Growing up, Jessi Underwood, RN, thought she wanted to pursue a career in physical therapy. Having had several injuries that required hospitalization as a kid, she was inspired to help others recover from their serious injuries or illnesses. When she arrived at the University of Iowa, she realized that her passions lay elsewhere in the healthcare field.
“I was given a work study position during college at the University and it was at the VA Hospital in Iowa City,” Underwood said. “They placed me as a nursing assistant. I had no idea what nurses do, what nursing assistants do, but I loved the job. I connected with the nursing world and decided [on a new career path] from watching the nurses, creating relationships with other nursing staff and getting acclimated with healthcare itself. That’s where things started.”
After graduating college, Underwood worked at a hospital in Iowa City as a registered nurse in the float pool, helping out on a variety of units. The hospital had a rehabilitation unit and oftentimes, patients would transfer to Madonna, so Underwood was familiar with rehabilitation nursing and Madonna’s reputation. She enjoyed the slower pace and longer lengths of stay that allowed her to bond with her patients.
After several years in Iowa City, Underwood felt a pull to return to her hometown in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area. Her family still lived here, and in 2023, she felt like it was time to make the move.
“I decided for that transition, I would do travel nursing,” she said. “That way I could kind of still have that experience of floating around, so I did travel nursing for two years.”
She signed her first contract with Madonna, thinking she would stay briefly before transitioning to another hospital in the area for the next contract, bouncing around until she found the place she wanted to work. She didn’t have to look very hard.
“Madonna kept extending my assignments or contracts, so through that, I didn’t want to leave,” Underwood said. “I was finding good relationships with nursing staff and different disciplines, and it was a different flow of nursing, so that’s why I wanted to stay here at Madonna. I got comfortable and decided it was a good change and I just kind of fit right in.”
Her travel nursing contract with Madonna lasted a total of two years and three months. When the final contract came to an end, she decided she was ready to make a permanent change.
“I realized I don’t want to have the ‘threat’ of not being able to work at Madonna anymore, so when that time came, I decided, ‘Yes, I want to work here forever,’” Underwood said.
In March, Underwood accepted a full-time position with Madonna as an RN in the float pool, working the nightshift. She chose that position because she felt nightshift would allow her the most time to learn about her new employer, get a sense of the work flow and establish a new routine.
“My favorite part of being here at Madonna is getting to see patients from the beginning of the rehab process for them, then coming to the end and how you can celebrate how much they’ve improved, overcoming their injury and what that’s going to look like,” Underwood said. “When I worked in a more acute setting of nursing, you don’t see those patients every day. You don’t see how the outcome comes, so it’s been really nice to be a part of that.”
Looking ahead, Underwood says she hopes she’ll be part of the ‘Madonna family,’ as she calls it, for years to come.
“Now that I’m older, I jokingly tell my coworkers I took this job because this is where I’m going to retire,” she said. “This is it.”