Van Egdom (third from right) poses for a family portrait
Kirkwood Nursing student draws on life experiences and circles of support as she prepares to graduate and enter the field
Michelle van Egdom’s appreciation of the nursing field began right from the start.
Literally.
Van Egdom’s arrival in the world was a bit earlier than her parents planned. “Mom and Dad had figured I would be a Christmas present. But I showed up two months early. I left the hospital on Halloween,” she recalled.
When her mother took her back to the northwest Iowa hospital for a visit a few years later, Van Egdom recalls “that room full of nurses, strong and kind women” who gave her a safe start on her premature arrival. “I believe that it was back then that I started thinking about nursing as a profession.”
Now, more than three decades after her early and memorable entrance, Van Egdom (known as “Shelby” to family and friends) is preparing to leave another institution noted for its strong and caring health care professionals. She is completing her studies at Kirkwood Community College and will shortly enter the bustling field of nursing. She has her eye on an additional advanced nursing degree sometime in the future, but focuses now on landing a job in her chosen profession.
Van Egdom is one of about 170 nurses Kirkwood will turn out in the 2012-13 academic year. Nursing Dean Jimmy Reyes says about that many completed their studies in the past year.
The burgeoning Iowa and Midwest health systems eagerly await those new nurses’ arrival. Reyes cited a recent report from the National Association of Colleges of Nursing (NACN) that described the need for new nurses as “an acute shortage that is expected to intensify” as nurses in the Baby Boom generation retire.
“We have been hearing that for several years in the Midwest. Given our higher than average age of Iowans, for example, that shortage would be as strong or stronger here than the nation at large,” Reyes added.
The NACN reports included a 2012 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing the registered nursing profession as “the number one area of job growth” in the nation for the coming decade. The studies indicated the number of nurses in the U.S. could increase by more than 700,000 by the year 2020, an increase of about 26 percent from 2010 figures.
While not entering the nursing field directly out of high school, Van Egdom’s career has in some ways prepared her even more for a profession that highlights quick thinking and people-savvy skills. She earned an undergraduate psychology degree and later a master’s in higher education administration, both from the University of South Dakota. Those credentials led her to Iowa City and a role in the U of I’s Housing department.
“That was a good job for several years. It gave me a lot of administrative and problem-solving experience,” she recalls. “I got to juggle and prioritize tasks and even get some emergency response experience. But I did keep hearing this call to actually do nursing as a life career.”
Heeding that call led Van Egdom to Kirkwood in 2011, where she embraced the rigors and exacting demands of the regulation-intensive health care industry. Her aptitude and innate skill sets have impressed the faculty, from Dean Jimmy Reyes to her department instructors.
Channa Davenport calls her a “superior student” who is a role model to others in the program. “Shelby is mature and focused…loyal, honest, and caring, and committed to nursing. These qualities have made it a pleasure to have her in class and …are refreshing to see in this current nursing shortage,” she said.
Fellow instructor Syeda Thomas echoed those observations, adding that Van Egdom recently “took time out of her busy life to job-shadow on her own, researching an area she wants to specialize in. Shelby is going to be a remarkable addition to our profession.”
Van Egdom credits her Kirkwood educators and fellow students for support and encouragement in an admittedly demanding field of study. “The Kirkwood program standards are set high and I know this program is respected around the community for that reason,” she observed. “They give us a lot of clinical hours so we can be better prepared when we leave. The process has been a rollercoaster of emotions at times. I don’t know how I would have gotten to this point without my family, friends and my Nursing cohort. Nursing school really is a team effort. You can’t do it alone.”
A final step toward Van Egdom’s journey to nursing will be the Iowa state-mandated board exams. Following that, she plans to look for a nursing job, preferably back in her home area of Hawarden, Iowa.
“I am looking around the Iowa City area, of course. But I would like to explore around Sioux Falls or Omaha. My family is around two hours from both cities, so I would like to find something there,” she said.
Michelle Van Egdom is also exploring a role that would bring her full circle to the start of her journey. She is actively seeking positions in birthplace, neonatal intensive care and pediatric nursing.