Roberta Murray named one of Courier’s Top Nurses in the Cedar Valley

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier article by Melody Parker, photo by Chris Zoeller. May 8, 2022.

Roberta Murray once took a vacation from nursing and went to work at Omega Cabinets.

But she couldn’t resist the desire to get back into the career she loved. “People I worked with found out I’d been a nurse, and they started asking me health questions. I missed it,” said Murray of Waterloo.

It was 10 years coming, but Murray finally returned to nursing. Now she is an LPC charge nurse at Western Home Communities, and works with doctors to take care of residents and serve their needs.

She’s also been named one of the Courier’s Top Nurses in the Cedar Valley.

In her nomination, colleague Haley Broten wrote, “Roberta treats every resident as if they were family and continues to go above and beyond on a daily basis. Not only does she impact the lives of residents, but also the staff that works with her.”

Murray, 64, laughed when she learned the news and figured out that it was Broten who nominated her for the honor. “It was laughter of joy. I told my sister and she said it was well-deserved. My kids said the same thing. They think it’s wonderful that someone finally recognized me for all my hard work. My kids always know where I’m at - either at home or at work, the only two places I go,” she said.

She has worked at Western Home Communities for three years, but her career in elder care is a lengthy one, including a lengthy stint at Ravenwood Specialty Care, as well as Cedar Falls Health Care Center and Pillar of Cedar Valley in Waterloo, formerly Country View care center.

“I love working here at Western Home. It’s more like a family. The other staff members know you and care about you, and you care about them. All of us care about the residents.”

Murray earned her nursing degree in 1989 from Hawkeye Community College. “Like a lot of women, I’d gone through a divorce and had kids that I needed to raise and support. I started out as a housekeeper at Parkview Gardens and then decided to get into nursing. The pay was better, and it seemed like there was always a nursing shortage, so I took the program to become a certified nursing assistant. I realized I liked nursing, so it just started from there,” Murray explained.

She has four children, sons Jeff and Justin, and daughters Jessica and Hannah.

“When they were younger, my two girls loved going out to see the residents. My boys went with me to meet the residents when I was a CNA. The residents always love kids and animals,” like dogs.

Working within the elder care community continues to be a worthwhile and satisfying experience for Murray. “You learn a lot from the elderly - how to care more for people. Someday you’re going to be there, and you want to care for these people the way you want someone to care for you.

“You realize we all come from different places, and you respect people. We all have a past, and we all have lived our lives in different ways. You learn so much from the stories they tell you. They know I care, that I’m interested in them. They ask about how my kids are doing. They probably know as much about me as I do about them,” Murray explained.

“My residents all know when I have a day off, and they're not happy,” she said, laughing. “They know who I am and that I’m always going to joke with them and take time to talk with them.”

Broten said, “Roberta helps make our facility feel more like home with her endless amount of compassion.”

Murray is humbled by her honor as a top nurse. “Working with the elderly is always what I wanted to do. It feels natural to me. I like to know who my residents are, what they care about, the personal side of them. They appreciate that as well, and I like to remember their birthdays and those sorts of things.”

She added, “I can’t imagine anything else that I could do that would mean as much to me as helping my residents.”