During the COVID- 19 pandemic, many nurses, supportive personnel, and leaders have gone above and beyond to ensure the safe delivery of care and employee safety measures. However, from the beginning, Kari's positivity of her "can do it" attitude, as well as the hands-on approach, made a significant impact on the staff, patients, and overall organization. This impact affected me as a nurse, personally.
Having one of the first PUI patients in our organization and the staff was scared, overwhelmed, and looking for solutions and leadership. Kari acted quickly, and together with many helped open the COVID-19 cohort units, this meant mobilization at many levels, from supplies to the workforce. Having the foresight to understand what was coming, what was needed, how to help the newly appointed COVID-19 health providers feel supported while reassuring them as best as she could, made a big difference. Kari's calming presence and outstanding leadership skills allowed the nurses to feel safe, have resources readily available, and reassured us that what we were practicing we were already doing every day. Kari's steadfast leadership showed us that we are all in this together. Kari mentored the nursing staff team and provided safety which made us nurse providers also feel safe.
Kari was always smiling and upbeat, even though I completely understand that she must have been exhausted due to her other responsibilities of a Program Director for Infection Prevention for Emory Healthcare. Kari often informed us that we were never alone and that our concerns were heard at the administration level. Kari is an RN and a CIC (Certification in Infection Control). She is the Program Director for Infection Prevention for the system. The IP Managers at each hospital report to her via a dotted line and the Ambulatory IP team reports directly to her. She is the one who has been approving all PPE, Wipes, etc. for the clinical team. She has been coordinating and developing alternative methods for cleaning, processes for testing, etc. she has been working 24/7 on COVID since early March. She is amazing! Kari stands out as a source of strength, kindness, thoughtfulness, safety, quality, and reassurance not only during the COVID crisis but every day as she leads our organization.