Lorna
RN, MS, Nurse Manager

A History of Healing and Helping

Today, Lorna has 24-hour responsibility for the staffing and care of 28 patients on her solid organ transplant floor at UMass Memorial Medical Center. The path that led to Lorna’s current career has been diverse – each step equally as important in shaping Lorna into the successful manager and caretaker that she is.

After graduating from Fitchburg State College, Lorna was hired as an ICU RN at UMass Memorial. Her next move brought her to outpatient dialysis, where she quickly transitioned into a management role while also pursuing an MS in nursing administration. Feeling that she needed a change in her life, Lorna spent several years teaching high school honors biology while also working at a hospice.

Eventually, Lorna’s path came full circle as she found herself back at UMass Memorial – the same nurse manager but now with a world of perspective and unmatched experience as well as motivation to not only affect the lives of her patients, but also the lives of younger nurses.

Lorna’s moment of realization regarding her impact on others occurred when a family member was in the hospital and she received a call from the admitting nurse. To Lorna’s surprise, the nurse was one of the individuals whose life she had touched – it was a nurse that she had hired several years back. Lorna remembers her satisfaction and sense of accomplishment after hearing the young nurse thank Lorna for guidance and support. Lorna also remembers the sense of gratefulness that she felt, knowing that she could trust the nurse to effectively treat her family member.

“I feel incredibly lucky to be where I am and I want to give back in any way I can,” states Lorna as she confidently continues her pursuit to educate, train and mentor an unmatched staff of nurses. “My career at UMass Memorial has given me opportunities that I couldn’t get anywhere else. I don’t know of any other place I would want to work.”

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