All in the family: Lloyd sisters all enrolled in Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Health programs

Healthcare providers have long expressed concern about a shortage of skilled professionals needed to replace employees who plan to retire in the next decade. Their worries may be unfounded in the Waukon area, if one six-member group of sibling sisters is an indication of what the future holds.
The Lloyd family sisters - who range in age from 17 to 26 - are all currently enrolled in college credit, nursing and Health Information Technology programs at Northeast Iowa Community College’s (NICC) Calmar campus. It’s safe to say that these young women, the daughters of Rob and Shannon Lloyd of Harpers Ferry, represent a veritable six-member “army” of NICC students who are training for skilled employment in local healthcare.
At 26 years of age and the oldest, Jenny (Lloyd) McNamara is the acknowledged official spokesperson for the group, said her close and committed sisters. Jenny is a second-year Associate Degree Nursing student who plans to graduate in May 2014.
“We’re all going to stay in this area, and jobs in healthcare are here, secure and local. As for myself, I think nursing is a beautiful career,” Jenny said.
Jenny worked as a CNA for one year, and for a variety of reasons, wanted to move up the ladder and earn a nursing degree. “Sometimes I saw while working as a CNA that many nurses didn’t have the time to devote to patients - and maybe it takes better time management - but I really want to be able to do this. I wanted the bedside contact and the hands-on work and patient interaction as a nurse,” she said.
The six sisters carpool together to the NICC Calmar campus, four have children and everyone helps each other in their personal lives. “We’re a huge support system for each other. We really depend on each other for everything. Our parents, Rob and Shannon Lloyd, also give us all such tremendous help,” Jenny added.
Rebecca, like Jenny, chose to enter the nursing program at NICC. She will earn a Practical Nursing degree from NICC in December and will begin the Associate Degree Nursing program in 2014.
“I want to further my education at NICC to earn more and have more responsibility,” Rebecca explained. After graduation, she plans to transfer to Upper Iowa University in Fayette to earn a bachelor’s of science in nursing and is looking to specialize in surgical nursing.
Sisters Kathy, Christine and Kelli are currently working toward Associate of Applied Science-Health Information Technology (HIT) degrees at the Calmar campus. The three determined early on that the behind-the-scenes appeal of the HIT profession, not the direct patient contact required in nursing, proved a better fit to their personalities and offered greater career appeal.
Kathy completed her general education requirements and is a second-year HIT student. The timing is also right for current HIT students and graduates, she said, because of changes coming nationwide in health information technology coding. U.S. healthcare will move from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Clinical Modification-9 system to a new ICD-10 system in the next year. Physicians and other providers use the system to classify and code all diagnoses, symptoms and procedures recorded in conjunction with hospital care in the U.S.
“By knowing ICD-9 and ICD-10, we’ll be more sought out because we will know both systems when we transition into work. This is especially important because the coding is critical for insurance purposes. If you code something wrong, it could potentially cost money for the company you work for or the hospital that provided healthcare services,” Kathy said.
As a younger HIT student than her sisters at NICC, Kelli experienced a change in attitude toward academics and seriousness toward her studies, especially considering the competitive healthcare job market. “I care more about doing well now academically because I want to get a good job. I want to stay here and be close to my family as a student and after graduation,” Kelli said.
Christine (Lloyd) Bell took CNA classes with her sister Rebecca and worked in the profession for a time, but it was not a good career fit. “I realized that I wouldn’t like being a nurse, so I enrolled in the HIT program at NICC instead. I still wanted to work in healthcare – I like the benefits and what it offers for jobs in the area,” Christine said.
Even the complexity of the HIT program has allure for the second-year student. “I’m going to school for one giant trick question,” Christine laughed. “It’s a matter of wording and medical terminology that you have to know how to solve to be good at health information technology.”
When the students complete their HIT programs, they are eligible to take the Registered Health Information Technologist (RHIT) exam for licensure. Graduates who have earned RHIT licensure gain career flexibility and find work in a variety of settings, including insurance agencies, healthcare providers, hospital utilization management departments and auditing work.
Waukon High School senior Jessie Lloyd is currently enrolled in college classes through NICC and is also looking to enter the medical field, like her sisters. Jessie is exploring academic college programs in healthcare at several schools. The Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program that offers college credit opportunities for high school students gave her a head start.
“I enrolled in college credit courses through NICC because my high school offers it, and my guidance counselor told me about the college credit program,” Jessie said. “I think that it’s definitely important to enroll in NICC classes when you’re in high school because it will save you money and you’ll be one step ahead.”
The group of six agree that the healthcare field offers the most promise, and they’re in unanimous agreement that NICC offers a first-rate, affordable education that keeps them close to home.
“We didn’t have a lot of college degree options locally, and we don’t want to move away from our families,” Jenny concluded of her siblings’ college and career plans. “In our view, this is the best education we can have locally because we could stay in our area. Personally, that’s why I chose NICC.”
The Lloyd sisters are first-generation college students enrolled at NICC and working toward promising degrees that prepare students for careers in healthcare. According to the Iowa Workforce Development's report, "Iowa’s Workforce and the Economy 2013," the job outlook for Iowa healthcare practitioners, such as nurses, is expected to grow 2.3% from 2010-2020; workers in support roles, such as health information technology, are projected to see 2.5% employment growth by 2020. Both projected gains are above the state average of 1.3% from 2010-2020 (Labor Market and Workforce Information Division, Iowa Workforce Development). For more information on health care programs at NICC, visit www.nicc.edu/collegeprograms/healthsciences.