If home is where the heart is, Lori Johnson’s heart is in Iowa with the residents of Good Samaritan Society – Forest City.
She joined the location as the director of nursing in the fall of 2024, and it didn’t take long for her to make an impact.
“We were in a time of change and just really needing somebody who has experience and the knowledge base that Lori has. She was really a gift from God to us,” says administrator Holly Brink.
“This place wouldn’t be the same if Lori wasn’t here. She seems to keep everything in check,” adds resident Val Ensley. “She is a blessing to this place.”
Before joining Good Samaritan in 2017, Johnson worked as a pharmacy technician, helped with the pre-K program at her daughter’s school and worked in the dietary department at a nursing home.
Then she made a life-changing decision.
“One day, I just drove down to the community college and decided I was going to be a nurse, just like that,” says Johnson, an RN.
The heart of nursing
Johnson doesn’t have an answer as to why she chose nursing, other than she genuinely likes to help people. Helping those who have chosen to call Forest City home feels more like a calling than a career.
“I kind of fall by my faith with it,” says Johnson, who came back to long-term care after working in clinical, hospital and hospice settings.
“It takes a special person to be a nurse. It takes an even more special person to be a geriatric nurse,” adds Region Clinical Services Director Gail Dierks.
Johnson’s specialty stems from compassion for others, specifically those residents whom she says “chose to live in our building, chose us to be their caregivers.”
“I think a lot of people forget that these are people,” Johnson says. “These are people that we’re caring for and they need somebody that isn’t just going to be their nurse, but that’s going to be their family member, that’s going be their friend.”
It’s a perspective that sets the tone for a warm and loving experience for residents.
“It means a lot to have people that treat you like you’re family, like you belong,” Ensley says.
Johnson’s colleagues recognize it, too.
Dierks points to Johnson’s ability to listen to concerns from residents, families and staff, then “turn them into positives.”
“It is family and she’s like the mom or the grandma of the family – the one you always go to that is going to just make you feel better,” says Dierks, a former director of nursing in Forest City. “She is part of the heart of the Good Samaritan – Forest City.”
Leading by example
Although the title of director may lend itself to sounding like solely a desk job, there is no substitute for putting boots on the ground.
“Every day is just a little bit different,” Johnson says, “but my first part is always greeting staff and greeting residents and making sure everybody is getting to the dining room on time and they’re getting their breakfast meals on time.”
There’s also an emphasis on leading by example and coaching others to be better caregivers.
“You’re only as good as your department by what they do, so you have to make them successful,” Johnson says.
Building a successful community can often take Johnson outside the walls of the Forest City location.
“Anytime that there’s been any needs in our organization, specifically in our region, if there’s a call for help, Lori’s one of the first ones to answer,” Brink says.
“If you know Lori, as soon as you bring a concern or problem to her, whether it’s with this center or any other center across the state, her first response is always, ‘We got this,’” Dierks adds.
That attitude provided stability for Good Samaritan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson was among the first to work inside a COVID unit during the first outbreak in Washington. Shortly after, she was in Colorado to help with that outbreak.
“She goes full bore and says, ‘We can do this. We can take care of this.’ She knows there’s a solution for everything,” says Marsha Moetschen, RN, a clinical leader at Good Samaritan Society – Waukon, who worked alongside Johnson at that location. “She gives 110%. From the residents to the doctors to the staff members to the family members – that’s everybody. She gives 110% for every one of those.”
National Ever Forward Director of Nursing Champion
A dedication to enriching the lives of others deserves recognition. That’s why Good Samaritan is honoring Johnson as the National Ever Forward Director of Nursing Champion.
“I don’t have any words except that I feel like everybody out there does the same thing that I do every day,” Johnson says.
“She is just that leader that makes you want to follow her,” Dierks adds. “She makes you want to be a part of the family. It’s like coming home.”
Forest City wasn’t home – until it was.
Johnson’s husband is a military veteran whose job with a railroad company required them to relocate multiple times. Johnson was on board – with one condition.
“Every relocation had to stay within the Sanford/GSS footprint,” Johnson says.
Stops along her Good Samaritan path included Davenport, Geneseo and Waukon, along with assignments across Iowa as a regional DNS.
“If I go to Waukon, it would be like walking home again. Indianola, it would be like walking home again. Estherville, it’d be like walking home. It’d be like Algona, walking right back to home – because they all make you home,” says Johnson, who runs a nearby family farm with her husband. “I’ve found a home here.”
With roots in the ground, Johnson is carrying out the mission of Good Samaritan for her Forest City family.
“I just hope that people realize that what we do every day is God’s work,” she says. “In the end, I hope that everybody leads their day every day. If they can just make a difference in one person’s life, that is our ever forward, that is our Good Samaritan. That is how we are going to continue to provide care and compassion and faith-driven service.”
Learn more
- From CNA to nursing director, Kansas RN earns national honor
- Nurse’s leadership is critical during community crisis
- Nebraska long-term care nurse earns leadership award
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Posted In Awards & Recognition, People & Culture, Sanford Stories, Senior Services
