A lifetime of care: Mother and daughter work side by side at MercyOne Genesis
On Ally Grothusen's first day as a nurse at MercyOne Genesis in Davenport, she had at least one coworker she knew. In fact, she really, really knew her.
Her mom, Julie, has been a nurse with the hospital for more than 30 years, starting in 1995 when it was St. Luke's. She was a CNA on the cardiac floor while completing her nursing degree at the University of Iowa.
"And then, upon graduation, I started in the birth center here and I've been there the last 29 years," she said.
That experience has translated into two roles for Julie: working as needed in the birth center and in pre-admission testing, where she helps educate patients on upcoming surgeries. Taking care of people is her specialty, both at home and in the hospital. She chose her career accordingly.
"My mom says I drew a picture of myself in kindergarten as a nurse," Julie said. "She just said that I always wanted to care for others, and I think in high school I fought it a bit .... But then I realized in college that nursing has a lot more compassion and empathy and you can make a real difference and spend more time at the bedside than if I had gone into a role where I was maybe seeing patients for 20 or 30 minutes in an office setting."
She fell in love with women's healthcare in college, she said, and returned to the Quad-Cities to share that passion with her home community after graduation. Julie said she considered going back to school for more education, but that would take away from the part she loves the most: supporting mothers through the process and celebrating the new life they've brought into the world.
As a mom herself, it's a feeling that resonates with Julie. Especially now, watching her daughter step into the role she'd encouraged for years.
"Our stories are probably pretty different," said Ally with a smile. She's tall at 6'2", a former volleyball star who went to South Dakota for school and sports.
Ally is quiet, but observant and quick with a comment poking fun at her mom. But watching her mom worked to her advantage, even if she was determined not to follow in her footsteps.
"I think hearing about her days at work, I wanted to go into healthcare itself, but I really had kind of pushed nursing aside," she said. "I started college off kind of loosely, just thinking some something in healthcare, (but) I think I was just kind of a little naïve to the kind of nursing that was available."
Ally said she knew plenty about nursing in an office setting, and all about the labor and delivery side of things, but she had no interest in that specialty. Instead, while Julie works to help bring new life into the world, Ally helps those who are typically at the end of their life, in the ICU.
Julie's push to bring her daughter to the labor and delivery floor didn't work, but the advice she gave her, did. Nursing has changed a lot in 30 years, she said, and she was honest with Ally about both the good and the bad.
While being a full time mom and nurse, Julie also spent 23 years teaching nursing at Scott Community College. She made sure to instill into those students, and her own daughter, that nursing is hard work and comes with an unforgiving schedule when weekends and holidays become work days.
"I let Ally know it's hard, and there's some days you want to cry on the way home. There's some times you're going to be frustrated, but it also fills your bucket. It's very rewarding," Julie said.
The advice was well received, and appreciated, Ally said. Starting any career is scary, but having someone on her side to look out for her kept her grounded and realistic about what was to come.
"I will say, that's the best thing she could have done for me, because there have been no surprises since I've started my career on how difficult days can be and what the job was going to look like," Ally said, adding a lot of younger nurses come in with an idea of what nursing looks like and get hit hard by burnout when reality doesn't match expectations. "I think some people get into it and really aren't expecting everything that comes with it, but that was probably best case scenario, because I was kind of told about all the good, bad and the ugly, and now I know to expect that."
Being a parent that keep things real, but also being a shoulder to help carry the burden, is something Julie takes seriously.
"I think it helps for us that we get along really well, too, as mother and daughter," she said. "We're friends besides being mother and daughter, and I think that it helps. I didn't have anybody growing up that was in healthcare, so I didn't have anybody to run things by or to listen to me."
It's the best part of having a parent as a coworker, Ally said, and it's helped her understand the balance her mom was trying to achieve all her life.
"I admire her a lot more now as a mom and a nurse, because now I know what she was doing all (those years)," she said. "I'll admit, I didn't really know what nursing was like when I was growing up. I didn't really know all that she was dealing with until I'm in it now myself. So I definitely have a lot more admiration for one, how she raised us, and two, how does does both."
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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 8:39 PM.