BARB BROSDAHL

Good Shepherd nurse’s love is long-term care

Mary Pieper

For the Globe Gazette

Barb Brosdahl, a care plan nurse at Good Shepherd Health Center in Mason City, knew from a young age she wanted to work in long-term care.

“I really love old people,” said Brosdahl, who has been in nursing for 36 years. “That’s just what I do.”

Brosdahl, whose mother was a nurse at Trinity Hospital in Fort Dodge for many years, began working as a CNA at a nursing home when she was 15. After graduating as an LPN from Iowa Central Community College, she moved to Florida and worked mostly in long-term care for seven years.

Then she went back to Fort Dodge and worked at the Marian Home while returning to ICCC to become an RN. A year after she completed the program, she got a job at an orthopedic clinic and was there for a decade. However, Brosdahl missed longterm care, so she went back to it.

In October, she will celebrate her 10th anniversary of working at Good Shepherd.

Brosdahl said what she loves most about her job is the residents first and foremost, followed by their families and her co-workers.

“I’m not the person I am today without the people that I work with,” she said.

Brosdahl enjoys the flexibility she has with her care plan team.

“I like that every day is a new day,” she said. “I don’t do the same thing every day.”

For example, Wednesdays are her care review days, when she meets with residents’ family members. On other days, she admits new residents, meeting them and their families for the first time.

“We want their family members to leave knowing that they are being taken very well care of and they don’t have to worry about them,” Brosdahl said.

But when a resident is very sick it can be a challenge, she said. That’s why she stresses to family members that Good Shepherd has an open-door policy so they can come in at any time if they have concerns about their care.

Although the goal for many residents and their families is to get them back home, it doesn’t always work out that way,

Good Shepherd Health Center

according to Brosdahl. However, she said although it is sad to see resident reach the end of their lives, she feels privileged to make them as comfortable as possible. She advises rookie nurses to keep their options open.

“Take as many opportunities as you can to utilize your skills in different aspects of nursing to figure out what you want to do for your long-term career,” she said.

Heidi Hanson, a friend of Brosdahl’s, said she comes in early and stays late to make sure the needs of her residents are being met and is always willing to help her team out.

“She has a giant heart and treats everyone with the same level of love and respect,” Hanson said.