Heidi (Luinstra) TenBroek has been selected as NDSU's 2010 Student Nurse of the Year. An NDSU junior who is majoring in nursing and minoring in child development, TenBroek is the daughter of Doug and Marcia Luinstra of Brownsdale, Minn.

“It’s a huge honor for me,” said the 28-year-old TenBroek. “It’s a real honor to be looked upon highly by my professors and classmates.”

Loretta Heuer, associate dean for nursing and allied sciences, described TenBroek as one of NDSU’s outstanding student nurses. She said TenBroek is consistently on the dean’s list, has been inducted into the National Honor Society and received the Kiwanis Club Nursing Leadership Scholarship for 2009-10.

“I believe she will make considerable contributions to the profession because of her deep devotion to nursing and exemplary leadership skills,” Heuer said. “She is an excellent role model for other student nurses.”

TenBroek’s choice of profession did not materialize quickly. After graduating from Hayfield, Minn., High School, she took a job in the radiology department of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., followed by a stint at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, Minn. During that time, TenBroek found herself watching and admiring the work of the nurses.

She decided to pursue a nursing career, following in the footsteps of her mother, who is a staff and charge nurse on the Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit at St. Mary’s Hospital of the Mayo Clinic.

TenBroek is an active board member of the Student Nurses Association at NDSU and the statewide level, and she hopes to continue her education with a master’s degree and doctorate. TenBroek envisions a career as a nurse practitioner, eventually managing a clinic.

She is married to Jeremy TenBroek, who graduated from NDSU in 2003.