Susan Lynch '89

Susan Lynch '89 BSN, MSN, RNFA, PH.D. remembers a beautiful spring day. several weeks prior to her Holy Family University graduation, as if it was yesterday. It was the conclusion of a rotation in psychology, and she was sitting by a beautiful azalea bush, by a pond, as she recalls, on the campus of Friends Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia. The assignment was to sit in silence and ponder the life that was awaiting in nursing.

"This day always stuck with me," Lynch said. "We were told to sit by ourselves, without talking to our classmates, and to really think about where we wanted to go in our profession. What did we want? What was important to us? And what did we need to do to achieve these goals? It stuck with me because I have always been a planner - where do I want to be one year, three years, five years, 10 years out? Sometimes it has worked to my benefit; sometimes I didn't quite meet my deadline, but I was able to pivot back and re-focus and re-align. But I think that has always helped me get where I wanted to go in nursing. Some people thought it was crazy, and today everyone would probably just be on their cell phones. I thought it was a great exercise that so pivotal to my future."

Now the director of surgical services at Penn Medicine- Chester County Hospital where she oversees, among other duties, pre-admission testing, operating room and recovery procedures and the re-processing of instrumentation, Lynch praises Holy Family University for developing her into a lifelong learner (she is currently pursuing an MBA).

"Holy Family University really instilled in me the importance of research and taught me how to ask questions to be a change agent," Lynch said. "I learned to question processes, 'Is this really the best way to do this?' We learned to utilize best practices to investigate standards, qualities and regulations. I also think communication and collegial professionalism and behavior were very important skills that I learned. I walked away from Holy Family knowing that we are all working together as a team, collaboratively, to provide quality patient safety and the best patient care and outcome.

"My experience at Holy Family was very engaging," she said. "I was engaged, but equally so were the instructors, counselors, advisors. Everyone was engaged, and because of that, I learned to be a good, caring, compassionate listener."