Professional Achievement, College of Nursing, Health, and Human Behavior

Linsie (Sanger) Clements ’08, a labor and delivery nurse at Gundersen Health System, has a strong sense that she is right where she is supposed to be, and that comes from a sense of openness to new paths.

“I can say without any hesitation, I am where I am supposed to be and doing what I was meant to do,” Clements said. “That can be said for today as well as for all the years I have been a nurse. I am a firm believer in being open to the path that chooses you. When we are open, we find where we are supposed to be.”

Her college path seemed obvious. Her mother, Chris Sanger, has been working for Viterbo for 42 years, and Clements grew up with a sense that Viterbo was “home” for her.

“When it came time for college, I was excited to have the opportunity to be a part of it as a student,” Clements said. “I loved the community, the intimacy, and the Franciscan heritage. I felt known, seen, and cared for in and out of the classroom. And I’m most happy about that fact that this is where I met my husband (Zach) the first day of classes!”

Clements left nursing school with a passion for cardiac and critical care, earning her critical care RN certification in 2011. “I had a personal life experience at that time that fueled my passion and holistic care for those patients,” said Clements, who worked eight years in cardiac/progressive care between the University of Kansas Medical Center and Regions Hospital in St. Paul before a personal experience changed her course.

“The unexpected part of my nursing path happened in 2011 when my husband and I experienced the loss of our firstborn late in my pregnancy,” Clements said. “It was my nurse who holistically saved me. I was inspired by the care I received and have now found great passion for being able to be that nurse for other families.”

Clements switched to labor and delivery with a passion for supporting the birth process and helping parents going through the grief she had when she lost her child.

“I do a lot of work with our perinatal bereavement program at Gundersen. I work to improve our program through education, training, and most importantly through patient care,” said Clements, who is mother to four children with husband Zach, a doctor at Gundersen Health System who graduated from Viterbo with a nursing degree in 2006. “I often come in extra to meet families and take care of them during this most difficult time. It has been healing for me as well as an incredible honor to be able to ‘give back’ the care I received so well.”

In 2019, Clements started a monthly community support group for people who have gone through perinatal and infant loss. “I have had the privilege of learning the most intimate and vulnerable pieces of these families’ stories,” she said. “I feel humbled to be entrusted with their care during their journey of unbelievable grief, one that, thankfully, many will never have to know.”

Clements, who was honored in 2020 with a Gundersen Nursing Excellence Award, called her Viterbo Distinguished Alumni Award a “huge honor.”

2023 Viterbo University Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients main page