Superior Court Judge Bernadette Conway. Courtesy photo

A successful Superior Court judge for more than two decades, Bernadette Conway's first love was nursing.

And she has long maintained that the same empathy and compassion that drive successful nurses have made her a better judge and person.

Conway, who followed in the nursing footsteps of her aunt, Barbara Kettell, enrolled at the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing. She later earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Northeastern University in 1982, and still retains her nursing license.

The former emergency-room nurse continued working at Bridgeport's St. Vincent's Hospital while she went to law school. Now, at 61, she said her nursing background still factors into her current role as chief administrative judge for juvenile matters in New Haven Juvenile Court.

"I think I had pretty good compassion and empathy before I was a nurse," Conway said. "But as a nurse you see humanity's best and worst, just like in a courtroom setting. You learn to appreciate and become more accepting of the imperfections and tragedies of life."

In her current role, which Conway has had since September 2013, she sees sorrow, but also a lot of joy in working with the issues young people face.

The sorrow, she said, "is on the child protection side of the job when a child dies from neglect or abuse."

"It ties back to nursing, where I was used to life and death and seeing tragedies," Conway said. "I'm able to compartmentalize because of my nursing background. It was a good training ground for me."

Michael Dannehy, who has known Conway for 34 years, is a Superior Court judge in Hartford Juvenile Court. Dannehy said Conway's training as a nurse allowed her to "develop skills to really assess things quickly and focus on what needed immediate attention."

"It definitely helped her in cases that had medical issues," Dannehy said. "She is a great resource in trying to explain medical reports."

Conway said the state over the last several years has been able to decrease the number of children who have been arrested or entered into the juvenile justice system. One way that's been possible, the judge said, is via courthouse clinical coordinators, a relatively new concept.

"They have mental health backgrounds, and are able to assess children," Conway said. "They can give judges and lawyers some insight into what is going on, and what appropriate services and treatments they might need."

Conway received her law degree in 1985 from the University of Bridgeport School of Law, now Quinnipiac University School of Law. She was raised in Ohio, then in Enfield and Fairfield, Connecticut. She became a Superior Court judge in 1999, and resides in North Haven with her husband, Superior Court Judge Frank Iannotti, the presiding criminal judge in Waterbury.

Related stories:

Meet Judge Melanie Cradle, Whose Former Client Changed Her Life

Judge Mark Taylor's Stint in Apartheid South Africa Led Him to Bench