Interview with young professional in council bluffs iowa

impact cb member

Morrissey Photography + Impact CB

So what exactly is this?

Morrissey Photography has teamed up with Impact CB to highlight the young professionals living and working in the Council Bluffs area. Each month we will interview a young professional over coffee, we will feature their story on the Morrissey Photography blog.

Meet Nikki, Impact CB Member

My early morning coffee with Nikki started off a bit chaotic...

I was running behind. We had an out of state production company renting the entire studio and of course the sewer was backed up and the plumber was late. It was the first Impact CB spotlight of this type, you can check out some old stories here. When Nikki walked in, her familiar face put me at ease, minutes into chatting, I knew exactly how this was going to work.

1. She’s a transplant

   Omaha ——> Council Bluffs

   If you’re a Council Bluffs native and proud of this little-big town, then you know how extremely gratifying it is to hear, “I moved here from Omaha.” Born and raised in Omaha, Nikki has fond memories of Council Bluffs as a kid, many of those memories include her Grandpa. He always brought her and her siblings over to Council Bluffs as kids, Nikki loves the memories of going to places like the Drug Store on 16th street. They weren’t over-the-top grand trips but ones she holds dear to her heart.

2. Director of Chaos

   Controlled Chaos of Course

   Every day is different as an emergency room director, “You never know what is going to walk through or roll through the doors.“ Things can change in a matter of minutes or seconds. You have to know a lot about most things.

   I’m a sucker for shows like The Resident and Chicago Med, I’m kind of a junkie, so of course I wanted to know if the Emergency Room in Council Bluffs is anything like the ones on TV. Nikki can hardly stand to watch any of my favorite shows, they drive her crazy, “The same doctor isn’t going to see you in the ED and then wheel you down to surgery, it just doesn’t happen like that.”

3. Work life balance

   24/ 7 + 365

   Work life balance, it’s a reoccurring topic in almost every podcast I listen to it. I hear it all the time. As the director of a 24/7, 365 day department finding work life balance was a struggle at first. Think about that for a second, her job never closes, it never stops.

   As patients are filtered through the ED, Nikki has to have a sense of what is going on, on every floor. As the chief communicator, she found it difficult to communicate with every shift, she was working 14 hour days. She simply said, “I’m better. I’m better not staying late every night.”

4. Stop the Bleed

   Passion and Advocacy

   In March of 2017, Nikki attended a Stop the Bleed class. A class designed to teach the general public basic techniques of bleeding control in life threatening scenarios. As a medical professional, you can teach the class after attending, she was compelled to start teaching the class and spreading the knowledge. She worked closely with the Iowa Department of Health and other health care professionals to make sure the program is accessible in the Council Bluffs community, as well as surrounding communities.

5. Impact CB

   Three years and counting

   Getting outside of our network of people and routines is hard.

   Every January Impact CB hosts their kick off event, at Thunderbowl, it consists of bowling, pizza and beer. A few friends invited her to join them.

   Before joining Impact, she didn’t think much of her network, she quickly realized her network of people is the world she lives in, nurses, doctors, EMS and fireman. She’s enjoyed getting to know other young professionals, networking and making a difference within the community she loves so much.