Greene County Medical Center’s director of nursing, Jessica Steinberg, has been named the first ever recipient of the Des Moines UnityPoint Health Rural Healthcare Nursing Leadership Award.
Steinberg, who joined the Greene County Medical Center team in 2013, was nominated by chief nursing officer Susan Moore. In her nominating letter, Moore said Steinberg’s outstanding leadership has garnered the respect of her peers and coworkers and has been instrumental in effective, critical decision making amidst the many challenges she faced during the pandemic.
“As the pandemic raged on, Jess faced attrition of many key staff members. She met recruitment head-on by working with schools to accept preceptor students and recruited them to fill positions,” Moore said. “She was determined to make Greene County Medical Center a place where people wanted to work.” Steinberg also implemented a mentoring program and challenged the RNs to educate others and ensure accountability.
However, staffing was not the only area impacted by the pandemic and Steinberg’s leadership skills came to the forefront with the initiation and expansion of the Pain Clinic, the addition of Urology clinics and both Skilled and Extended Care programs.
Steinberg knew early on she would follow in the footsteps of her mother’s 40-plus year nursing career. She graduated in 2008 and accepted a position in Marshalltown. The decision to move closer to home was made when she started a family of her own. Her first role at Greene County Medical Center was on the night shift, but she soon worked her way up the ladder to director of nursing in 2021. She did all of this while managing family, work and studies to earn a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree in 2018. According to Steinberg, it was not just her mother she looked to as she developed leadership skills. She also incorporated traits from her first two leaders at Greene County Medical Center, Ann Erickson and Tina McCollom.
“I took bits and pieces from each,” Steinberg said. “It was just two different perspectives. I looked at the ways they led and took certain aspect, putting them together into how I want to lead.” She also credits Moore for her many achievements. “Susan’s an amazing leader. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for her.”
And when it came to finding out she had been selected to receive the award, Steinberg says she was shocked. “I’m just so honored and humbled. There are no words to describe it. I am extremely grateful,” she said.
Moore added, “I’m very proud of her and I am glad I get to work with her. She has done extremely well at turning that Acute ship, and it has been fun. I don’t know that she has always thought it was fun, but it has been fun working with her and seeing her grow.”
Steinberg has come a long way in the little over a year she has been in this leadership role at Greene County Medical Center, but she is still looking to the future, focusing on the growth of the medical center and the rewards it brings to the entire team. And she is happy to do it all, even if it adds a little more to her plate. “I like to see the expansion. I like taking on the Pain Clinic and Urology, taking on Extended Care and seeing just how it grows the hospital—which is huge. That is what makes me excited,” Steinberg said.
