Dedicated nurse fulfills her passion of making a difference

shawn roBinson stAff WritEr

Mikaela Siemen has been a nurse for only a short time, and in her three years of working in healthcare, she has enjoyed helping others and making a difference in people’s lives.

Mikaela got started as a nurse after graduating from nursing school in 2019 and soon started her journey in the healthcare field. She started as a graduate nurse and shortly after was promoted to become a registered nurse at Hills and Dales Healthcare in Cass City. Siemen’s desire to become a nurse stems from not only having an interest in the human body but also wanting to have a meaningful career.

“I decided to pursue a career in healthcare because learning the biology of normal bodily processes and pathophysiology of disease was so interesting to me,” Siemen said. “More so, I wanted a meaningful career that would allow me to help others when they need it most. Nursing allows me to fulfill both of those desires.”

Siemen has worked at Hills and Dales for almost four years now. She enjoys helping and caring for others as well as becoming part of her patients’ stories. Something that she’s learned from working at the hospital is “trusting her gut,” and she’s stuck with

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“Every day brings something new to the table, so you never know what you’re walking into or how to prepare for the day,” she said. “You have to solely rely on your training and education at the classroom. involving banks, and work programs for young people. Also during this time came WWII, which showed us the Greatest Generation fighting the Axis powers and trying to make sure democracy would be saved over in

Buxman is also a big fan of basketball and loves to share his passion for the game with students. Buxman is an assistant coach for the girls’ basketball team at Cass City, where he still gives out life lessons as well as support outside of

“I have coached at different schools and levels of basketball for around 10 years now,” he said. “I first started off coaching at Hemlock with boys freshmen and then moved to JV. I also coached for one year at Bridgeport as an times to keep people safe and act quickly to prevent patient deterioration.

Sometimes that means that you don’t allow your emotions to set in until after a patient is safe.

Relying on the support of your coworkers helps on the difficult days because they understand the stress that can accompany the job.”

Mikaela understands the hard work and difficulties that come with the job at certain times. Not even nine months after starting her career, Mikaela faced a new challenge, the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic caused lasting effects on the healthcare system that still affect us every day,” she said. “Some of the biggest lasting changes include lingering modified policies and procedures that lead to frustrated patients and family members and difficulties transferring patients to a higher level of care because of staffing shortages.”

Despite all of the hard days and frustrating times, Mikaela holds her head up high and gets reminded by patients why assistant coach on the boys varsity basketball team. I pursued coaching because of the love of the game and the love of teaching and seeing the players get better. As a coach, you can always bring in life lessons to practice or the games.”

Buxman has learned a she ultimately chose this profession.

“I find that when I feel most defeated or frustrated, I come across a patient that reminds me exactly why I chose to enter the profession,” Siemen said. “Sometimes it’s a patient’s sense of humor, their gratefulness, a family that makes you smile. Nurses don’t ask for a lot, so kindness and a simple “thank you” go a long way.”

Dawn Bolzman, BSN and RN at Hills and Dales talked about how hard of a worker Mikaela is and how much she does an excellent job taking care of patients.

“Mikaela is a hard worker. She is someone that cares about her patients and wants to make sure they are being cared for properly,” Bolzman said. “She does a great job being a patient advocate.”

“I enjoy having her on our team because she is someone that will come in and does an excellent job caring for our patients,” Bolzman said. “She is always willing to step in and help her co-workers out when she can. If someone has a patient that is starting to lot throughout his teaching career, but the one thing that has stuck with him is how forgiveness can be a powerful tool not only in education, but also in our personal daily lives.

“Something that I have learned in the teaching world that I try to apply crash, she is right there helping out. She is always a team player and makes sure she communicates effectively and appropriately with all staff members and patients. She will go above and beyond with making appointments or helping families that need help. Mikaela is an amazing RN, who strives to provide quality care to her patients.”

Siemen enjoys working at the hospital and truly embraces being a good nurse. She said that there’s so much more to being a nurse than some may realize, and she is happy with where she is in her career.

“Hills and Dales truly provide outstanding patient care and I’m very proud to be a part of that,” she said. “I work with the most caring people who all strive to give their all every day, which helps meet the various needs of patients. I enjoy becoming a part of my patient’s stories- you get to know your patients and it’s rewarding to watch their health improve and them get stronger and know you played a part in that recovery.” to myself every day is that everyone in life might struggle at certain times and to always have a clean slate for those individuals the next day. Forgiveness can be a powerful tool not only in the education realm but also in our personal lives.”

“She’s one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met,” agreed K-12 Principal Kevin Parker.