Finding Joy Through Mission-Driven Servant Leadership
When Melissa Fitzpatrick ' 79 first stepped foot on campus in 1975 as an eager 17-year-old , she never dreamed she would be returning nearly 50 years later to speak to a room full of clinicians .
In fact , she didn ' t even dream of being a nurse at all .
" I didn ' t plan to be a nurse my whole life . I was going to be a linguistics major and then realized the world ' s not going to need me to be ' Gidget goes to the UN .' I had the grades , but hadn ' t really considered a nursing career ,” Melissa said .
Fast forward nearly five decades and Melissa is an industry leader , starting as a clinician and serving in a variety of leadership roles including Vice President of Critical Care and Cardiac Services at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center , and Senior Associate Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Executive at Duke University Medical Center .
She also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Nursing Management Journal , the first-ever Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Hill-Rom , and was the National President of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses . Today , Melissa is President of Kirby Bates
Associates ( KBA ), a national leader in healthcare and nurse executive search .
While Melissa may never have dreamed of this path , she credits GMercyU with laying the foundation that put her here .
" When you ' re 17 , I don ' t think you ' re supposed to know what you want to do . You ’ re supposed to evolve and see what opportunities present themselves , but get that education first ,” Melissa said . “ I had no idea my career would take the path that it has , but there ' s no such thing as luck . It ' s preparation meeting opportunity ."
Furthermore , her experience as a three-sport studentathlete at GMercyU shaped who she is as a person , leader , teammate , and parent .
" What I learned on the court and field has informed everything . You learn agility , you learn to make decisions in the moment , to share . You build resilience as a studentathlete ,” Melissa said .
When asked to serve as speaker at GMercyU ’ s annual Dean ’ s Distinguished Lecture , Melissa knew the topic that would be most impactful to a room of soon-to-be and practicing nurses and allied health professionals : Creating Joy Through Mission-Driven Leadership .
“ The more I peeled the onion and tried to dissect what has worked well over a 47-year career , I found myself asking ‘ Where did I find the most fulfillment ?,’ ‘ Where did I find true joy in my work ?’”
It was the roles in which she felt that she made a difference .
“ Having a core of integrity and believing in a shared vision and mission , and then working hard at it every day and then lifting others up is what ’ s important ,” Melissa said . “ The idea of servant leadership has been a philosophy of mine since I learned it from the teachings of Catherine McAuley .”
It ’ s also what separates GMercyU nurses from the pack .
“ I ' m sure all universities have a mission statement and core values . I think the thing about Gwynedd , though , is that the intrinsic values are built in from the day you get here .”
Left : President Deanne H . D ' Emilo , JD ; Melissa Fitzpatrick , MSN , RN , FAAN ' 79 ; and Dean of the Frances M . Maguire School of Nursing and Health Professions Jane H . Tang , PhD , RN , NE-BC
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