Every year, the Great Iowa Nurses program recognizes nurses across the state who go above and beyond every day to provide safe, compassionate care for their patients and share their knowledge and leadership with their communities.

Pertussis, a respiratory illness, is circulating in our community. Who is vulnerable, how does it spread, and how can we stay healthy? To learn more, we talked to infectious disease expert Melanie Wellington, MD, PhD. People may know pertussis as whooping cough. It is a highly contagious bacterial infection, known for severe coughing that can cause fits or “whooping.” When the coughing fits are…

As any fan of the old Schoolhouse Rock songs knows, "Three is the magic number." In the case of the Pinckney family, that takes the form of triplets — three healthy baby boys to complete this happy family from Coal Valley, Illinois.

When Nick Vance woke up one morning in November 2024, it felt like every other day. The 37-year-old took a shower and started getting ready for work. He walked out to his living room and addressed the voice-based virtual assistant connected to many of his household devices by saying, “Alexa, turn the lights on please.” But what came out was, as he calls it, “word salad.”

When you need a procedure as complex as open-heart surgery, you should choose the best, most experienced care team. That is exactly what University of Iowa Health Care offers to heart patients, says Mohammad Bashir, MBBS — and it’s one of the reasons the cardiothoracic surgeon joined the UI clinical faculty a year after completing his surgical training at Iowa in 2012.

Spring and summer can bring sunny days, blooming flowers, and—for many of us—seasonal allergies. Also known as hay fever or allergic rhinitis, these spring and summer allergies can cause various symptoms, including sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, itchy throat, congestion, fatigue, headache, and skin rashes. To put it simply, they can be miserable. Thankfully, Christina Kopp, ARNP, advanced…

Diana Marquez, RN, has always made it her mission to make a difference in the lives of her patients at UI Health Care. Her commitment was on full display when she used her bilingual skills and sound judgment to ease a challenging situation in the Neuro-Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at the UI Health Care Medical Center - University Campus.

One common issue is an arrhythmia, which means your heart beats too fast, too slow, or in an irregular way. The good news is that you can make simple lifestyle changes to help keep your heart healthy and lower your risk of developing arrhythmias.

What is a vasectomy? A vasectomy is a safe, effective form of male birth control. It’s a minor surgical procedure that prevents sperm from mixing with semen. During your vasectomy, a urologist will cut and seal the vas deferens, which are the tubes that carry sperm cells from the testicles. Without sperm cells in the semen, fertilization cannot occur. Why choose a vasectomy? Many men choose…

Providing comfort during life’s most difficult moments requires not only skill but also compassion. For Alaina Zachary, BSN, RN, CEN, that compassion shined through when caring for a patient who was near their end of life in the Emergency Department (ED) at UI Health Care Medical Center - University Campus. After the patient had returned to the ED following treatment, Zachary stepped in to ease…