Daily Impact

02/11/2016 10:00 AM

By Maddie Gehling ’17

When Northwestern Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital sought staff input for a marketing campaign last fall, Bradley nursing alumna Bethany Goralski ’15 realized the health care system’s impact on her family was newsworthy. On a whim, she shared her journey, and it was featured in the system’s “Impact Every Day” campaign.

Goralski grew up in a family familiar with health care as her father frequently requires hospital visits to battle a severe kidney condition. Though she grew familiar with medical processes as a youth, a nursing career wasn’t an option until late in high school.

That’s when Goralski’s brother donated a kidney to their father. The two received care from Northwestern Medicine, which sparked a career goal.

“Everything about the medical field grossed me out until I was 16,” she said. “Then, my dad and I started bonding over his medical conditions and I found an interest in it all.”

Her father encouraged her to learn as much as she could from the Northwestern staff when she had opportunities. That interaction planted a dream to work for the same system that cared for her father.

“I’m shocked that I landed my dream job out of college,” Goralski said. “I’m so blessed to have this opportunity, and I know I am in the right place because it gave me the same feeling that I did when I was at Bradley. I was home.”

She credited her Hilltop experience for a smooth transition into the professional world.

“I owe a lot of my confidence to Bradley for the knowledge and nursing skills I gained,” she said. “I felt prepared to take on my own patients as soon as I left nurse orientation.”