We’re highlighting Remarkable Women in our community this month and this remarkable woman is a nurse who never stops. Jamie Fleck’s journey starts when she was a child and her love for serving others.
What started as the desire to help one woman, resulted in helping hundreds and that’s what makes her remarkable.
Fleck says, “As a child, I just knew I wanted to be a nurse. I want to take care of people. I knew probably from age four or five. I pretended I was gonna be a nurse.”
At a young age, Fleck learned the value of serving others because she was raised in a military lifestyle. She joined the National Guard at age 17, started nursing school a year later. Now at 42, she’s the CEO of DTN Staffing.
But this success story didn’t happen overnight.
Fleck explains, “After my kids were born I wanted a little bit of flexibility so I started becoming a travel nurse and traveling to ERs across the state. Anywhere from Watford City to Elgin, Garrison, and I worked at Nursing homes.”
After seeing the need for traveling nurses, she started her own business in 2007.
She adds, “As the oil boom came, the facilities needs almost quadrupled across the state.”
DTN Staffing grew quickly in the first five years and with three little children, life got crazy. Then, she says in 2012, she got a call from close friend, Heather Frey, that changed everything.
Fleck says, “She told me just this devastating news. I remember what I was doing. I remember where I was standing. And she told me what happened and just, my heart was breaking.”
Frey’s sister, Heidi Gress, had a brain stem stroke at age 37, survived it, and now has Locked-In Syndrome.
Frey says, “What that means is they can think and reason just like they did normally before their stroke. But they cannot move, they’re completely paralyzed and they cannot speak.”
At that time, North Dakota didn’t have any agencies that could help patients like Heidi get the care they needed at home. So once again, Jamie stepped up to help.
Fleck says, “In order to provide nursing care and CNA care in somebody’s home, you have to be a licensed agency.”
Fleck spent days and hours researching and studying to become the first agency in North Dakota
to provide the care Heidi needed to go home to her husband and kids.
She says, “We had a huge audit with the state and shortly after that we got our license. Which was, I felt like I won the lottery.”
After the triumph of getting Heidi home, people across the Midwest are winning as a result. Fleck’s home care agency has expanded to help children with the same services.
Frey says, “Jamie is such a bright light in my life because she’s just got the heart of an angel. If somebody is hurting she wants to help them.”
The determination Jamie has to help as many people as she can inspires everyone around her.
She says 2021 is going to be a year of bringing joy and peace to as many people possible.
How she does it all?
She says being a nurse is her superpower and the best thing you can do for someone is show them love.
She does this by donating her time and finances to helping the homeless. Whether it’s people or animals, she’s finding shelter for those who need it.
Recently she donated $100,000 to a homeless shelter.
And that’s what makes Jamie Fleck a Remarkable Woman.
