Newman Regional Health’s new chief nursing officer is settling into her job — it’s something she’s had a passion for most of her life.
Julie Stowe, who grew up on a farm in northeast Iowa, took the helm as chief nursing officer at Newman earlier this year. Stowe said her grandmother inspired her to enter the nursing profession. Her grandmother taught school in the time when few women went to college. Her grandmother told her if she had to do it again, she’d be a nurse. Stowe took that to heart and decided to enter the nursing field herself.
Having grown up about 70 miles from the Mayo Clinic, she was in a good position. Stowe graduated from the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, Minn., with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and later went on to receive her master’s degree in nursing with an emphasis in nursing administration from Winona State University. She is board certified as a nurse executive.
Stowe worked at Olmsted Community Hospital and at the Mayo Clinic. She later found herself in both informal and formal leadership positions after she was asked whether she was interested in leadership. She was hesitant at first because she was drawn to the bedside. However, she tried it anyway.
“I got in the role and found out I loved it,” Stowe said.
Stowe said a leadership role allowed her to serve the patients and the nursing staff. Since then, Stowe has been in leadership positions at Mayo, chief nursing officer for a critical access hospital in Hudson, Wis., and a nurse manager for Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, Minn. She’s also taught as an adjunct faculty member in the Winona State graduate nursing program.
Stowe came to Emporia to take Newman’s chief nursing officer job because she has family in Kansas and was impressed by Newman’s staff and their practices. She said she also was impressed by the advances in health care that Newman is making and their forward-thinking practices.
“I was very impressed with the people that I met here,” she added.
As a chief nursing officer, all of the hospital’s nurses report to her. Stowe is available to staff and is present on the unit, she said.
There are several things Stowe enjoys about her job. She said she enjoys working to advance the quality of care for patients.
“There’s not a day in my (career) that I haven’t been humbled and proud to be a nurse,” Stowe said.
Newman also has excellent nurses on staff, Stowe added.
“They are really excited about a fresh set of eyes,” she said. “I feel so fortunate to serve them and be a role model — especially for the young nurses.”
Another advantage Stowe has is Newman’s partnership with the ESU Division of Nursing. Stowe said by the year 2025 the country is looking at a nursing shortage of a half million nurses. Working with new nurses and offering them support increases the likelihood that they will stay in the profession. One in five nurses are generally lost in the first year of their career after graduation from nursing school.
“The career in general doesn’t give them what they need,” Stowe said. “We need to retain young nurses.”
Partnering with the Division of Nursing also allows the hospital to stay current on research. It allows the hospital to use research-evidence-based practice.
“It’s been a wonderful opportunity to partner with them,” Stowe said.
Stowe said she is impressed with the health-care providers in Emporia as well. She has been meeting them individually. Partnerships within the community are very important, Stowe added.
“Partnerships are first and foremost,” she said. “Everything you do is based on relationships with patients, physicians and colleagues.”
The nursing profession through literature is thought as the most trusted medical profession, Stowe said.
“We can’t lose that,” Stowe said. “... We have to make sure we are communicating on an emotional level with patients.”
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