Patricia Kelly holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from DePaul University and a master's degree from Loyola University in Chicago. She has taught conferences for the Joint Commission on Accreditation for Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) and was the director of quality improvement at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. She is a professor emerita at Purdue University --Calumet. She continues to work as a part-time staff nurse in the emergency department and is an active Red Cross disaster relief volunteer.