Delinda Kelly
August 2022
Delinda
Kelly
,
BSN, RN, RNC-OB, CLC
Maternal/Child Services
St. Mary's Hospital - Janesville
Janesville
,
WI
United States
Delinda is a certified lactation counselor and will come in on unscheduled shifts to see patients in our outpatient lactation department.
Delinda is a Role Model to all she encounters. When I was a new nurse to labor and delivery in 2000 (before working together at SSM, we worked together at another facility) I can remember being so afraid of labor and delivery, and Delinda took me under her wing, showed me compassion, patience, and kindness. Delinda shared with me it was okay to be scared in such a high-risk nursing department and encouraged me to ask many questions and be a patient advocate. One thing Delinda said to me and I will never forget: “the moment you stop wanting to learn, think you know everything, or think you’re the best nurse, is the moment you would want to consider another career.” Fast forward 22 years, I still fully believe, and practice obstetrical nursing with those words in the back of my mind!
Delinda serves as an exemplary preceptor in our department. In 2019, Delinda went from working three 12 hours shifts, to working five days a week and 8 hours (or more) each day to be a preceptor to a new graduate RN. We felt in a labor and delivery department such as ours, more days would provide our new labor and delivery RN with more opportunities to care for laboring patients; providing an optimal learning experience. Fast forward, that new grad RN is one of our top performing RNs, a co-lead on our Unit Based Practice Council, and serves as a charge nurse on the night shift.
Delinda has served as our sole pre-natal educator for the past few years. She has given up many Saturday's to accommodate our community needs by holding classes on weekends. In 2021, Delinda held a private pre-natal education class for a family unable to attend the scheduled dates. Delinda is a certified lactation counselor and will come in on unscheduled shifts to see patients in our outpatient lactation department. Delinda works a part-time schedule but is always willing to pick up extra shifts or take extra calls to assist her team members in times of high census or team member absence.
Delinda shines in her work ethic, she is present and ready for each shift she is scheduled. Delinda regularly participates in huddles and debriefs with her team and providers. Delinda participates and leads in process improvements. Delinda regularly puts in events and/or near misses with a just culture in mind. Delinda understands the importance of tracking and trending events to improve system workflows and processes, improving quality and safe patient care.
Delinda is consistent, calm, fair, and honorable in her leadership. From nursing team members to the lives of families she touches, she leads the way in modeling how every nurse should care for themselves, their team, and their patients. During a unit discussion on how to improve team member engagement, Delinda spoke up and described how important break times are; time away from patient call lights, telephones, and other “noise”. Delinda’s insight and leadership on the importance of breaks for mental and physical wellbeing spearheaded a process improvement project to track team member breaks with a visual cue of how often each team member is getting their break. Data and trends will be collected to identify barriers and improve opportunities for breaks.
Delinda is a dedicated nurse with her bachelor’s degree and maintains two certifications in her field; lactation counselor and inpatient obstetrics. Delinda is an asset to our Family Birth Suites team. She is a chosen mentor to new team members and a strong, competent, and confident leader. Delinda's experience, empathy, resilience, and knowledge shine with every patient, provider, and team member encounter. She consistently puts safe and quality patient care at the forefront of her day and leads the team in this direction as well. I personally value Delinda’s guidance and opinion in my practice, leadership, and life.
From the voice of one of our providers in OB/GYN department, "I have had the honor of knowing Delinda on a professional and personal level for over 15 years and during that time, I have witnessed her compassion, patience, resilience, empathy, and bravery. She is one of the few people who has the gift of listening and responding in a way that is both honest and thoughtful. She has a gift of putting people at ease and making each person she interacts with feel valuable. I have witnessed this on several occasions whether it’s thanking the housekeepers for doing such a good job, sharing in the joy of a new life recently born, comforting a new mom who has just experienced a great loss or encouraging nurses (both new and “seasoned”) to see all humans and precious children of God. She has been an example to me in advocating for patient safety and evidence-based practice even when this was very difficult. Patients who have been blessed to have Delinda care for them know that their care and safety is her priority and she will guard it fiercely. She is an example to us all, of how to appreciate various perspectives and see the good in each other. She has touched many lives - patients, nurses, providers, and friends alike – and we are all better because of her."
Delinda serves as an exemplary preceptor in our department. In 2019, Delinda went from working three 12 hours shifts, to working five days a week and 8 hours (or more) each day to be a preceptor to a new graduate RN. We felt in a labor and delivery department such as ours, more days would provide our new labor and delivery RN with more opportunities to care for laboring patients; providing an optimal learning experience. Fast forward, that new grad RN is one of our top performing RNs, a co-lead on our Unit Based Practice Council, and serves as a charge nurse on the night shift.
Delinda has served as our sole pre-natal educator for the past few years. She has given up many Saturday's to accommodate our community needs by holding classes on weekends. In 2021, Delinda held a private pre-natal education class for a family unable to attend the scheduled dates. Delinda is a certified lactation counselor and will come in on unscheduled shifts to see patients in our outpatient lactation department. Delinda works a part-time schedule but is always willing to pick up extra shifts or take extra calls to assist her team members in times of high census or team member absence.
Delinda shines in her work ethic, she is present and ready for each shift she is scheduled. Delinda regularly participates in huddles and debriefs with her team and providers. Delinda participates and leads in process improvements. Delinda regularly puts in events and/or near misses with a just culture in mind. Delinda understands the importance of tracking and trending events to improve system workflows and processes, improving quality and safe patient care.
Delinda is consistent, calm, fair, and honorable in her leadership. From nursing team members to the lives of families she touches, she leads the way in modeling how every nurse should care for themselves, their team, and their patients. During a unit discussion on how to improve team member engagement, Delinda spoke up and described how important break times are; time away from patient call lights, telephones, and other “noise”. Delinda’s insight and leadership on the importance of breaks for mental and physical wellbeing spearheaded a process improvement project to track team member breaks with a visual cue of how often each team member is getting their break. Data and trends will be collected to identify barriers and improve opportunities for breaks.
Delinda is a dedicated nurse with her bachelor’s degree and maintains two certifications in her field; lactation counselor and inpatient obstetrics. Delinda is an asset to our Family Birth Suites team. She is a chosen mentor to new team members and a strong, competent, and confident leader. Delinda's experience, empathy, resilience, and knowledge shine with every patient, provider, and team member encounter. She consistently puts safe and quality patient care at the forefront of her day and leads the team in this direction as well. I personally value Delinda’s guidance and opinion in my practice, leadership, and life.
From the voice of one of our providers in OB/GYN department, "I have had the honor of knowing Delinda on a professional and personal level for over 15 years and during that time, I have witnessed her compassion, patience, resilience, empathy, and bravery. She is one of the few people who has the gift of listening and responding in a way that is both honest and thoughtful. She has a gift of putting people at ease and making each person she interacts with feel valuable. I have witnessed this on several occasions whether it’s thanking the housekeepers for doing such a good job, sharing in the joy of a new life recently born, comforting a new mom who has just experienced a great loss or encouraging nurses (both new and “seasoned”) to see all humans and precious children of God. She has been an example to me in advocating for patient safety and evidence-based practice even when this was very difficult. Patients who have been blessed to have Delinda care for them know that their care and safety is her priority and she will guard it fiercely. She is an example to us all, of how to appreciate various perspectives and see the good in each other. She has touched many lives - patients, nurses, providers, and friends alike – and we are all better because of her."