Intensely passionate in her role as a nurse, Roxan L. Hammer, RNC, BSN has accrued more than 30 years of experience in her field at UnityPointHealth – Blank Children’s Hospital, where she has been a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and in Neonatal Transport since 1984 and 1987, respectively. Prior to these focused positions, she began as a nurse in the hospital in 1978. At the institution, she does all the high-risk deliveries, retrieves the babies, attends all the deliveries and provides resuscitation if needed, helps transport the newborns, and teaches and supports the staff. Additionally, she has been an instructor at the Neonatal Resuscitation Program, part of the American Academy of Pediatrics, since 1989 and taught at the S.T.A.B.L.E. Program.

Upon reflection of her career, Ms. Hammer has enjoyed the challenge and the skills she has learned, and being able to help the babies and support their family through this period. She prepared for her impactful professional journey by attaining an Associate of Science in Nursing from the Iowa Lutheran Hospital School of Nursing in 1978, at which point she already knew she wanted to be part of the neonatal transport team. She was further educated by her fellow nurses as she entered the field. An affiliate of the Iowa Association of Neonatal Nurses from 1989 to 1995, she has been a dedicated member of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses since 1989.

Ms. Hammer is guided by her Christian faith and the John C. Maxwell quote “Teamwork makes the dream work.”