Employees June 26, 2008
Pat Worthy Proves Worthy of Award
At its annual luncheon, the Southern Connecticut Black Nurses Association recently honored Pat Worthy, R.N., M.S., Workforce Diversity manager, with its highest award. Worthy received the Mary E. Mahoney Award, named for the first African-American registered nurse in the U.S.
A 35-year veteran of YNHH, Worthy started in 1966 as a unit secretary. When she had her son, she left the hospital but earned her L.P.N. certificate and returned to YNHH in 1972 to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. She then earned her R.N. and associate’s degree in nursing in 1977 from the University of Bridgeport, and later a bachelor’s in social work from Southern Connecticut State University. Last year, Worthy received her master’s degree in management science. From 1978 to 1986, Worthy was a staff nurse in the neuropsychiatric evaluation unit and was promoted to nurse manager of the adolescent psychiatric unit where she served until 1993.
From 1993 to 1996, Worthy worked on the redesign of the nursing model and, following that assignment, she joined Human Resources where she began to manage the high school student community outreach program which is today the hospital’s highly respected School to Career program that provides paid internships to New Haven students.
Worthy is also responsible for managing the Minority Scholarship Program and the hospital’s three-year-old program, School at Work, which to date has graduated more than 30 employee- students after nine months of classes on work time that prepare them for additional education or a return to the classroom.
Article originally appeared in the June 26, 2008 issue of the Bulletin employee newsletter (page 3)
http://www.ynhh.org/bulletin_archive/2008/062608_Bulletin.pdf
