Photo courtesy of Kim Tew.

Kalona resident Kim Tew is known as an “ICU float” at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

She’s been nursing at the University of Iowa for 15 years, working in different intensive care units. Tew has worked in the medical field for 25 years, has a master’s degree in nurse education from the University of Iowa, and has nursed from coast to coast. It comes as no shock then that she was recognized as one of 100 Great Iowa Nurses this year. Tew explains why she enjoys nursing, “I truly enjoy caring for others, and to me it’s kind of an honor to be in a vulnerable state of their life. So I genuinely have a concern for my patients, I connect very easily to my patients, as well as I truly look out for my coworkers. It’s a very natural part of me to have that connection and have that concern.”

Tew credits the camaraderie of the staff at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and it’s commitment to excellence. Tew describes how it felt receiving this honor with her family, “This is probably the most special part, because I raised my boys on my own since they were two and four. My mother, Nancy Dickinson, she has been like a second parent. In the 15 years that I’ve raised my boys on my own, with my profession and when I’ve gone back and gotten further education, and my hours at the hospital and whatever it might be, my mother has helped and my boys have been so good throughout all of this. That particular day at the ceremony, that was the most important thing to me, is that they saw that in spite of all that we’ve gone through in the last 15 years, for them to see their mother honored in such a prestigious way was so rewarding. That was the most important part in all of this to me.”

Tew strives to earn a critical care registered nurse certification and wishes to organize an American Associate of Critical-Care Nurses chapter in Iowa City. While she has spent the past 25 years focused on improving the quality of life of her patients, Tew, an educator and yoga instructor, says she will spend the next 25 focused on improving the quality of life of her coworkers.