When they hear “ding, dong!” at their door, many of Nicole Bock’s patients are old enough that they might expect to see a cosmetic salesperson or vacuum huckster cooling her heels on their doorstep, but having a Nurse make house calls sounds like a blast from an even more distant past.
In fact, while “working from home” is the norm for many now, Nurse of the Week Nicole Bock, RN does her work from other people’s homes as an essential nurse.
“I go around and see patients in their home and help them with any nursing needs they have,” says the RN case manager – and Daisy Award winner.
“You kind of get to see them on their turf a little bit instead of in the hospital,” Bock says. Teaching others about their medications, taking care of wounds, and lab draws are just some of the tasks the eight-year nurse is counted on to complete.
Bock might not have become a roving photojournalist as originally planned, but she is certainly a hit as a Roving Nurse. She pivoted to a nursing career after her four-year degree in photojournalism produced few opportunities… and a lot of patients are very grateful for her career pivot.
On getting a Daisy: “I was beyond shocked!”
Patient Nancy D. Loehr says Bock “makes me feel comfortable and I feel I can ask her anything.”
Elevating people’s health is Bock’s goal. Elite at taking care of clients, she was nonetheless surprised when honored with The DAISY Award for extraordinary nurses: “I was beyond shocked. I had no idea. Beyond shocked,” she says. “Very honored and I love that they felt that I was worthy of this.”
Going above and beyond for those she cares for and for her teammates is why she’s getting well-deserved recognition. Simply put, “I like helping people,” Bock says.
“She’s very special to us”
Linda Stokes says Bock’s care for her husband Otis, who is fighting cancer, is keeping her family safe and putting them at ease.
“She’s very special to us. Good Samaritan was just good to us period,” Linda says. “It’s hard when you don’t know or understand anything about medicine. To have someone who comes in and doesn’t talk down to you explains to you simply what you can do but clearly cares about what she’s doing.”
That effort prompted Linda and Otis to type up a letter of gratitude.
“Nicole said whatever you need is what we will do when we come into your home. Period. Everyone who came in on this team walked in and said I want you to know I’ve been vaccinated. I’ve been boosted,” Linda says.
A humble team player, Bock says the kind words mean a lot.
“It makes it all worth it just knowing that people appreciate it and I’m making a difference,” Bock says.
Poring over historical pictures at the Good Samaritan Society long-term care facility in Algona, Iowa, is a person who’s been pivotal. “It opened in March of 1966 and I began employment in the summer of that year,” says Nurse of the Week Mary Hannover, LPN.
Do the math and Hannover’s service at the Society, still ongoing, adds up to an unheard of 55 years. “Half of my life. Half of my life has been living and working in a nursing home and supporting of,” Hannover says.
Administrator Joe Bartolo says 55 years in one place is “crazy” to think about. “Good Sam is in her heart,” Bartolo says. “She knows the ins and outs of everything from day one in Algona.” Retired administrator John E. Kern adds, “When people in Algona think of Good Samaritan, they immediately think of Mary.”
“We would not be here” without her
When the current long-term care facility opened in ‘66, Hannover split time as a CNA between the new building and the old home down the street.
“We had three levels of residents. The guts of the operation was still in the basement. So, the washers and that. If you walked up the stairs from the basement and did not carry a basket of laundry, you were not well thought of,” Hannover says.
It’s hard not to see similarities to how the Society got its start nearly 100 years ago in a little house in Arthur, North Dakota.
“They didn’t have any elevators or lifts at that time. They’d have to carry food from the basement all the way up to the first, second, third floor. Same with residents – if you had to get a resident to the first or second floor, you had to carry them up the steps,” Bartolo says.
Lifting others up through care is the 73-year-old’s passion. After she grew up on a farm west of Algona, her career got off to a slow start.
“I applied at three different community colleges to go into nursing. I was rejected by all of them,” Hannover says with a laugh. “So I came to town, I got a job and I kept my job.”
First as a CNA, then a licensed practical nurse and finally a fundraiser in resource development.
“If we didn’t have someone like her in our facility for the last 55 years helping get funding and things like that, and being a member of the community and church, getting people to come live here, work here, we would not be here in Algona without Mary Hannover,” Bartolo says.
Proud of Society’s development in Algona
Hannover’s personal mission is to spread the Good Samaritan message and raise funds to support its mission. “I remember going around in the community selling our point of view. ‘Why would you need that? We’ve never had that before,’” Hannover says about the responses she would hear. “I’m kind of proud about the fact that we’ve raised some wonderful buildings here. I always said it’s well worth every dollar that you’ve had to ask for.”
From independent living apartments to a rehabilitation center, she didn’t shy away from promoting the cause.
“Mary would often remind me to ‘never be afraid to apologize.’ She was always about service to others. She was very loyal and committed to the residents, their families and to the staff. She loved talking about the history of Good Samaritan and specifically Algona,” Kern says.
Looking back on all the additions to the campus, she says it’s incredible to imagine the number of lives touched by the Society.
“You talk about someone who is here for the center, here for the residents and not concerned about her time, that’s someone who lives out the mission,” Bartolo says.
