May 11, 2022

Celebrating EveryStep Nurses: Meet Sally Newland

National Nurses Week, first observed in 1994, honors the contributions and sacrifices of the medical professionals who keep us healthy. It is celebrated between May 6, National Nurses Day, and May 12, the birthdate of celebrated nurse Florence Nightingale.

EveryStep is fortunate to have dedicated and talented nurses who work with expectant and new mothers and their children, individuals in the care of EveryStep Hospice, and seniors and others that receive home care services through EveryStep.

Sally Newland with the EveryStep Hospice team in Council Bluffs found her calling as a nurse as a second career — her first being an accountant for 23 years. “During the last few years of working in finance, I helped my mother care for two aunts that both had pancreatic cancer,” says Sally. “During those years of caregiving as a second job, I found that I got more out of that than I did in a full day of crunching numbers, meetings and managing staff.”

In 2011 at the age of 42, Sally entered nursing school at Iowa Western Community College. After graduating with an associate degree in nursing, she began her career with EveryStep in June of 2015. “I was interested in working for a non-profit hospice through a smaller, mission-driven agency.”

Sally says being an EveryStep Hospice nurse with the Council Bluffs team has brought her a deep sense of purpose, especially when she is able to be with a patient during the last moments of life. “What an honor it is to be with a patient, holding their hand, as they take their last breath. You have a profound sense that you were meant to be there at that exact moment in time.”

An Iowa farm girl and outdoor enthusiast, Sally is a wife and mother of one daughter. Her husband is also a nurse.  “I am an avid gardener of vegetables, as well as flowers of all kinds,” says Sally. “I love Hawkeye football and Cubs baseball. My pups, a 14-year-old cockapoo, Miley, and our 11-year-old yellow lab, Sadie, are my gardening partners. I enjoy spending time in the summer at the Lake of the Ozarks with my family.”

Sally knows she made the right choice when she left the world of finance for a career as a hospice nurse. “I love being able to meet a variety of people where they are and being able to support and guide those with care and comfort at the most challenging time in their life. I’m so thankful I followed my heart and chased my dreams, as I am where I belong — at the bedside, caring for those in need.”

EveryStep currently has several nursing opportunities. If you are interested in becoming a hospice or home care RN with EveryStep, please reach out to hr@everystep.org and ask about our generous sign-on bonus! You can also view current openings on our website at https://www.everystep.org/careers.

If you or someone you know is struggling to find the support they need, please contact EveryStep at 515-558-9946 or complete the commitment-free, confidential “Find Care” form on EveryStep’s website at www.everystep.org/find-care. EveryStep staff will follow up with a phone call to answer your questions and provide assistance.