Looking back, rural Treynor native Nicole Siebels said her decision to pursue a nursing career stems from the fact that she’s always had a love for helping other people.
Siebels has been with Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital for the past nine years, beginning as a medical assistant at the Methodist Health Clinic in 2014. She earned her RN degree at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs in 2017, then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Nebraska Medicine the following year.
As a wife and mother while working full-time as a clinic nurse in a busy practice, Siebels enrolled in Methodist College and earned her master’s degree in nursing in May 2022. Having moved away from more traditional nursing roles to the nursing information technology field, Siebels earned her current title as a clinical informatics specialist.
In her current position she helps staff and providers improve communication and technology with patients, staff and providers and other health care systems. Her work has strengthened and streamlined patient care visits, sharing of patient information, reduced paperwork and increased electronic access.
“Much of my work is helping staff and providers with charting problems. Helping improve and clarify the flow of information improves patient care,” Siebels said.
She pointed to her collaboration with Tami Bardon, a cardiology unit triage nurse. Bardon developed a list of standard questions that a triage nurse would ask to assess the condition of a cardiology patient. Various patient responses to each of those questions are listed in a drop-down menu that follows the question. Bardon developed the phrases used for questions and responses and Siebels then created the electronic form the triage nurse uses to record the patient’s responses. The result is greater uniformity in the information that is being collected from patients during the triage process and passed on to providers and other staff.
“The greatest reward of nursing is the knowledge that you’re helping other people,” Siebels said. “What we’re doing in IT is helping make things more efficient for better outcomes.”
