(Radio Iowa) – Due to factors ranging from retirement to COVID burnout, some studies show Iowa hospitals will be short hundreds of nurses in the coming few years, and the University of Iowa is stepping up its effort to train more of the vital medical professionals. Dr. Sandy Daack-Hirsch, executive associate dean of the U-I College of Nursing, says the first class of students will start in January in the new “Master of Science in Nursing — Entry into Practice” program.

“This is for people who have a degree in some other major, other than nursing, maybe out working, may have just finished college but have decided, ‘Hey, you know, I think I might want to be a nurse,'” Daack-Hirsch says. “This gives people an option to get a nursing degree at the masters level, but entry into practice is at the RN licensure.” The 15-month program has fewer than 20 students in the first class, but the U-I plans to ramp up quickly in the coming years to 48 students in per class. The U-I has also long offered a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or B-S-N. 

“We graduate 80 students in December and then we graduate 80 students again in the spring from our BSN program. That’s the program that we offer to incoming freshmen,” Daack-Hirsch says. “This is 48 more students in addition to that, so that’s a pretty big jump for us.” Decades ago, a majority of nurses in the U-S were women, but that’s been steadily changing.

“We’re not at 50-50, but we have a growing number of men in nursing,” Daack-Hirsch says. “I would say that we see a nice increase every year.” About half of the Iowa City institution’s B-S-N program graduates stay in Iowa to practice and she’s hopeful the master program will attract even more people who will remain in-state to put their valued skills to use.

https://nursing.uiowa.edu/academics/msn-entry-practice

(Radio Iowa) – Residents of Ames will be able to get electronics, small appliances, computers, bicycles, clothing, or other items that need some work, fixed for free this weekend.

Mike Van Vertloo organized the Ames Repair Café where some 25 volunteers will lend their repair skills to the effort.
“We can teach them how to repair or improve the function of those items,” he says. Van Vertloo says the goal is to cut down on the amount of waste that goes to the landfill by keeping the items working.

“Unfortunately, a lot of times financially that makes the most sense. You know, the newer thing is made more cheaply, or made in a part of the world where labor is super cheap. And it is often cheaper to replace something, and then that is to fix it,” Van Vertloo says. He had the idea for doing this and then came across some others in the community who were also looking to get it started.

(City of Ames graphic)

Van Vertloo says it’s something that is happening globally. “People around the world have events like this, but this is the first one in Iowa, that I found, I haven’t been able to find anything in Iowa, ” he says. Van Vertloo says some of the fixes may not take long.

“A lot of repairs can be deceptively simple. Once you know kind of what to do,” he says. “And you know, sometimes it comes down to having the right specialized tool. And we are looking at ways to sort of combat that where somebody doesn’t have the right tool, so maybe they’ll go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and pick up a tool for 20 dollars and use it exactly once.” He says they hope to eventually branch out from the repair Cafe idea and maybe create a tool library that lets people borrow the tool they need to make their own repairs.

Van Vertloo says the Repair Cafe will be first-come, first-serve. He says they had a booth at a recent event in Ames and there appears to be a lot of interest. “I suspect, we will have a good turnout, I think it might even get to the point where we end up turning people away, because we don’t have the capacity to do everything within the six hours that we’ve got,” he says. Van Vertloo says they may eventually make this a regular ongoing event.

The Repair Cafe for Ames residents runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday (Oct 8) at the Ames Public Library.

(Radio Iowa) – Nestle Purina has completed a 156-million dollar expansion of its plant in Clinton. Nearly 600 people are employed at the Purina plant in Clinton. That includes most of the 96 jobs tied to the plant’s expansion.

Purina has been making pet food in Clinton since 1969. According to the company’s website 190 different pet products have been produced at the plant over the past five decades and it’s the only site where Purina’s prescription pet food is made.

(Radio Iowa) – The Des Moines woman who has accused U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken of kissing her without her permission has commented publicly for the first time. In April, Kimberley Strope-Boggus told a police officer she met with Franken in March, shortly after she’d been fired from the campaign, and the two discussed a new campaign role for her before the kiss. Strope-Boggus is quoted in a Politico story about Franken, saying “it happened” — a direct response to Franken’s statement that the kiss “never happened.”

Strope-Boggus said she’s been treated like a disposable pawn by both political parties since a conservative website published her police report last month. Franken campaign manager Julie Stauch says if anyone has made Strope-Boggus a pawn, it’s the Grassley campaign. According to Stauch, the revelation of the police report was done in collaboration by Franken’s former campaign manager and Grassley and his staff.

A spokeswoman for Senator Grassley’s campaign points to two unnamed women cited in Politico’s story who also accused Franken of making women uncomfortable. Michaela Sundermann, Grassley’s communications director, said that raises very serious questions about Franken. Franken’s campaign manager says it’s all an effort to undermine Franken’s campaign because he’s on track to beat Grassley.

Grassley and Franken are scheduled to debate tonight (Thursday) at seven on Iowa P-B-S — their only scheduled debate of the campaign.

ATLANTIC, IOWA – Officials with Cass Health, today (Thursday) announced the addition of Kellie Enderson, ARNP, to the team of providers at Atlantic Medical Center, RHC. Enderson is board-certified by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners to care for patients of all ages. She will offer appointments in both the Atlantic and Griswold Medical Centers, and she will also occasionally provide care in AMC Rapid Care. To make an appointment, please call 712-243-2850.

Originally from Huxley, Iowa, Enderson and her husband moved a year ago to a small hobby farm in Guthrie County. “I attended Grandview University for my bachelor’s degree in nursing, and then I completed by master’s degree in nursing from Chamberlain University. I have worked in the medical field for more than 29 years, with experience in cardiology, neurology, hospice, and chronic health conditions as a health coach,” said Enderson.

Kellie Enderson

“I enjoy building a working relationship with my patients and providing education. I practice using a holistic approach with my patients, using both pharmaceuticals and nonpharmaceutical approaches, and asking questions to get a better understanding of each person, their health, and their day-to-day lifestyles,” said Enderson.