An Atlantic nurse was named a health care leader to watch by a national health care and assisted-living magazine. According to the Daily Non Pareil, Michelle Gifford, director of nursing at Atlantic Nursing and Rehab Center, was named by Provider Magazine as one of 20 health care professionals around the country who demonstrate strong leadership skills. Gifford will be featured in the magazine’s January 2014 issue “20 to Watch: Up and Coming People in Health Care.” People were recognized by the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living.

Gifford was nominated by Kellie Jimerson, an administrator at the Atlantic Nursing and Rehab Center. The center is owned by Care Initiatives, which is Iowa’s largest nonprofit senior health care provider. Jimerson told the paper that Gifford, who joined the center in February 2008, helped improve the facility. Gifford started her career in nursing at age 14 as a certified nursing assistant. She graduated from Creighton University in 2003.