Karen is a natural-born leader. While I am aware she shares the responsibility of head nurse with others, it is clear her peers turn to her for advice and respect her abilities, knowledge, and leadership. She has created an environment in which all the nurses feel free to be happy, joke with the patients and each other, and yet maintain a consummate level of professionalism.

Karen has a calm demeanor that exudes confidence, even when faced with an unusual situation. I often am unable to get a blood return before my treatment. Each time, the nurse helping me always turned to Karen, who, in short order, helped me move around enough to get the blood to return. On one occasion, no matter how they tried on a day I was there just for fluids and lab work, no one was able to get a good blood return, even though the port flushed perfectly.

It was Karen who suggested and convinced me to allow them to give me a medication (Alteplase) that would, as I understand it, sit in the port and dissolve any blood clot that may be blocking the return. They checked me every 30 minutes, to no avail. The team stayed an extra half an hour to try and get a blood return. When that did not happen, they removed as much of the Alteplase from the port as possible, but were unsure whether to flush the rest of it through or allow it to remain in the port.

They checked the medication insert instructions, which did not state how to handle that situation. They consulted Karen, who made the decision to flush the port. In discussing this the next day during a regularly scheduled appointment to discuss my labs, my doctor confirmed that Karen had absolutely made the correct call in flushing the port. Not only had Karen made the right call in flushing the port that afternoon, but since giving me the Alteplase, I have had a very easy blood return ever since. I am grateful to have been cared for by such a humble and knowledgeable nurse.