Kerrie Conroy
May 2021
Kerrie
Conroy
,
MSN, RN, NE-BC
Nursing Administration
SSM Health St. Clare Hospital
Fenton
,
MO
United States
Kerrie has a way of making us feel respected, supported, and cared about. I feel the time she spends on me is an investment, and I feel a responsibility to improve my performance in turn - not just for me, but for her.
I met Kerrie seventeen years ago at St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood when she was the manager of the Telemetry unit. I noticed Kerrie's energy, ability to get things done, and her high level of professional ethics. Yet Kerrie is more than a leader, she is a caring nurse. One of my co-workers talks of pulling sheaths with Kerrie. One of the greatest challenges is getting the patient to remain calm and stay still while one nurse holds pressure on their groin. She said Kerrie would take the patient's head and provide the welcome distraction from the unpleasant experience. She would say, "We're going to be here a while so why don't you tell me a story?" Her warm, personable demeanor, calming voice, and sweet smile provided the perfect diversion to help get the patient through the procedure. Kerrie has a knack for developing relationships with her teams.
She is kind and compassionate, seeing the good in people even in the most challenging situations. Hospitals are high-stress work areas, and over the years I have seen many managers and supervisors display maturation with staff. Kerrie is different. She seeks to understand the whole situation. With kindness and love, she helps staff see their opportunities for growth and improvement. And with that same genuine compassion, she loyally stands with them when others may see a different truth. I've seen Kerrie's leadership responsibilities grow over the years here at St. Clare. Her units have always flourished with her nurturing - her leaders becoming role models, essentially the backbone, for this newly blooming hospital. She developed her leaders into mature, informed, and confident skilled clinicians - who then: frequently served as resources for charge staff on other developing units. Her staff understood their importance to the strength of the whole hospital and made sure they kept informed and educated so they could be the best resources. Her leadership does that. Enveloped in a loving, trusting relationship, people grow in confidence. And they want to get better out of respect for her and her expectations to become the best. She moved from Team Leader of Telemetry to a Director position at Cardinal Glennon, finally returning here as ADNO. And in each area, the teams blossomed under her leadership. Now she is my direct boss, and I have never felt more blessed. Our department has become a family where we can openly discuss our differences and give regular feedback to each other. Her transparency in her interactions with us builds trust - we are safe to share our concerns and our suggestions. Although deluged with emails she manages to read each of our shift reports and responds, often on the same day to our concerns and questions. She actively seeks out the info we feel we need to make good decisions, and she patiently nurtures us through our learning curves. She is great at using written communication to keep us informed but also makes a special effort to stop by and see us so we can chat about current happenings. A healthcare system such as ours is in a constant state of change. She gives us the information we need to understand the strategic changes, then models the behaviors she expects us to display as shift leaders, behaviors that support SSM's vision of excellence.
Kerrie has a way of making us feel respected, supported, and cared about. I feel the time she spends on me is an investment, and I feel a responsibility to improve my performance in turn - not just for me, but for her. Although I celebrate my extraordinary nursing leader Kerrie every day, I believe it is long overdue that Kerrie Conroy is recognized on a greater level for the significant impact she has made on St Clare and SSM Health nursing in general.
She is kind and compassionate, seeing the good in people even in the most challenging situations. Hospitals are high-stress work areas, and over the years I have seen many managers and supervisors display maturation with staff. Kerrie is different. She seeks to understand the whole situation. With kindness and love, she helps staff see their opportunities for growth and improvement. And with that same genuine compassion, she loyally stands with them when others may see a different truth. I've seen Kerrie's leadership responsibilities grow over the years here at St. Clare. Her units have always flourished with her nurturing - her leaders becoming role models, essentially the backbone, for this newly blooming hospital. She developed her leaders into mature, informed, and confident skilled clinicians - who then: frequently served as resources for charge staff on other developing units. Her staff understood their importance to the strength of the whole hospital and made sure they kept informed and educated so they could be the best resources. Her leadership does that. Enveloped in a loving, trusting relationship, people grow in confidence. And they want to get better out of respect for her and her expectations to become the best. She moved from Team Leader of Telemetry to a Director position at Cardinal Glennon, finally returning here as ADNO. And in each area, the teams blossomed under her leadership. Now she is my direct boss, and I have never felt more blessed. Our department has become a family where we can openly discuss our differences and give regular feedback to each other. Her transparency in her interactions with us builds trust - we are safe to share our concerns and our suggestions. Although deluged with emails she manages to read each of our shift reports and responds, often on the same day to our concerns and questions. She actively seeks out the info we feel we need to make good decisions, and she patiently nurtures us through our learning curves. She is great at using written communication to keep us informed but also makes a special effort to stop by and see us so we can chat about current happenings. A healthcare system such as ours is in a constant state of change. She gives us the information we need to understand the strategic changes, then models the behaviors she expects us to display as shift leaders, behaviors that support SSM's vision of excellence.
Kerrie has a way of making us feel respected, supported, and cared about. I feel the time she spends on me is an investment, and I feel a responsibility to improve my performance in turn - not just for me, but for her. Although I celebrate my extraordinary nursing leader Kerrie every day, I believe it is long overdue that Kerrie Conroy is recognized on a greater level for the significant impact she has made on St Clare and SSM Health nursing in general.