I grew up in Clermont, Iowa where my family has been since 1866. I was interested in the medical profession fairly early on. My mother and grandmother are both nurses (my oldest sister and my wife are nurses also). My mom has been working at Palmer in West Union for 42 years and I spent many days in the lobby after school watching TV and waiting for her to get off work. After 4 years in the Marine Corps, I contemplated re-enlisting but decided to go back to school and joined the Air Force ROTC at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. I intend to continue my military career while not having to sleep in the mud! After becoming reacquainted with my wife who was living in Iowa, I dropped out of Montana State and moved back to Iowa where got my nursing degree at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids. I have a deep desire to provide service to others and the medical profession is a great opportunity for that. After being a nurse for 15 years, I decided to continue my education and got my nurse practitioner degree through Walden University.
I started out in inpatient psychiatry at a veterans hospital in Iowa City. I later moved onto ICU nursing before finding my itch in the emergency department at St. Luke’s in Cedar Rapids. I have done emergency medicine for the last 12 years. Including working at the emergency department in Decorah and working as a flight nurse for Gundersen Air. I feel that the most recent has been working at Mercy One, Waterloo, where there is a high volume and high acuity of patients. It has been a great learning experience. I feel that my diverse work experience will benefit the people that I am fortunate enough to care for here in Waukon.
I was drawn to Waukon when I decided to continue my education. I had a goal of working in a Critical Access Hospital close to home in Northeast Iowa. VMH is a great fit because of the small size there is and the increased need to cooperate and work together. This is very evident in the teamwork but I see it all over the institution. I feel I am a great fit here and look forward to building relationships with the staff and community.
Schools and Degrees:
Kirkwood – Associate Degree of Nursing
Walden University – ARNP
Personal Interests/Hobbies:
My personal interests include hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors. I have several hours logged in my journey to becoming a private pilot. My wife Kristen is a surgical nurse at Decorah and my 3 daughters aged 10, 12, and 14 are always keeping us busy as well.
