Her Story
About Dana
Dana LoTempio is a senior healthcare professional and nurse practitioner specializing in epilepsy care, clinical informatics, and advanced practice nursing. With nearly 20 years as a nurse and 12 years as a nurse practitioner, she currently serves as an Epilepsy Nurse Practitioner and Provider Informatics Officer at University of Iowa Health Care in the Department of Neurology. In this role, she leads program administration for the epilepsy program, optimizes the EPIC EHR to improve workflows across neurology divisions, represents advanced practice providers in strategic leadership meetings, drives quality improvement processes and projects, and provides care to adult patients with epilepsy in the outpatient clinic. Her professional journey began with a BA in Psychology followed by an Executive Master's in Nursing and Healthcare Practice that prepared her as a Clinical Nurse Leader focused on leadership, quality, and process improvement. She later completed a Master of Science in Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Leader and earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Iowa, where she worked with mentors on building opportunities for advanced practice providers. She is currently pursuing an Executive Master's in Healthcare Administration. LoTempio has implemented key initiatives such as modifying an Epic program to track patients through the complex testing process for epilepsy surgery candidates, reducing lost follow-ups and delays in accessing advanced treatments.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to dedication to making things better and viewing everything as a system problem that can be resolved. I focus on pushing through challenges with a systems perspective, believing that if we break it down to simple logic, we can overcome anything. My mantra is 'we can do hard things,' which helps me push through difficult days.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received is to say yes and don't be afraid to say yes to projects or committees. It helped me overcome hurdles and imposter syndrome, allowing me to grow as a professional and realize my full potential as a leader.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is being asked to do more with less due to reduced payments, leading to burnout among frontline staff and leaders alike. With an aging population, we face a double-edged sword of more people needing care while experienced workers retire, requiring transformational leadership to maintain quality and efficiency.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Dedication and fortitude are most important. Having the dedication to push through and see something through to realize the vision is key, rather than letting ideas fade without follow-through.
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