Dee Hoger Celebrated as One of Iowa's 100 Great Nurses
posted on Tuesday, May 5, 2020
The 100 Great Iowa Nurses program identifies 100 outstanding nurses every year whose courage, competence, and commitment to patients and the nursing profession stand out above all others. These nurses go above and beyond to contribute significantly to the profession of nursing. In 2020, Deanne “Dee” Hoger was one of five Spencer Hospital nurses named among Iowa’s 100 Great Nurses.
Career:
Dee has been a nurse for 44 years and has been part of the Spencer Hospital team for 26 years.
Roles Dee has held:
She’s worked in a variety of roles including as a staff nurse on the medical-surgical unit, same day services, post-anesthesia recovery unit (PACU), emergency department, home health and Abben Cancer Center. Dee accepted leadership roles, serving as nurse director of Same Day/PACU, and later as director for the Surgery Center, and filled in as interim vice president of patient care services.
Dee is a certified clinical nurse leader and currently works as part of the nursing administration team as a clinical informaticist. In Dee’s current role she is responsible for building physician and nursing software applications, physician and nurse education as it relates to electronic health record development, creating decision support rules for evidenced based practice and patient safety, meaningful use monitoring and reporting, and taking the lead on charge master reviews.
What Dee loves about being a nurse:
“I love providing education and helping patients, families and co-workers improve their quality of life. Through my career, I have had a variety of roles. With every role, I’ve looked to improve the quality of patient care and safety. Nursing has given me the opportunity to learn something new every day; to grow professionally and personally. I am very proud to be a nurse and know that I make a difference in a person’s life.”
What those who nominated Dee had to say about her:
Dee is visionary in her thinking as it relates to the future of nursing, especially in the area of informatics and EHR development. She has the ability to connect with staff and physicians on a daily basis to assist them with use of the EHR. She is calm amidst chaos and always professional with her approach. She is willing to help anyone at any time of the day. Her commitment to her job and her “never say die” attitude motivates others. She excels 110% at what she does and does the job very well. It is not only her vast knowledge of Paragon clinical applications but also billing, charges, registration – I don’t think there is an application she does not know a little bit about or how they all interact.
She has a large impact on people by demonstrating leadership and serving as a role model. Her daughter was quoted as saying “l would not be where I am today without the impact my mom had on me within the nursing profession, and for that I am forever grateful. She went back to college when I was in grade school with three very young children· at home after my dad died so she could get her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing degree. A commitment she made to herself to give her children a better life. There were many years that she always had a laptop with her, or a book at her children’s ball game. We always saw her working and learning, and as an adult I now see and know the drive and commitment she had to her nursing career.”