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In 23 years of nursing, Noreen Connelly, has felt the exhilaration of watching babies being delivered and shed tears while holding the hands of those dying in emergency rooms.
“It’s hard not to take the job home with you,” said Connelly, 45, promoted to emergency department manager in August. “Caring for people never goes away.”
Along the way her career path has taken her from working in several capacities at Mercy Hospital in Chicago to being a staff nurse, lead nurse, and now the department manager for the Emergency Department at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.
“Being an administrator now, I miss the medicine piece of hands-on nursing, but I still get out on the floor as much as possible to get that experience,” Connelly said. “I still get a thrill, an adrenaline rush, out of being a nurse.”
Connelly became motivated to make nursing her career when her father, John Mahon, died of lung and liver cancer when he was 48. Connelly was in eighth grade.
“He went quickly once he was diagnosed, but it made me realize what I wanted to do in life,” she said. “Nursing put me in a position to help people and have a direct, positive impact on them.”
Connelly credits former department manager Sue Smith, now head of Emergency Room Preparedness for four regional Adventist hospitals, with guiding her career path.
“She taught me a lot, and left shoes too big to fill. She was always available to help whenever the nurses needed anything, and I learned a lot from her example,” Connelly said.
Notable
n Holds certifications as a emergency room communications nurse and trauma nurse specialist
n Worked for Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Daley in the Senior Citizens Division before Daley went on to become Chicago’s mayor.
n Celebrities who have visited the ER under her watch include Tiger Woods, Isiah Thomas and Frank Thomas
& quotable
“If it ever gets to the point where being in an emergency room doesn’t affect you, you are in the wrong profession. You have to have empathy. As hard as it is siting with a family dealing with death, it really puts life into perspective,” Connelly said.
Philosophy
“Be honest. It’s the only way. Also, it is important to get as much knowledge and education as you can.”
Favorites
HOSPITAL CUISINE Any soup with noodles in it
CHICAGO SPORTS TEAM “I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in Bridgeport, so it has to be the White Sox.”
MEDICAL T.V. SHOW Grey’s Anatomy and ER
ACTIVITIES Playing with my dogs, vacationing in Las Vegas
In 23 years of nursing, Noreen Connelly, has felt the exhilaration of watching babies being delivered and shed tears while holding the hands of those dying in emergency rooms.
“It’s hard not to take the job home with you,” said Connelly, 45, promoted to emergency department manager in August. “Caring for people never goes away.”
Along the way her career path has taken her from working in several capacities at Mercy Hospital in Chicago to being a staff nurse, lead nurse, and now the department manager for the Emergency Department at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.
“Being an administrator now, I miss the medicine piece of hands-on nursing, but I still get out on the floor as much as possible to get that experience,” Connelly said. “I still get a thrill, an adrenaline rush, out of being a nurse.”
Connelly became motivated to make nursing her career when her father, John Mahon, died of lung and liver cancer when he was 48. Connelly was in eighth grade.
“He went quickly once he was diagnosed, but it made me realize what I wanted to do in life,” she said. “Nursing put me in a position to help people and have a direct, positive impact on them.”
Connelly credits former department manager Sue Smith, now head of Emergency Room Preparedness for four regional Adventist hospitals, with guiding her career path.
“She taught me a lot, and left shoes too big to fill. She was always available to help whenever the nurses needed anything, and I learned a lot from her example,” Connelly said.
Notable
n Holds certifications as a emergency room communications nurse and trauma nurse specialist
n Worked for Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Daley in the Senior Citizens Division before Daley went on to become Chicago’s mayor.
n Celebrities who have visited the ER under her watch include Tiger Woods, Isiah Thomas and Frank Thomas
& quotable
“If it ever gets to the point where being in an emergency room doesn’t affect you, you are in the wrong profession. You have to have empathy. As hard as it is siting with a family dealing with death, it really puts life into perspective,” Connelly said.
Philosophy
“Be honest. It’s the only way. Also, it is important to get as much knowledge and education as you can.”
Favorites
HOSPITAL CUISINE Any soup with noodles in it
CHICAGO SPORTS TEAM “I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in Bridgeport, so it has to be the White Sox.”
MEDICAL T.V. SHOW Grey’s Anatomy and ER
ACTIVITIES Playing with my dogs, vacationing in Las Vegas
