October/November - Coulee Region Women's Magazine

From imaging rooms to labs to nurses’ stations, women find careers
in a wide variety of medical professions in the Coulee Region.
Olson became interested in the health
care field after thinking she wanted to
teach school. “My interest was science,
math and biology, and originally I was
planning on teaching biology, but a friend
was in the field of clinical engineering
and suggested radiology,” Olson says. “I
have never regretted the choice.”
Where patients and
technology meet
Having a friend diagnosed with Hodgkin’s
disease wasn’t a high point in Lisa Undahl’s
life, but the situation
was also pivotal for
her professionally. At
the time of her friend’s
diagnosis, Undahl was
working as a radiology
technologist. But after
she went to treatments
with her friend, she knew
she wanted a new focus
in radiation therapy.
Undahl, who is now
a radiation therapist
at Mayo Clinic Health
System in La Crosse,
completed a 12-month
radiation therapy
certificate program
offered at Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, Minn.
Radiology technology,
or medical imaging,
involves using methods
like X-rays in a diagnostic
setting, while radiation
t h e r a p y i n v o l v e s
delivering radiation to
cancer patients, Undahl
explains. To Undahl,
the most important
difference is that with
radiation therapy, she gets
to see the same patients
over and over again.
“You really get to
know the patients and
develop a rapport with
them. I like that aspect
of it,” Undahl says. “It
is truly rewarding to
assist patients with their
cancer care journey.
Greeting them with a warm smile and
giving in-depth explanations so they
get a full understanding of what will
be occurring means so much to them
and their families.”
She stays updated on advances in
radiation therapy through education,
meetings and seminars. “We bring back
what we have learned and discuss as a group
what would make sense for our practice,”
Undahl says.
She also has the added responsibility of
working as supervisor in her department,
something she enjoys because she gets to make
some decisions while remaining involved in
direct patient care.
“As a supervisor, I get to help coordinate
patient care,” Undahl says. “Which involves
making sure that the patient is well taken care
of and making sure things go smoothly during
their course of treatment.”
A resource to the front line
With a background in nursing, Camilla
Jaekel comes into her new position as
nursing practice enhancement specialist with
Mayo Clinic Health System with a solid
understanding of what nurses are facing in
their careers. Her job involves a lot of research
and policy writing.
“Let’s say a nurse hears about a practice.
It is my job to look at the literature, see if it
would be a best practice for us and then write
policies,” Jaekel says. “I work in the middle to
tie it all together.”
Jaekel has an undergraduate degree in
nursing from Viterbo University, has a master’s
degree in nursing teaching and is working on
earning her Ph.D. in nursing research with
an emphasis in informatics and standardized
nursing terminology systems from the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
She is completing her degree completely
online and loves to be able to communicate
with others in the program from all over the
world while staying in La Crosse and applying
what she is learning.
Jaekel’s number one priority is to be a
resource to the nurses working on the front line.
“I’m going to be there [for the nurses],” she
says. “I know nursing well enough, and I’m
passionate about it.”
While Jaekel hasn’t been in her new
position for long, she is looking forward to the
challenges the job will present.
“I am excited that this role is going to bring
together various disciplines on future projects
to enhance intercollaborative practice,” she
says. “This type of practice will only improve
the patient care that is provided throughout
our health care system.” crw
Growing up, Jessie Foss always thought she
would work in the medical field. Instead, she
spent six years in college trying a little bit of
everything and eventually graduated with a
degree in journalism.
18 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011 www.crwmagazine.com