Karen Doebler is a registered nurse with a BSN, or Bachelor of Science in nursing. She currently resides in the Region, living in Valparaiso, but she grew up and attended high school in Bloomington, Minnesota. Though she now works in the medical field, her first degree was in elementary education.
“I received my first degree at Luther College, which I graduated from in 1982. I got right into teaching preschool in Emmetsburg, Iowa, as that’s where my husband and I lived for a while. My husband soon started going to Valparaiso University for his master's, so I then taught for a year in Valparaiso. We moved again to the Minneapolis area where my husband worked toward his PhD, so I taught preschool at a childcare center there,” she said.
While she and her husband were living in Minnesota, Doebler became pregnant and proceeded to stay at home to nurture their firstborn son. By and by, the growing Doebler family returned to Valpo after the birth of their second child, another boy.
Doebler’s husband eventually started working at Valparaiso University (VU). Because of his position, she had the opportunity to study at the school for free. Out of curiosity, she began to contemplate the beginnings of a career in nursing. Doebler felt that she’d easily be able to transition into this new pursuit because she was brought up alongside family members who worked in medicine.
“I thought to myself, ‘Well, what if I became a nurse?’ I used to take my kids out for walks, and I’d be looking at people who walked by thinking that I could help them if they were really sick. I felt eager to help out, and I knew I would be fine doing it. I went through the accelerated nursing program at VU, finishing at the top of my class,” she said.
Doebler graduated and was able to quickly find a job afterwards. Earning more and more money as a nurse, she had found a way to aptly provide for her family. On top of the time she spent working in the hospital, she also taught piano lessons. Being a pianist all her life, giving lessons allowed her to utilize a passion for the betterment of her family.
Doebler’s first gig as a nurse was at Methodist Hospital in Gary. With its location being about 45 minutes away from her home and her kids, however, she desired to be nearer to Valparaiso. Consequently, since 1998, Doebler’s been working in the intensive care unit at Northwest Health - Porter.
Having spent years both teaching in a classroom and witnessing the harshness that comes along with assisting patients who are at their lowest, instructing and aiding others in anything that will be to their benefit is Doebler’s forte. She’s always been a golden spark of human helpfulness, granting those around her a glimpse at what true care should look like, whether she’s tending to the needs of young children or supporting older adults through their afflictions.
“What I like is taking care of people. I have a pretty good sense of the way things ought to be in certain situations, and I like to help people achieve their best. With every single person that I ever meet from this point on, when I look into their eyes, I can see the three-year-old they used to be, their core person, because of all my time as a preschool teacher. That helps me to be a better nurse because I can understand them and what they need from me,” she said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic tore its way across the United States, Doebler was on the front lines navigating the effects of the disease by collaborating with her coworkers to supply the best possible care to all the patients suffering from it. On a day-to-day basis nowadays, she deals with those affected by all kinds of complications, like heart and lung problems, attempted suicides, and various infections.
Aside from work, Doebler spends a lot of her time with her head in a book. Besides that, she enjoys the outdoors, and she and her family often frequent a cabin they own in a remote part of northern Minnesota, swimming, hiking, and fishing together there. She also dabbles in learning more information about her family’s rich Norwegian heritage.
Since she’s lived in Valparaiso for upwards of three decades now, Doebler’s realized that this community has a lot to offer, much of which she’s taken advantage of. It’s given her a life to cherish a million times over.
“Valpo is a very safe community, a very old-fashioned community, with a small-town feel and a look-toward-the-future kind of feel to it. My kids think this is the greatest place ever. We have been happy here because it provides the perfect setup for a family,” she said.