“She’d do her Monday-Friday, resource development, and then she would come in on Saturdays and Sundays and feed breakfast. Every Saturday and Sunday, every holiday, she never missed any time unless she was really sick.”
‘Everybody is equal and the same’
Hannover admits her body is showing some wear and tear these days as she nears retirement. Her mind, however, is sharp and her focus the same.
“In Christ’s love, everyone is someone. You can’t help but think that the smallest resident, the largest resident, the most active resident, the inactive resident, everybody is equal and the same. If you don’t have that squared in your thought process, life becomes more complicated,” Hannover says.
“It’s a great organization. It’s served me well. I’ve enjoyed my time. Have I enjoyed every day? No. Nobody does. I’ve had some bad days and I’ve had some very, very good days. Your emphasis is always on life and where you can make life better.”
To see a video interview with Mary Hannover, click here.
Whether it’s nature or nurture, nursing is often a calling that runs in families and creates a special, additional family bond between parents and their offspring.
“I remember performing some Christmas programs and ballet recitals for the residents in the center,” says Rindels, now the Society’s vice president of nursing and clinical services.
Her mom, Nancy Van Dam, RN, spent nearly 40 years as a nurse at Luther Manor, and Rindels says “I grew up personally with Good Sam. We would eat lunch on the weekends that she worked. I volunteered in the center several times.”
Van Dam retired in 2017. If she would’ve waited a few years, her daughter would have been her boss.
“I think Good Sam is in good hands. I think she’s very innovative and wants to learn and really enjoys trying to get everybody up to the best standard of care,” Van Dam says.
“Fell in love” with nursing
Nancy Van Dam, RN tears up as she recalls singing with a patient as they passed on.
Van Dam and Rindels both started out as certified nursing assistants.
“Fell in love with it. I would find myself listening to the nurses giving reports and thought, I could do that. It was so interesting. So, then I went to nurses training. In fact, I graduated from Sioux Valley Hospital School of Nursing,” Van Dam says.
A calling to work in long-term care brought her to the skilled nursing facility in 1978. She never left.
“I love the wisdom of the elderly. The chance that you get to make relationships that last,” Van Dam says about serving in a nursing home as opposed to working in a hospital.
Raised in a Christian home, she appreciates the faith-based mission of the Society.
“It’s not about profits and it’s not about names or fame or anything like that. It’s about caring for people and trying to do God’s will for them,” Van Dam says.
Getting to know residents and their families was her favorite part. Even when times were tough, Van Dam believed she was fulfilling a calling. One of her most vivid memories is caring for a resident who was nearing the end.
“We got her settled in bed and the other staff left. I just sat there with her and held her hand. I started singing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ to her. It always makes me tear up,” Van Dam says as she wipes her eyes. “She started singing with me and she was so short of breath. But that was something she remembered and it comforted her. She died later that day but I thought, I made a difference,” Van Dam says.
“Continuing this from one generation to the next”
Always proud of her mother’s efforts, Rindels didn’t know if nursing would be in her future.
“I think in high school, I don’t know that I thought much about being a nurse,” Rindels says.
Along with a passion for learning and science, her interest in the human body and how it works drew her closer to the profession. Being around the Society her whole life also helped inspire her to pursue a career in care.
“The meaning of family and the inclusion of family at the Society,” Rindels says played a big role in her career choice.
Seeing firsthand the impact a nurse can make, she went from a CNA to a licensed practical nurse at a long-term care location. Since then, she’s advanced through progressive nursing degrees.
“It’s almost like a legacy maybe, or tradition almost, that we’re continuing this from one generation to the next and able to build on very strong history and nursing practice that I was raised in,” Rindels says.
Technology improving future care
While she’s been at the Society for four years, Rindels has been a part of Sanford Health for 13. She thinks the integrated health system will provide many new opportunities in the future.
“We’ll be able to strengthen our nursing practice through new wound technology, the telehealth piece, being able to have a provider’s eyes on a resident immediately, especially in the rural setting that we’re in,” Rindels says.
Van Dam says connecting doctors with residents from the comfort of their own home was just starting when she retired.
“Saves a whole trip out. Your person isn’t feeling good. Why do you want to put them in something and travel them somewhere?” Van Dam says.
She adds another advantage will be seamless communication between long-term care nurses and the residents’ healthcare providers.
“You’re going to have the same people talking to each other at the same time. It will be a wonderful thing,” Van Dam says.
Rindels says advancements in virtual doctor visits, “will only strengthen our service and care in the future.”
“Build on that foundation”
As the Society approaches 100 years, technology and talented clinical care teams are enhancing the level of care that can be done right at the building.
Through the Great Plains Medicare Advantage plan, Rindels says some locations in the midwest are beginning to see nurse practitioners.
“We are adding in the mid-level nurse practitioners into the buildings five days a week or at least weekly. Visiting residents, providing care, giving that additional level of complexity and support to the nurses at the locations,” Rindels says.
Constantly learning and improving care for residents. Van Dam and now Rindels believe the Society’s past is rich and the future is bright.
Rindel’s personal goals are “to build on that foundation for the next 30 years.”
