn about you?

I became a mother at age 45 to twins!

Other than inpatient at a hospice house at Great River in Burlington and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, I had never worked in a hospital inpatient unit until COVID in November 2020.

Any advice for people interested in going into nursing?

Don’t fear the unknown, be open to learning every day from patients and co-workers. Jump in with both feet. Lead with an open heart and enjoy the adventure of caring for others as you would want to be cared for.

Rebecca Moore

Program manager, professional practice development, staff development; UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital; Cedar Rapids

Rebecca Moore, 32, grew up on her family’s farm near Decorah with her parents and older brother.

How long have you been a nurse? What is your area of specialty?

I’ve been a nurse for 10 years. My direct patient care experience is in both critical care and medical/surgical cardiac patients. I currently focus on nursing education.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

I don’t really have an average day, which is what I love most about my position. Each day and week is different depending on the programing being offered.

I work with all of the new graduate nurses and new nurses to St. Luke’s. I lead the house-wide nursing orientation alternating Wednesdays, so I meet all of the new nurses as they begin or continue their career with St. Luke’s. I also lead the nurse residency program for all our new graduates and coordinate the clinical placement for area nursing students while teaching preceptor and charge nurse classes. I also am very involved in various committees and councils throughout St. Luke’s and UnityPoint.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

COVID largely affected how we present our education.

In March of last year, we paused most of our education in anticipation of a surge. After re-activating educational classes, we needed to decrease class sizes to accommodate social distancing requirements, which requires more classes to be added. Fortunately, we had the hospital’s auditorium, so we were able to continue with some of our larger offerings.

With the damage we experienced following the derecho in August, we lost access to several classrooms, including the auditorium. Following the storm, we moved to a virtual classroom format. Thankfully, we were able to continue with our house-wide orientations in alternative classroom locations.

Between COVID and the storm, we’ve been very flexible and did what needed to be done to ensure our nurses received the education they needed.

Anything people would be surprised to learn about you?

I had two vocal music scholarships while completing my bachelor’s degree in nursing at Mount Mercy University.

Any advice for people interested in going into nursing?

Do it! If a person has a calling to care for people and be able to impact their lives, they should definitely pursue the nursing profession. Nursing school is one of the hardest things I’ve done, but it is so worth it. It is the best job in the world — in my very biased opinion.

Rose Hedges

Nursing research & innovation coordinator, UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital, Cedar Rapids

Born and raised in Washington, Iowa, Rose Hedges and her husband, Jonathan, now live in Mount Vernon with their 8-year-old daughters, Haylee and Hayden.

How long have you been a nurse? What is your area or specialty?

I have been a nurse for 11 years. I have worked in medical/surgical, critical care, informatics and, most recently, innovation and research.

What’s an average day like for you, before COVID-19?

I lead the medical makerspace “Generate” at St. Luke's Hospital. Generate is a physical space inside the hospital where all hospital staff can come to learn new skills, experiment and prototype solutions to everyday patient care challenges. I am the nurse who teaches and guides the frontline staff on bringing their ideas to life.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

COVID-19 created unique opportunities for me in many ways, I found myself back at the bedside, working in the intensive care unit, caring for patients part-time while also working part-time leading a medical makerspace.

One of the most well-known projects that came out of the lab during COVID-19 was the creation of the Olson Mask that I co-designed. We created a YouTube how-to video, and the world responded, sending over 40,000 masks to our hospital as well as thank you cards from across the globe.

Stephanie Edmonds

Nurse scientist, UI Department of Nursing, Office of Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice; University of Iowa Health Care; Iowa City

Originally from St. Louis, Stephanie Edmonds, 40, lives in Solon with her husband, Kelly, and two sons, Arthur, 7, and Ben, 3, and their senior dog, Roger.

How long have you been a nurse? What is your area of specialty?

I have been a nurse for 17 years. I first started as an orthopedic nurse and then specialized in obstetrics and gynecology and public health. I now do research in the areas of reproductive health and patient-clinician communication while overseeing research affecting the Department of Nursing at UIHC.

What’s an average day like for you, before COVID-19?

I am not the typical nurse people think of. Most of my day is working on research projects or presenting. I spend a lot of time writing, reading or in meetings.

How has COVID-19 affected your job?

COVID reprioritized some of my projects. In 2020, I put some things on hold while I helped out with UIHC’s response to COVID. I filled in as a triage nurse for the 24-hour nurse call line and assisted in the staging center where we screened patients, visitors and staff before entering the facility.

Any reflections to share on the past year?

I think this past year has really demonstrated that nurses are critical to a healthy society.

Nurses from all specialties were impacted by COVID in their jobs. Hospital nurses, clinic nurses, nursing instructors, public health nurses and school nurses were working every day to combat this pandemic.

I really saw the connections between COVID rates and the stress nurses experienced working on the front lines.

Incidentally, 2020 was the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, and this past year has shown that nurses are vital and, as a society, we need to care for ourselves and care for our nurses.

Anything people would be surprised to learn about you?

I started a podcast with a nurse friend — called Woman Centered Health — to try and help nurses, doctors and other health professionals improve their communication around sexual and reproductive health care. We have been recording podcasts for over three years and have more than 35,000 downloads.

Read more

• Honoring great nurses in Iowa who go above and beyond

• Meet some of the local nurses honored by the Great Nurses Program