On a typical day in the Emergency & Trauma Center at Mercy, the pace is fast and the medical needs unpredictable. But one thing physicians, staff members and patients can count on is the competence and concern of Debbie Boots, R.N., an emergency nurse who has been in the department for nearly 27 years.
“They call me ‘seasoned,’” she laughed, noting that she is one of several long-time emergency staff members. “We have good working relationships under stressful conditions. The doctors respect my opinion and skills.”
Debbie grew up on a farm near New Hampton, Iowa, and earned her nursing degree in Rochester, Minnesota. After a year as a nurse at a small community hospital, she moved to Cedar Rapids in search of a job.
She was offered positions in two different medical environments, but she was drawn to the emergency department at Mercy. Today, she is still happy to be there. “I like the pace of the ED, the doctors are very competent, and I like interacting with so many different patients and making them feel better,” she said. “I like working for Mercy because the administration cares and is involved in what we do.”
What is Debbie’s favorite part of her job? “I especially enjoy working with the elderly,” she said. “My heart really goes out to them and their families. These are respectful, hard-working people who have the values I grew up with on the farm.”
After all her years of service, noted Debbie’s supervisor, Emergency and Trauma Director Linda Hittenmiller, “Debbie is still sensitive to patients. She genuinely likes bedside patient care, although she has had many opportunities to move into other areas.”
“For me,” said Debbie, “the Mercy Touch means communicating with patients and caring about what happens to them, going into their rooms to talk to them rather than sitting in the nurses’ station.”
A single mom with a daughter in college, Debbie likes to spend time away from her pressure-packed workdays tending to her garden – her little piece of the farm life she still loves.
