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Alumni News
From Iowa to Israel: Looking Back on a 45-year Nursing Career
Sandy Pollack Katz, class of ’61, who has called Jerusalem, Israel home for nearly 34 years, has a scrappy nature befitting an operating room nurse.
When a colleague challenged that Sandy was not a “real” Israeli, she countered, “Excuse me? I’ve been here 20 years. I’ve lived through two intifadahs (violent uprisings), two wars, four of my children served in the army. I am a real Israeli.”
Her allegiance began to take root in the 1970s while she and her husband Neale became immersed in the Jewish community in Chicago. In 1972 they moved to Jerusalem to do “a little personal nation-building.” Neale, a lawyer, was excited about Jewish communal work and felt they could make a difference.
They were determined to assimilate, but of course there were hurdles. “I did have to learn Hebrew when we arrived,” Sandy said. “We lived in an absorption center, a small four-room apartment for six people, and went to school on the campus every morning from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. I learned more as I entered everyday life.”
“When we first moved there we went without some very basic things,” said Sandy. “Now you can buy anything you need in Jerusalem. We have seen an enormous amount of change over the years.”
Sandy’s skills were put to the test in general surgery and pediatric surgery. A city of more than 750,000, Jerusalem is far from impervious to the region’s terrorist activity. “I saw a lot of trauma, I’m sorry to say.”
She recalls a young woman soldier of 18 or 19 badly injured in a bus explosion. “With these bombs we see a lot of blunt trauma. In her case, it was blunt trauma to the chest.”
Her lungs oozing blood, the woman endured eight hours of surgery. The surgical team determined she would not likely survive further surgery, and took the drastic measure of leaving the woman’s chest open because of lowering of vital signs each time they tried to close it..The incision was closed after several days when the edema went down, but the patient remained in a coma for two or three weeks.
Though some had lost hope in the case, Sandy said, “ ‘No, I know she’s going to make it. Because she’s a fighter!’ And, you know what? Four years later we helped deliver her first baby.”
An Iowa Nurse Proves Herself
Sandy’s nursing supervisor once introduced her to a new OR tech with the observation, “We can’t change her. Sandy’s got her standards.”
Sandy credits the UI College of Nursing with instilling those standards and providing a solid educational base. Throughout her career, she has been catapulted into leadership positions, sometimes reluctantly. “In 1992, against my will, I started a laparoscopic surgery unit. I didn’t want to do it, but I did it anyway. And with no budget.She felt they were getting by just fine with the surgical methods they had at the time. But at her Surgeon's behest, she established the new unit, using whatever reusable products she could find, and begging for samples from. medical supply companys.
'We didn’t even have suction,” Sandy recalled. So she and her colleagues became inventive, in some cases building their own equipment, running to the electronics store if needed. Now she expresses amazement at all the surgeries that can be performed laparascopically.
As a member of the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) for more than 20 years, she was able to use what she learned from U.S. and international congresses to become a founding member of the Israeli Perioperative Associaiton. She remained active and in the leadership until her retirement.
Sandy counts herself as extremely fortunate. “Not everyone gets to do their dream job. I always said I’d pay to do the job I do.” And she’s especially grateful for what she calls the fraternity/sorority of nursing. “We take care of our own.”
Those sentiments became especially critical, not long after she and Neale had retired. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive, cancerous brain tumor. Nursing friends far and wide responded with concern and support.
Sadly, Neale passed away in 2001. “I found I needed (my work) really badly,” she says. To fill the void, she now volunteers as a nurse communicator at Hadassah Hospital, talking with family members of patients in surgery. “You can see the family’s anxiety level drop as they hear what is happening with their loved one and learn what to expect.”
These days she still keeps an apartment in Chicago so she can visit when she likes, and enjoys her grandchildren (four in Israel, two in California) immensely.
On the occasion of her 45th class reunion, Sandy looked back on her time at Iowa fondly. And she has some advice for fellow alums: “Don’t wait for the 50th reunion. Take the opportunity to reconnect with people. You may not have tomorrow.”
