Alumni, Profiles

Penny Krivickas: Patience, Empathy, and Kindness

Penny Krivickas received her associate degree in Nursing from Goodwin in 2007, graduating with four RN jobs lined up. Eight years of well-earned work and life experience later, Krivickas came back to Goodwin and enrolled in the RN to BSN program. “When I first came to Goodwin for my associate degree, they provided me with the commitment, time, and resources I needed to succeed,” Krivickas explained. “That’s the reason I came back.”

Health care has always been her passion. Prior to Goodwin, Krivickas worked for 10 years as a CNA in a nursing home, as a medical assistant in an OB/GYN office, and for a brief period of time as an EMT.

Krivickas currently works as an ambulatory surgery nurse at the Hospital of Central Connecticut , where she provides pre and post op care along with discharge instructions. Previously, she worked as a pediatric nurse in the same hospital for five years.

“In pediatrics, you get to be a kid too,” Krivickas fondly recalled. Her adaptability made the transition between pediatrics and ambulatory surgery an easy one.

Every day she recites this line to remind her to be patient, empathetic, and kind: “The patient in the bed is not the person the patient is.”

“[Patients] didn’t ask to be here, and as a nurse, you have to understand that they are sick,” Krivickas noted. “It’s my job to make them feel that they aren’t alone.”

Krivickas’ daughter, Shelby, is also enrolled at Goodwin working hard towards the Nursing program, following in her mother’s footsteps. “Shelby is a people person like me,” Krivickas stated, “A nursing career will provide her with so many opportunities.”

Krivickas considers nursing a passion, not simply a job. “It isn’t just being there for apple juice and aspirin,” Krivickas commented. “If you think about what you do for patients and their families, it’s worth so much more than the paycheck.”