Back to Search
Meet Cynthia Joly, an Advanced Practice Nurse in CHEO’s NICU
Forty-three years ago, due to a blood infection and jaundice, Cynthia spent her first days of life in CHEO’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Little did she know the NICU would eventually become her home for a second time – the place where she would become a nurse. Thinking back on her childhood, Cynthia has fond memories of her parents watching the annual CHEO Telethon, and her mom exclaiming, “That was just like you! You were there!”
Coming from a long line of nurses, Cynthia always knew that nursing was her future. She clearly remembers her first day of nursing school and sharing with her class that caring for patients in CHEO’s NICU was her dream – she wanted to go back to her roots. A few years later, in 2003, Cynthia’s dreams came true when she started as a student nurse in the NICU. On her first day, Cynthia quickly realized that the physician, and many of the nurses surrounding her, had looked after her when she was a small baby. Now it was her turn to look after these babies – and it was better than she could have expected.
“These babies are fighters – they are small but mighty. When I started, I didn’t know how strong they could be,” Cynthia shares. When it’s time for these little fighters to go home, the staff and medical staff make sure their sendoff is extra special. “They graduate from the NICU,” says Cynthia, “We send them home with a certificate, cards and a graduation cap.”
Today, you can still find Cynthia in the NICU. In many ways, she grew up there – first as a newborn, years later as a student, then as a bedside nurse, a nurse educator, and now as an advanced practice nurse. “CHEO is a great place to work,” says Cynthia, “Walking through CHEO’s halls, everyone has a smile. The staff, medical staff, and learners love working here. That’s really it – that's what makes us so special.”
Begin your journey at CHEO like Cynthia. Join us.