Sandy Pollack Katz, class of ’61, who has called Jerusalem, Israel home for nearly 34 years, has a scrappy nature befitting an operating room nurse.
When a colleague challenged that Sandy was not a “real” Israeli, she countered, “Excuse me? I’ve been here 20 years. I’ve lived through two intifadahs (violent uprisings), two wars, four of my children served in the army. I am a real Israeli.”
Her allegiance began to take root in the 1970s while she and her husband Neale became immersed in the Jewish community in Chicago. In 1972 they moved to Jerusalem to do “a little personal nation-building.” Neale, a lawyer, was excited about Jewish communal work and felt they could make a difference.
They were determined to assimilate, but of course there were hurdles. “I did have to learn Hebrew when we arrived,” Sandy said. “We lived in an absorption center, a small four-room apartment for six people, and went to school on the campus every morning from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. I learned more as I entered everyday life.”
“When we first moved there we went without some very basic things,” said Sandy. “Now you can buy anything you need in Jerusalem. We have seen an enormous amount of change over the years.”
Sandy’s skills were put to the test in general surgery and pediatric surgery. A city of more than 750,000, Jerusalem is far from impervious to the region’s terrorist activity. “I saw a lot of trauma, I’m sorry to say.”
She recalls a young woman soldier of 18 or 19 badly injured in a bus explosion. “With these bombs we see a lot of blunt trauma. In her case, it was blunt trauma to the chest.”
Her lungs oozing blood, the woman endured eight hours of surgery. The surgical team determined she would not likely survive further surgery, and took the drastic measure of leaving the woman’s chest open because of lowering of vital signs each time they tried to close it..The incision was closed after several days when the edema went down, but the patient remained in a coma for two or three weeks.
Though some had lost hope in the case, Sandy said, “ ‘No, I know she’s going to make it. Because she’s a fighter!’ And, you know what? Four years later we helped deliver her first baby.”
An Iowa Nurse Proves Herself
Sandy’s nursing supervisor once introduced her to a new OR tech with the observation, “We can’t change her. Sandy’s got her standards.”
Sandy credits the UI College of Nursing with instilling those standards and providing a solid educational base. Throughout her career, she has been catapulted into leadership positions, sometimes reluctantly. “In 1992, against my will, I started a laparoscopic surgery unit. I didn’t want to do it, but I did it anyway. And with no budget.She felt they were getting by just fine with the surgical methods they had at the time. But at her Surgeon's behest, she established the new unit, using whatever reusable products she could find, and begging for samples from. medical supply companys.
'We didn’t even have suction,” Sandy recalled. So she and her colleagues became inventive, in some cases building their own equipment, running to the electronics store if needed. Now she expresses amazement at all the surgeries that can be performed laparascopically.
As a member of the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) for more than 20 years, she was able to use what she learned from U.S. and international congresses to become a founding member of the Israeli Perioperative Associaiton. She remained active and in the leadership until her retirement.
Sandy counts herself as extremely fortunate. “Not everyone gets to do their dream job. I always said I’d pay to do the job I do.” And she’s especially grateful for what she calls the fraternity/sorority of nursing. “We take care of our own.”
Those sentiments became especially critical, not long after she and Neale had retired. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive, cancerous brain tumor. Nursing friends far and wide responded with concern and support.
Sadly, Neale passed away in 2001. “I found I needed (my work) really badly,” she says. To fill the void, she now volunteers as a nurse communicator at Hadassah Hospital, talking with family members of patients in surgery. “You can see the family’s anxiety level drop as they hear what is happening with their loved one and learn what to expect.”
These days she still keeps an apartment in Chicago so she can visit when she likes, and enjoys her grandchildren (four in Israel, two in California) immensely.
On the occasion of her 45th class reunion, Sandy looked back on her time at Iowa fondly. And she has some advice for fellow alums: “Don’t wait for the 50th reunion. Take the opportunity to reconnect with people. You may not have tomorrow.”
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