Chicago, Illinois – Carolyn Hodgson has a special place in her heart for patients who are not likely to leave Advocate Trinity Hospital feeling better and on the road to recovery. This is why she was selected as this year’s Advocate Trinity Nurse of the Year.
Hodgson will be honored this week – National Nurses Week – along with 33 nurses across Advocate Aurora Health Care as shining examples of compassionate nursing care, patient satisfaction and professional excellence.
“Carolyn is the ultimate example of why we work at a community hospital,” says Jacquelyn Whitten, the hospital’s Chief Nurse Executive. “Carolyn is exemplary. She lives every day working to improve safety, quality and service to the community Advocate Trinity Hospital serves.”
A critical care nurse in Advocate Trinity’s 12-bed Intensive Care Unit, Hodgson is well-known for her compassionate bedside manner that embraces both the patient and their family.
While Hodgson’s goal is to make sure her critically-ill patients are as comfortable and pain-free as possible, she is especially committed to ensuring no patient takes their final breaths alone. At the same time, Carolyn is there to help grieving families let go, when it’s time.
“I try to help them through the grief by talking to the family and helping them understand, if we come to a point when there really is little we can do. I also share my own personal experiences, so they know I really do understand their grief and the decisions that need to be made,” Hodgson says, explaining that death is both a meaningful part of life and an important part of healing for family members left behind.
“No matter what their social status or what brings them to the unit, every patient is the same. They all deserve love and the same level of care I’d give my own family,” Hodgson says, adding that she cherishes the relationships she builds with her patients…and her fellow nursing team members.
Over the course of her 43 years as an Advocate Trinity nurse, Hodgson helped mentor hundreds of new nurses – some of them growing into brilliant specialty nurses, physicians and leaders throughout the Advocate system. Hodgson continues to stay involved in Shared Governance (patient care decisions), multidisciplinary rounding, unit-based counseling and efforts that have successfully decreased safety events throughout the hospital, improved bed length-of-stay and increased organ donations.
Still, nothing comes close to her love and commitment to Advocate Trinity’s ICU and its patients.
“The amount of recognition the patients praise her with is unbelievable, especially those whose loved ones have passed,” says Hodgson’s daughter, Amy Hodgson. For example, after the recent death of one ICU patient, the family returned to Advocate Trinity the next day bearing flowers to show appreciation for Carolyn’s kindness and care.
“There are thousands of reasons why [Carolyn] deserves to be Nurse of the Year. These are just a few,” Amy says.
About Advocate Trinity Hospital
Advocate Trinity Hospital, a designated Primary Stroke Center, has provided high-quality, compassionate care to the residents of Chicago’s Southeast Side for more than 120 years. Our board-certified physicians have expertise in more than 50 subspecialties, including advanced heart attack and stroke care, advanced levels of treatment in surgery, and a limb salvage program that serves as a model for other health care providers. Our Emergency Department team care model and triage delivery system minimize wait time and enhance care coordination, while our multi-disciplinary approach to in-patient care optimizes discharge planning and bedside engagement between providers, patients and family members. Advocate Trinity is part of Advocate Aurora Health, the 10th largest not-for-profit, integrated health system in the United States. We help people live well.