Jackie Erb, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and Gothenburg native, recently returned to Gothenburg Health after working at Children’s Hospital in Omaha. Jackie joins CRNA, Drew Rubalcava who has practiced at Gothenburg Health since June 2018. The following is a reflection from Jackie’s time at Children’s and her decision to return to Gothenburg.

The following was originally published to Facebook on May 30, 2019 by Jackie Erb:

Today was my last day at Children’s as a CRNA. It has been a year full of amazing experiences and great learning opportunities for my career in anesthesia. In addition to that, it was a year full of friendships and widening the circle of the people in my life that I care a lot about; and will miss a great deal.

When my cases were done for the day, I took a few laps around the surgical suite hallways with my pregnant anesthesiologist attending, Kaitlyn, in hopes to induce her labor. As we were coming up on our turn, we saw a nurse pushing a patient down the hallway on his crib. He was a little guy, laying on his belly with his head propped up high just watching us come towards him. As any two women would do, we stop to see him and adore his amazing dark head of hair and beaming attitude. We got him to smile at least eight times before he was taken into his surgery room to begin his healing process.

I think on that moment as I can picture his adorable face smiling as the door closes, realizing that this chapter of my career is also closing. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of kids that have warmed my heart and that I have truly loved taking care of in just this one year alone.

The whole realm of pediatric surgery and anesthesia is a tough one. No parent wants to willingly hand their child over to people they just met and entrust that things are going to be okay on the other side. But I wish you could see it from our side. You sit in the waiting room, nervous and getting constant text messages from family asking how it’s going. Minutes pass like hours, and your mind can’t stop racing.

But in our world - in the operating room - this is our everyday. This is where we are comfortable. We have a process, we have a routine, we know what to do if something goes off course. It’s a controlled environment. It’s a safe environment.

And above all else - we care so deeply.

I love pediatric anesthesia. And I have loved all the nurses and doctors and scrub techs and surgeons that I have been able to work with in the last year. Children’s is a great hospital because of its staff. And they are there because they love the kids. Each and every one of them is a part of the child’s healing process, to eventually help make them better than they were and I appreciate (and will miss) them all so much.

But today - my family and I move back to Gothenburg. And on Monday I will be back at Gothenburg Health - where my career as a CRNA actually began in 2015. Working in a Critical Access Hospital brings me great joy and is also another realm of anesthesia that I love. Taking care of the people in my own community and being there for them when they are in need gives me great pride.

I worked at Gothenburg Health for three years before Children’s, and in that time, I experienced great highs and great lows. One day, you do an anesthetic for your best friend’s c-section. On another day, you help a friend through a D&C for her miscarriage. The list goes on. You see people experience unexpected trauma, and you see people experience anticipated joy. And the next week you see them at the frozen aisle of the grocery store. But in the end, I love that I can be that person who is there for them when it is most needed and that they allowed me into that small piece of their life.

I am happy to move back to Gothenburg and raise my family in the place that I grew up and have such good memories of. I love small town Nebraska. I am proud of being from small-town Nebraska. But I have no doubts; I will be taking many trips back to the city.

All in all, there are way too many people to count. Those that I am sad to leave and those that I am excited to see. But you all know who you are - and thanks for being a part of my life.

-J. Erb

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Gothenburg Health is a premier healthcare facility serving the community of Gothenburg and surrounding areas with modern facilities and highly skilled employees.   In 2015, Gothenburg Health completed a 3,900 square-foot, surgical expansion. This state-of-the-art perioperative arena houses two operating rooms and one endoscopy room. Gothenburg Health has a full-time OB/GYN performing surgeries onsite and features a robust specialty schedule providing outpatient surgeries at Gothenburg Health in the following areas: orthopedics (general and spine), podiatry, ENT, pain management, urology, ophthalmology, and general surgery. Please contact us for more information about these home-town services