Chrisann Karr, BSN, RN, CPN, CNIV is a strong supporter of the mission and vision of the Division of Nursing and the Children’s Hospital Colorado and she demonstrates this in her nursing practice every day. Chrisann was one of the first staff RNs to receive Pediatric Nurse Certification and was, and continues to be, an active member in the Society of Pediatric Nursing as a past Rocky Mountain Chapter president and active board member. She inspires others by her dedication to the practice of pediatric nursing and leads by example through her actions and attitude.

Chrisann is a member of our Orthopedics Institute (OI) Board. In her role as the Communication Core Team leader she has been integral in developing the vision for the OI as a leader in innovative research and superior care for children and young adults ensuring the best possible outcomes for our patients, families, and communities. Chrisann has led the initiative for improved communication. This is a pillar goal for The Children’s Hospital Colorado and Chrisann is the Chair of the Communication Core Team for the Orthopedics Institute. By engaging the staff members in sharing and critically reviewing communication processes, Chrisann has enabled the entire team to focus on this critical issue.

Through her leadership of the communication team for the Orthopedics Institute Chrisann has encouraged staff to get to the root cause of our low Employee Opinion Scores for communication and “having a say in things that are important”. Staff members from this team are now leading our monthly staff meetings. The team has implemented staff suggestions to make the content meaningful and useful to them in their day to day work. The Communication Core Team was instrumental in leading focus groups of staff and Chrisann role modeled this behavior for her team as a facilitator.

She is committed to promoting Family Centered Care and has taken on the responsibility of working with our families who are facing surgery and/or prolonged treatment plans for limb deformity and club feet. These complex care plans are often overwhelming and scary to families. Chrisann makes sure that the patients and family members build on their strengths by participating in experiences that enhance understanding, competence, and autonomy.

Chrisann has implemented the role of Nurse Coordinator for the General Orthopedic practices for the Department of Orthopedics. She has done this by developing, with Dr. G, a program for patients with club feet that addressed family concerns for education and their understanding of the next steps in the treatment plan. While working with this group of patients and families, Chrisann realized that the clinic rooms were not infant friendly. Chrisann submitted a proposal for an infant clinic exam room in order to promote a caring-healing environment and improve patient/parent satisfaction. She realized that many procedures for infants, including casting, Pavlik harness and Achilles tenotomies are performed in the orthopedic clinic on a daily basis. Many of these families endure increased stress due to the environment of the clinic. Her plan was to help make the babies and parents more comfortable by providing an infant exam room with a comfortable chair for the mother to hold and feed her baby during or after the procedure. Dimmable lighting would help to make the room more calming for the infant and parents. Other amenities, such as a bathing area could be included to give the babies a bath after coming out of the harness or casts. Chrisann observed that families often struggle to cope with the difficult news that their newborn will need orthopedic procedures. Her proposal was to improve their experience with a specially designed clinic room to address the infants needs.

I view Chrisann as a strong emerging leader. She is dedicated to improving the care of her patients and the practice of all those around her through her efforts of teaching and mentoring others. In this way she encourages all staff to meet their full potential as pediatric nursing professionals. This is evident by the fact that prior to transferring to the Orthopedic Clinic, Chrisann was the CCDE for 5 North and then the SMSC. Chrisann is very motivated and self-directed in her nursing practice and in achieving her personal goals of learning and in becoming a future new leader at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She just recently began graduate school in a nursing leadership program to gain the skills necessary to fulfill this goal.

Chrisann is committed to quality patient care standards as evidenced by her commitment to competency training for all staff. Chrisann was one of the first staff to be trained as a Validator for Competency on the Fly training which was started in the Ambulatory Division. She most recently acted as a mentor to staff who were new validators and participated in the COTF check offs for all Children’s Hospital Colorado staff nurses this summer. Chrisann also completes Code Simulations for all 4th Floor staff in the Outpatient Pavilion as a Certified BLS Instructor.


Chrisann’s collaborative skills have been evident in her involvement in the development of the OI. In her efforts to improve communication she has worked with physicians, mid level providers, and all members of the interdisciplinary team. One example is Chrisann’s recent involvement in our Continuous Process Improvement team as the nursing lead for the work on clinic appointment templates for the Sports Medicine Program. Her appointment to this team recognizes her ability to collaborate, support, and communicate the new changes necessary for successful implementation of this new template design.

I am proud to work with Chrisann and consider her a very deserving candidate for the DAISY Award.