Karen Kelley is a registered nurse with 25 years of experience. She started her nursing career with a diploma from Butterworth Hospital School of nursing in 1985, followed with a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from Northern Michigan University in 1991. She anticipates completion of a Master's in Health Administration in 2012.
Karen is an active member in the National Renal Administrator's Association serving on the Quality and Infection Control Committees. She participated with Renal Network 11 in a Quality Assessment Performance Improvement Task Force developing QAPI program recommendations.
She is currently employed by Portage Health as the Director of Dialysis. Karen manages the care of outpatient dialysis in a 12 station unit located in the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 2010, under her leadership, she promoted the Michigan Hospital Association's Donor Drive - receiving recognition from the Michigan Gift of Life for increasing the Organ Donor Registry with more than 500 registrants.
Karen comes to us today as an active participant in a work group from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dialysis Collaborative. The Collaborative, designed to reduce the incidence of blood stream infections, made a difference in her unit. She desires to influence you through her experiences and outcomes.