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Salute to Iowa Nurses: Veteran nurses share their biggest lessons and insights
Laura Rowley
The COVID-19 pandemic, which presented some of the most intense clinical and emotional challenges many nurses had ever encountered, has not diminished interest in the profession. In fact, student enrollment in nursing programs increased in 2020, according to a survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) released in April.
Baccalaureate-level enrollment rose 5.6 percent, with more than 251,000 students entering U.S. programs. Enrollment in master’s and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs rose 4.1 and 8.9 percent, respectively.
What advice would Iowa’s veteran nurses give to these students, especially after serving on the front lines during the pandemic? What’s the one thing they wish they knew when they were getting into nursing? The Register asked three 100 Great Iowa Nurses honorees, recognized for their contributions to patients, colleagues and profession, an
Q: What’s your message to Iowans during National Donate Life month?
A: Thanks to modern medicine and the selfless generosity of fellow Americans, organ donation and transplantation have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of beloved family members, friends and neighbors in recent decades. The miracles of modern medicine have given grandparents, moms, dads, siblings and cousins precious more time to make memories and make a difference during their time together on God’s green earth.
Even during the unprecedented uncertainty of a pandemic, loved ones and total strangers selflessly stepped up with the most generous gift they could give a fellow human being: the gift of life and a second chance at a better quality of life. According to federal statistics, more than 39,000 life-saving and life-enhancing organ transplants were performed in the United States last year. This remarkable milestone in the midst of a pandemic reflects the extraordinary generosity of Americans and the
IPR
Julie Knight (left) and Julie Freese (right) have been friends since their days as students at the University of Iowa. In December 2018, Freese donated one of her kidneys to Knight.
Julie Knight met Julie Freese in a candy store in downtown Iowa City in the early 1980s. Knight had been battling Type 1 diabetes since she was ten years old and says she felt like one of the misfit toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. After moving into a house together on Ash Street the two Julies, of course, became even closer. But their relationship only grew stronger after parting ways in Iowa City.