Delnor nurse celebrates 45 years at Northwestern Medicine

GENEVA – What began as a volunteer opportunity as a candy striper nearly four decades ago turned into a 45 year career with Delnor Hospital for Geneva resident Nancy Moran.

“Trust and mentorship have been the hallmarks of my 45-year career with Northwestern Medicine,” Moran said in a news release from Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital. “I credit leaders along the way who gave me opportunities and took me under their wing. They shared with me the knowledge they had gained over the years, which is more valuable than people often realize.”

Volunteering at the St. Charles facility where she had been born, Moran sought and acquired experience throughout Delnor Hospital, eventually winning its Volunteer of the Year award, along with three nursing school scholarships, the news release stated.

Today, she is the clinical manager of patient care, Oncology Infusion, at Northwestern Medicine Cancer Center Delnor and Cancer Center Warrenville.

“I hadn’t really looked to go into oncology, but when the Delnor Cancer Center opened in 2013 and I was asked to be the practice administrator, I realized oncology was something I had been passionate about all along,” Moran said in the news release. “I lost my mother to cancer when I was 19, and that passion for oncology has brought me to where I am today.”

That journey has never taken Moran away from Delnor. She became a nurse’s aide and unit clerk on the hospital’s Medical-Surgical floor once she got her work permit at age 15, and was hired as a Medical-Surgical nurse on the same floor after graduating from nursing school in 1980.

Eight years later, after the merge of Delnor Hospital and Community Hospital, the hospitals’ pharmacy leaders wanted to expand IV therapy services from Community Hospital to the Delnor campus. They asked Moran to join the team. Excited for the opportunity, she said yes, and discovered her love for the specialty. She was asked to lead the new system’s IV Therapy and Outpatient Infusion Center in 1993, a post she held for 20 years until she moved into her current role.

With no plans to retire anytime soon, Moran reiterates her gratitude for the relationships she has built over the years with leaders.

“They gave me experience because they had confidence in me. You always want to nurture the new staff who come in — it’s critical for them,” she said in the release.

She recommends that all nurses begin their careers on a Medical-Surgical floor.

“It gives you a strong base, and you can build on any specialty from there,” she said in the release.

In her own specialty, Moran most treasures the positive impact she and her Oncology Infusion team can have on their patients’ lives.

“Every interaction you have with a patient and his or her family, you have the opportunity to make a difference in their life, and you can never, ever take that for granted,” she said in the release. “I am so grateful for all the families who have allowed us to take care of them — who have given us their trust. There are many, many memories with the families and co-worker friendships I’ve developed over the years. If there weren’t many fond memories, it wouldn’t feel the same."

One of Moran’s favorite anecdotes: Her daughter, Kelly Moran, graduated from nursing school in 2013 and now works on 3 South at Delnor.

“She told me she had seen my achievements, and it influenced her career decision,” Moran said in the release. “Her graduation day was one of my proudest moments.”