She's building a Maternity team at IU Health Saxony with a "why"

Hannah Devenney has been named Clinical Operations manager of Maternity Services at IU Health Saxony. Currently, she's working to build her team before the unit makes its debut this fall.

By Charlotte Stefanski, cstefanski@iuhealth.org, writer for IU Health's Metro Region

Throughout her life, Hannah Devenney has always felt a call to care for people—that’s why she became a registered nurse 15 years ago.

Within nine months of her first nursing job in a Medical-Surgical unit in Baltimore, Devenney gave birth to her first child. The experience didn’t just impact her personal life, but her career too.

“I remember looking at my labor nurse and saying, ‘If I can do for somebody what you just did for me, I will do it,’” Devenney says. “That's what was going to keep me in the nursing profession.”

Right then and there in her hospital room, Devenney filled out an application to become a Labor and Delivery nurse.

Devenney continued her nursing career in Maryland before coming to Indiana in 2023 to serve as manager of Operations for Labor and Delivery at Riley Hospital for Children. Now, she’s been named Clinical Operations manager of Maternity Services at IU Health Saxony—soon to be IU Health Fishers.

While IU Health Saxony doesn’t have a Maternity unit yet, it will soon. The hospital is in the final phases of construction to nearly double the facility’s campus and add new services.

“I'm excited to provide this service to our community. I think it's needed in a community such as Fishers, that's young and growing families,” Devenney says. “I'm excited to create a team that is passionate about their call to care for patients in this phase of their lives.”

Bringing maternity care to Fishers

IU Health Saxony’s Maternity unit will allow moms to labor, deliver and recover in one room. The unit will also include a Special Care Nursery for babies who need more intensive care after birth. Hospital leadership is hiring more than 50 highly skilled OB and Special Care Nursery nurses, technicians and lactation consultants.

It’s all part of IU Health’s Fishers Community Impact Project, a $300 million investment into one of the fastest growing communities in the United States. When complete, IU Health Saxony will be renamed to IU Health Fishers.

To help prepare for the unit’s opening, Devenney has been spending time with Labor and Delivery teams at IU Health North and West hospitals.

She notes West’s operations will be similar to Saxony’s, as they are both level 2 Labor and Delivery and Special Care Nursery.

“The thing I love about this model of care is it's going to make a very well-rounded nurse. In other facilities, Labor and Delivery is separate from the Postpartum unit,” Devenney explains. “Our nurses are going to be able to do it all. It’s going to be a huge patient satisfier, because it's going to provide continuity of care throughout their stay. Patients will not be passed off from one nurse to the other. You're going to be in the same room, from admission to discharge, experiencing a much smoother flow in your plan of care.”

The right time and the right place

As both a mother and Labor and Delivery nurse, Devenney knows that 95% of the time, it’s the happiest unit in the hospital. The other 5% can be a heavy emotional weight that the entire unit carries.

That’s why Devenney wants her future team to know their “why.”

“I want our team to know their ‘why;’ why they’re called to care for these patients that are coming to us. I want them to be very well bonded,” Devenney says. “I want a team that supports each other, knows each other and cares about each other—as team co-workers and as people—and I want their identity to be connected to why they're here.”

As she works to build that team, Devenney is energized by the excitement throughout the hospital and the community.

“It's the right time and it's the right place. We are excited to provide the best care to women and infants in the state of Indiana,” Devenney says. “Our priority is giving the highest quality and safest care. With this expansion, our volumes will grow, and we will have the opportunity to expand IU Health’s mission to provide the highest quality care that is available. I firmly believe that, and that's why I'm here.”

Ready to make an impact and grow your nursing career at IU Health Saxony? Join a dynamic and supportive team where you’ll build lasting relationships and make a difference in patients’ lives. Click here to explore open nursing positions in the hospital’s Maternity unit today.