Loring Hospital's Kay Martin, registered nurse, has been named to the prestigious annual 100 Great Iowa Nurses list. The 100 Great Iowa Nurses program announced their 2018 honorees earlier this month. 100 honorees represent 42 Iowa counties, and were selected from a pool of more than 500 individuals who were nominated by colleagues, patients, doctors, friends, and family members.
The 100 Great Iowa Nurses award recognizes nurses who have made meaningful, lasting contributions to their patients, colleagues, and the nursing profession, and are viewed as mentors to other nursing professionals. Kay Martin exemplifies all of the principles on which the 100 Great Iowa Nurses Celebration was founded. Martin, a 41 year employee of Loring Hospital, was nominated by several of her co-workers. During her time at Loring she has served as the nurse manager for over 30 years, has cared for patients in our ER, medical surgical areas, our inpatient wing, outpatient clinics, and delivering babies. She has touched nearly every department at Loring with her passion, knowledge and skills.
Several nursing staff wrote letters of recommendation in support of Kay to receive this honor. Linda Brown, Loring ER Manager, has worked with Kay for 17 years. She reflected on how Kay has cared for her family, staff members’ families, friends and neighbors. “It is not an easy job to be the nurse, the family member, or friend when caring for a patient, but in our small community that is what she had to do,” Brown stated. “She has given tirelessly of herself throughout her career, always putting Loring’s patients first,” she commented.
Her wealth of knowledge about caring for patients and her expertise in the healthcare field are recognized every day by staff at Loring including our physicians. “Kay is one of the best and smartest nurses I have ever worked with,” according to Dr. Zoltan Pek.
Mny co-workers reflected on working with Kay at Loring. Several commented that she encouraged them to continue their education, obtain their RN and “not stop at your LPN”. Many said she is the first person thought of or counted upon when a problem or situation arises or when advice is needed. Many staff members remember her being their nurse when their children were born at Loring Hospital prior to 2005.
Kay resigned her nurse manager duties last September with the hopes of mentoring the new nurse manager, Kara Wellington, during her last years at Loring before retirement. Wellington commented “I recognized right away when I started at Loring that Kay was a great nurse and leader. And if there is a need, day or night, Kay can be counted on.”
Martin has been a dedicated nurse and contributed to and led change within the organization from nursing processes, changes during new electronic record implementation, and continuously improving processes between departments. Her work and desire for caring for people doesn’t end at Loring either. She made two trips to Texas to put her skills to work for those in need during Hurricane Harvey this past year.
Nurses selected for this honor represent many sectors of health care, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and school and office nurses. These exemplary nurses were selected based on their concern for humanity, their contribution to the community and to the nursing profession, their leadership and mentoring. The program has honored nurses from 96 of Iowa’s 99 counties over the past 14 years. On Sunday, May 6, there will be a celebration of the 100 Great Iowa Nurses at the Iowa Events Center – Grand Ballroom in Des Moines. This is the 14th anniversary of the program. The celebration is an annual prelude to National Nurses Week, which begins on May 6 and ends May 12 (the birthday of Florence Nightingale).
Loring Hospital congratulates Kay Martin for being selected as a Top 100 Great Iowa Nurse.