Ann is the daughter of Harry and Mary Krug Schlimm of St. Marys. Her sibling are Randy and Ed Schlimm, Julie Newton and Krista Wood.

“I am married to a wonderful man, Michael Graml and we have two daughters, Chelsea, a freshman at Kentucky Wesleyan College and Shelby, a freshman at Villa Maria High School,” said Schlimm.

She graduated from Elk County Christian High School in 1977 and in 1981 graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.

“I will be a nurse for nearly 30 years. My how time flies when you are making a life. I chose nursing because I didn’t know what else to do and my mother informed me that at least with nursing I could stop working and have my family and return when they are grown. In 1977, that worked fine for me. And quite frankly, nursing was an excellent choice, but not for my mother’s reasons. It ultimately fit my personality,” said Ann.

Following graduation she came back to St. Marys and worked until she passed her Nursing Boards, the second time.

“Although I was devastated to fail my first time, that failure actually made me a better nurse. I was never going to fail again at any aspect of nursing,” said Schlimm.

With her nursing license in hand, Ann moved to Chapel Hill and worked for the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill in their Coronary Care Unit (CCU).

According to Ann, “In the 1980’s the ICU concept was just beginning to take hold. Technology in medicine was finally able to do more and ICU’s were no longer the last stop before the morgue. In a teaching hospital with medical students, residents and fellows, we did quite a few experimental drugs and interventions. I tell people that I was probably one of the first people in the USA to use Amiodarone on a patient when it was still an experimental drug. The attending physician had called the French University to trial the medicine on a patient at UNC that met the researchers criteria. When the drug arrived, the instructions were on a 3x5 card with English on one side and French on the other. Now, Amiodarone, Coradone is the trade name, is standard treatment for cardiac patients.”

Following her time at UNC, Ann found it more interesting to be a traveling nurse and see the United States while she worked. Over the next two and a half years, she worked in nine different states and did 12-week assignments in various ICU’s around the country. She worked from La Junta, Colo., to Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco, St. Louis, Nashville to a small hospital in New Hampshire.

“I think I am a tourist at heart and nursing allowed me to see the States and make money,” said Ann.

“Nursing also allowed me to take time off and see more than the USA. My 1981 graduation present to myself was to take six weeks and backpack through Europe with a fellow classmate. We had standby airline tickets that landed in Frankfurt, Germany, and departed from Rome, Italy. In between we stayed in Youth Hostels and traveled by EUrail Pass. I actually had the opportunity to return to Europe and travel by car for another six weeks and visit the parts of Europe I missed the first trip,” said Schlimm.

She settled in Erie and started working as a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse (NICU) and met her husband there. After nearly 24 years in Erie, she has had six nursing positions. She started as a staff nurse in the NICU, became the Nurse Manager of the Intensive Care Unit at St. Vincent’s Health Center, managed the STD/HIV and AIDS and Communicable Disease department for the Erie County Public Health Department the managed the Infection Control Department at Hamot Medical Center before taking on her current position.

“My career path was motivated mainly by an opportunity to try something different. I will never be one to stay in the same job and am constantly looking to see what else is out there and  would be interesting to try,” said Schlimm.

She said that when she graduates from Gannon University will be good timing as she can study for her certification and be ready to decide where to work next after her youngest graduates high school in the spring of 2013.

“My mentors were the obvious. I had a college professor that helped me by not helping and my mother has given me some great advice over the years and the not so obvious. There is one patient who I cared for during one 12-hour shift 25 years ago that I continue to carry in my soul,” said Ann.

She says that she is not motivated by awards or achievements as proven by her fare share in a drawer and money is nice, but she has had some poor paying jobs that really were worth the effort.

“I chose my path based on how I can grow personally and professionally. I know I am a better person because of my experiences. The embarrassment of failing my first nursing boards motivated me to succeed on the second test and that motivation carried into my future career choices and to not be afraid to fail,” said Schlimm.

“If I hadn’t been the Nurse Manager of the ICU in the early 1990’s and was laid off during the downsizing that health care experienced, I would not have learned that I am not defined by the job, or profession, but that I am greater than the sum of my parts. Not all the lessons were nice, a few I would have preferred to have read the book, and when I tell a patient/friend that I understand, I probably have been there and do understand,” said Ann.

In closing, Schlimm said, “I view myself as a work in progress. And with my family and friends as a supportive network of cheerleaders and critics, I am sure that the future will be as fun as the past.”