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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Doyle 1 of 100 Great Nurses in Iowa Shattered pylon changes load limit on 140th Ave. bridge Schreck retiring after 33 years of teaching

Doyle 1 of 100 Great Nurses in Iowa by Latisha Sand

“Pat’s [Doyle] more significant contribution to the nursing profession is her drive to elevate nursing to its higher or ‘gold’ standard by always encouraging nurses to do and be more.” That was Pat Doyle’s nomination write up for her 100 Great Iowa Nurses certificate, which she received on Sunday, May 6 in Des Moines. “I was very humbled,” said Doyle, who did not know she was nominated until the staff who nominated her found out she was indeed one of the top nurses. “I was excited because it’s an opportunity to celebrate nursing and the fact that it came from the staff meant more to me than any other goal I’ve set.” Doyle, who is the Vice President of Nursing and Quality Services at Regional Medical Center in Manchester, said that the hospital and the state are very fortunate to have great nurses. “They picked 100 great nurses out of the nominations,” said Doyle, “but there are thousands of great nurses out there.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED Pat Doyle, the Vice President of Nursing and Quality Services at Regional Medical Center in Manchester, recently received a 100 Great Iowa Nurses certificate for “always encouraging nurses to do and be more” and for her dedicated work at the hospital since 1977.

This year there were 338 nominations from 61 of the 99 counties in Iowa. The final 100 nurses selected were determined by the selection committee, which consisted of people from the Iowa Hospital Association, Iowa Nurses Association and the Iowa Nurses Foundation. “Those chosen for this honor are to be commended for advancing and leading the profession of nursing, and for demonstrating excellence in direct-care delivery,” said Chairwoman of 100 Great Iowa Nurses Martha Craft-Rosenberg in a letter to RMC. “The 100 Great Nurses program recognizes outstanding nurses whose exceptional contributions to patients, colleagues and the profession are truly remarkable.” Doyle, who was born at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, graduated from Mount Mercy College. Her first job was working at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids in the ICU and CCU. She started at Regional Medical Center in May of 1977 and has, according to her, worked in every department except for OB. “Pat has been a part of our Leadership Team for several years and has helped lead our hospital through many changes allowing Regional Medical Center to be an institution of excellence in healthcare,” said Dr. Lon Butikofer, chief executive officer at RMC. “She has placed quality and compassion at the forefront of developing the Department of Nursing and Quality Services.” Doyle, who has three children with her husband Dan, is also active at the state level for the district. She is a former board member and current Professional Recognition Committee member for the Iowa Organization of Nurse Leaders, which is under the Iowa Hospital Association, and is a board member for the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative. “Her love for the profession of nursing and her steadfast desire for clinical improvement has helped us expand many services locally,” said Butikofer. “In addition, her passions for cardiology and wellness have certainly helped us develop our center of excellence in this rural community hospital.” Doyle said that patient care has always been important to her and she loves nursing because she can blend the science of medicine with the art of caring. “If you can develop that, people will trust you,” she said. “We [the staff at RMC] take care of people from Ryan, Masonville, Greeley. We take care of people that we know, that’s why I came here.” She does admit she’s done a lot at RMC over the years, including developing the Cardio Rehab Program in 1986, but it’s teamwork that has gotten the hospital where it is today. She thanked the Leadership Team and the Governing Board for helping the hospital with it’s vision and upgrades. “It’s everyone in the hospital that makes this place happen,” Doyle said.

Shattered pylon changes load limit on 140th Ave. bridge by Alison Nesteby

A posting change on the 140th Ave. bridge is due to a shattered pylon and another heavily deteriorated. The limit has been changed from 23 tons to 10 tons by the Delaware County Board of Supervisors during their regular meeting on Monday, May 7. The plan for replacement is in the fiscal year 2011 program, and it may be difficult to get it moved up. “I don’t know if we will be able to bring this project forward in the plans, but we can try,” stated Mark Nahra, Delaware County Engineer. Pictures of the pylons are available in Nahra’s office in the Delaware County Courthouse. Liquor licenses were approved for Hart Ridge in Manchester and Camp-O on Lake Delhi. Both were 12 month Class C licenses, with Sunday sales and outdoor service area sales. The Local Option Sales Tax and services tax were renewed to continue until Dec. 31, 2019. It takes about 12-18 months to get the project going once voted on. The manure management plan proposed by Virgil Recker was approved by the Board.

Schreck retiring after 33 years of teaching by Latisha Sand

A beloved teacher at Lambert Elementary School will be retiring this spring. Jo Heimann-Schreck has taught for West Delaware for 28 years with her first five years in Harlan. After 33 years she decided it was time to leave. But she won’t be leaving the halls of Lambert entirely. “I would like to come back and volunteer at Lambert and maybe at the Library reading out loud to children,” said Schreck, who has two children, Will and Anna, with her husband Rod. “I’m worried because I have to stay busy.” She will stay busy this summer while biking and riding on RAGBRAI and kayaking. She also likes to watch pets while their owners are away for a little extra spending money. “This is the first summer in 33 years that I’ve actually had a summer off,” said Schreck, “because teachers are always writing curriculums, taking classes and getting ready for the next year [during the summer break].” Although she said she will not miss the meetings, correcting papers, report cards, paperwork, duties, disciplining students and new technology, she will miss the students’ hugs. “It does make me sad that I won’t be teaching anymore,” she said as she smiles at passing students in the hallway, “but I hope I can volunteer.” She said one little girl even told her mother that Mrs. Schreck could not retire because she wouldn’t see the teacher in the hallways anymore. “I’ll be around,” Schreck said. She hopes, after she leaves, that the district will keep the small class size and wishes the teachers had more time to implement everything they have to do. Schreck said she will also miss her co-workers, and many of the teachers who passed by in the hallway said they would greatly miss her. “My co-workers are like family,” said Schreck. “I have worked with many wonderful, dedicated teachers who try each and every day to do all they can to help their students. There have been many changes in society and education over the years. The job is always hard, but it has become harder in a different way.” She said the job had started to get stressful and required extra hours during the week, even on the weekends. She said she always knew she wanted to be a teacher. According to Schreck her mom was a very dedicated teacher and very involved and Schreck always wanted to be a teacher because of her. Schreck graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and taught in Harlan for her first five years. After Harlan she taught at Greeley, Dundee, Ryan and finally in Manchester for West Delaware. “There have been many people who have served on the school board for West Delaware during the years I have taught here,” said Schreck. “It is a challenging job, and often times frustrating and thankless. I appreciate that there are individuals who are willing to serve our community in this way.” She has also enjoyed getting to know the parents and families of students and always appreciated the support each student had from home. “I would enjoy hearing from students and parents of children that I have taught at West Delaware from 1979 through 2007,” said Schreck. She said if she never heard the word ‘budge’ again it wouldn’t break her heart. “It makes me cringe,” said Schreck. Oh and did she mention she won’t miss the paperwork? She also said that this year’s first grade class was wonderful. “I’m really glad I had the class I had this year because they were really delightful,” said Schreck. “They were very teachable kids and it was a nice way to end.”

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