St. Francis-Mooresville ER nurse earns top honor as ‘Nurse of the Year’

INDIANAPOLIS – Growing up on a cattle farm in Morgan County prepared Nathan K. Lowder well for caring for humans wherever he might go in life.

The path he took was to a multi-layered career in nursing, beginning at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers in 1997. Today, he manages the hospital system’s emergency department at Mooresville, working side by side with other professionals who often are on the frontlines of myriad physical, mental and emotional trauma.

“My parents brought me up to respect and to help others,” said Lowder. “If another farmer needed help, we were always there to lend a hand any way we could. This has stuck with me into my nursing career because I give100 percent in my job of taking care of patients and their families.”

It is this attitude and his top-notch professionalism that earned Lowder the Nurse of the Year Award from the Indianapolis Star-sponsored 2010 Salute to Nurses program. Lowder was feted by hundreds of his colleagues throughout the state today (April 28) during a luncheon and ceremony at the Indiana Convention Center.

More than 962 nominations – 72 of whom were St. Francis nurses – were submitted for this year’s program, now in its eighth year.

Lowder says he has had many role models in nursing, but one person truly stands out.

“The one nurse who has made the greatest impact on me has to be my wife, Melissa, who is a clinical nurse specialist at our Mooresville hospital,” he said. “She’s my real inspiration because I see first-hand what she does for patients.”

The Salute to Nurses Program states: “Every day in the Star, we share stories of people who serve as an inspiration to others. Salute to Nurses celebrates the nursing professionals who are truly an inspiration to all. In this time of staffing shortages and increasing demands, our honorees have found ways to go above and beyond in providing care and comfort to their patients and their patients' families.”

Indeed, going “above and beyond” is an understatement when you take a sweeping look at Lowder’s career. A certified ER nurse, he holds active memberships in several professional organizations; serves on various emergency response and nurse teams and committees at St. Francis and in Morgan County; has worked as an emergency flight nurse; continuously served as a mentor and preceptor to fledgling nurses; and is a volunteer firefighter and medic.

And by the way – Lowder spends his “free time” raising 350 head of beef cattle on the family farm in Morgan County. When you’re caring for that many creatures, it’s a seven-day-a-week job.

But he has no beef with that responsibility.
“I’ve been doing this all my life, and I handle all the medical care for the animals,” he said, adding that it’s also an opportunity to get his 5-year-old daughter heading in the right direction. “I want her to be as well-rounded as possible so that she can handle any situation that arises later in life.”

There are 1,450 nurses at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers. Visitors to a newly launched Web site (www.stfrancishospitals.org/nursing) can learn what nursing is like, and what opportunities exist, at its hospitals in Indianapolis, Beech Grove and Mooresville.

In fact, several nurses, including Melissa Lowder, share their stories in a special video section on the site, which showcases their work experiences.