The Department of Pediatrics extends its enthusiastic congratulations and deep gratitude to Kimberly Squires, RN, MS, CPNP, as she reaches 35 years of service with UW Health working with pediatric patients. In that time, she has been with the department’s Division of Nephrology since 1997. And no, she is not retiring — but simply noting it as a milestone in a career she has pursued literally since childhood.
Squires knew early on that she wanted to be a nurse. “From age 12 and up,” she explained, “I always wanted to be a nurse. In high school, I was a candy striper — we had the cute uniforms — and I had some exposure to working in health care through that.”
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Squires earned her BS in nursing at the then College of Nursing in Iowa City. After graduation, she moved to Madison to become a nurse clinician in the “little peds” (0–5 years) pediatric unit of the then UW Hospital and Clinics Children’s Hospital. Squires knew she wanted to advance her career from RN to nurse practitioner, and so she completed her MS training at the University of Wisconsin to become a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP) in 1996. Within a year, she was selected to join the Department of Pediatrics Division of Nephrology.
“I applied for that job because it was open — there were not many nurse practitioners at that time and very few positions,” Squires said. She knew that she wanted to continue working with children. “I had a passion for that,” she explained. “I always liked kids, and once I started working with them, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
The Division of Nephrology was small then. “There were only three physicians in the division at that time, and I was the only nurse practitioner,” Squires said. “Now there are seven physicians and three NPs.”
Beyond her nursing duties, Squires also works in outreach to health centers in La Crosse and Green Bay. She also has contributed nationally as a member of the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology. Determined to promote NPs and improve their working lives, Squires was also elected president of the Wisconsin Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. In addition, she served on nearly a dozen UW Health committees, as well as on the national American Society of Pediatric Nephrology Affiliates Planning Committee for Annual Conferences for many years. Locally, she has offered numerous presentations for NPs, nurses, and other health providers on vital pediatric health topics. In 2021, she was honored with a UW Health Advance Practice Provider Excellence Award for Clinical Practice.
Squires joined the Division of Nephrology at nearly the same time as Sharon Bartosh, MD, professor and chief of the division. “Dr. Bartosh has been a tremendous mentor,” she said. “I have learned so much from her. Not only about nephrology, but also about how to care for patients and how to build a team. She is just a phenomenal mentor and doctor.”
Bartosh conveyed similar impressions about her long working relationship with Squires. “I have had the honor and privilege of working side by side with Kim for 28 years. During that time I have come to deeply respect and admire her clinical excellence, institutional knowledge and leadership, and her unwavering commitment to children and families,” she said. “Kim’s 35 years of service have shaped our division, strengthened our institution, and touched countless children and families; her professionalism, integrity, compassion, and dedication have set a standard to which we all aspire and an example I feel fortunate to have witnessed firsthand.”
Photo by Kate Feldt/Department of Pediatrics