Over the years, new technologies in healthcare have transformed the medical industry, giving patients in Nebraska and across the world much more advanced care. Registered Nurse (RN) Alma Serrell, knows this all too well. She says she was the second nurse ever hired at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

“I started working at the old reformatory which is now the Lincoln Correctional Center,” said Serrell. “I’ve been with NDCS for 45 years.”

The RN currently spends her working hours assisting patients at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center (DEC). She says she’s impressed with how far medical technology has come. “When I first started, we had suction tubes for the EKG machines,” Serrell said. “Now we have automatic transmission. It’s wonderful.”

Serrell enjoys coming to DEC every day. She says she’s had the opportunity to meet a variety of different providers and staff throughout her four-and-a-half decades she’s committed to the Department. “I’m still learning,” she said. “This work is interesting to me.”

She started her career as a registered nurse when she was 27-years-old. Her first job was at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, now called CHI Health. She came to NDCS soon after and never looked back. “I love all of the different people I meet every day,” she said.

Serrell says she jokingly laughs when her husband asks her if she has plans to retire. With a determined grin, she says “I’ll retire when I’m senile, old and can’t do it anymore! I love it!”