AIM Leadership (from left to right: Kristal Graves, Stephanie Radke, Nicole Anderson, Kim Lake, Steph Trusty)
Nicole Anderson, BA
Program Administrator
Nicole is an Iowa native who received her BA in English from the University of Iowa. Nicole began working at UIHC as a student and found her passion for administrative support in medical academia. After graduation she moved to Colorado and began working for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center where she helped develop the Laboratory for Genetics and Genomics Fellowship program before moving to CU Innovations where she helped with the creation and implementation of the SPARK Entrepreneurship Program. She was then recruited by Norwich University, a private military university, to open their first satellite office in Denver. After the launch of Norwich University’s new office, Nicole returned to Iowa in the summer of 2020 and accepted a role as the Program Coordinator for a Health Resources Services Administration grant to help improve maternal healthcare in the state of Iowa, where she continues to support various subcommittees in a wide range of initiatives.
Kristal Graves, DNP, MSN, RN
Improvement Coach
Kristal received her ADN from Hawkeye Community College in 2000. She continued her education to obtain her master’s degree in nursing education, and in 2020 obtained her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Allen College. She has worked in a critical access hospital for 19 years as a labor and delivery nurse. She also taught clinical, classroom, simulation, and lab for 12 years in the areas of obstetrics and pediatrics at the LPN, ADN, and BSN levels. She has been active in the areas of education and quality improvement within her career. She currently works for the University of Iowa, under the HRSA Maternal Health Innovation grant, as a Clinical Nurse Improvement Coach for the Alliance of Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program. Kristal is passionate about bringing quality improvement initiatives and education to Iowa’s obstetrical units. She has completed the IHI’s Improvement Coaching Program and is currently participating in the Breakthrough Series Collaborative professional development program.
Kim Lake, MLS (ASCP)CM
Data Support
Kim has been involved in various aspects of healthcare for over 20 years. She is a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist who has had Quality and management roles in pathology laboratories around Iowa City, most recently managing the Anatomic Pathology Laboratory at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Throughout all her roles she has maintained a passion for data, and a firm belief in the power of data to drive informed decisions and lasting change.
Kim is currently working at the University of Iowa under the HRSA Maternal Health Innovation grant as an Epic Application Developer and Excel wizard. Her multiple certifications in Epic applications make her an excellent resource for both general electronic medical record questions and Epic specific information. Kim is also DELIGHTED to talk about reporting, data, and Excel with anyone and everyone.
Stephanie Radke, MD, MPH, FACOG
Collaborative Director
Stephanie is a native Iowan and received her medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She then completed residency training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of California Davis Medical Center and spent 3 years in community practice in Sacramento, CA. She returned to the University of Iowa to join the faculty in 2016 and is currently a Clinical Associate Professor. She is active in departmental quality improvement leadership and is a co-Investigator on the HRSA State Maternal Health Innovation Program grant held by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Through this work she is leading efforts to form a Quality Collaborative for the state of Iowa with the goal of improving the quality, safety, and equity of maternity care in our state. She has completed the IHI’s Improvement Coaching and Breakthrough Series Collaborative professional development programs and will participate in the Improvement Advisory program in 2023.
Amanda Staab, MSN, RNC-OB
Improvement Coach
Amanda completed her master’s degree through the Clinical Nurse Leader program at the University of Iowa in 2010. She has been at UnityPoint Health- St. Luke’s Hospital for the past 13 years. She has done a variety of roles in the Birth Care Center, including labor & delivery, postpartum, scrub/assist, anesthesia RN, charge, and OB educator. During Covid, she took on the challenge of the House Supervisor role. She has served on numerous unit-based, hospital-wide, and system-wide committees, simulation teams, and statewide initiatives. She serves as the AWHONN Chapter Leader for East Central Iowa and coordinates the vendors for the Iowa AWHONN Conference. She was chosen for AWHONN’s Emerging Leaders Program for 2023-2024. She currently works for the University of Iowa, under a HRSA grant, as a Clinical Nurse Improvement Coach for the Alliance of Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program.
Steph Trusty, BSN, RN
Improvement Coach
Steph received her Diploma in nursing from Iowa Methodist School of Nursing and a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the Grand View University in Des Moines. She has worked in the obstetrical nursing field for over 40 years. Most of those years working as a labor and delivery nurse and clinical educator for UnityPoint Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. For the past 15 years, she has provided leadership to the Title V Maternal Health program and Maternal Mortality Review Committee at the Iowa Department of Public Health, now Iowa Health and Human Services. She led efforts to implement a program statewide, the Period of PURPLE Crying, to prevent shaken baby syndrome. She was the team lead for the Iowa Infant Mortality CoIIN. She serves as the primary data abstractor for the Iowa Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She has provided consultation services to the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative and Iowa Medicaid on improving the quality and safety of obstetrical care in Iowa. Currently Ms. Trusty is the AIM State Lead Coordinator. She also leads two subcommittees for the IMQCC. The statewide implementation of AWHONN’s POST-BIRTH Warning Signs and the social media campaign to encourage pregnant and post-partum women to wear a seat belts. She has completed the IHI’s Improvement Coaching and Breakthrough Series Collaborative professional development programs.