Karen Clements believes that “being in healthcare is a lifelong learning event,” and we couldn’t agree more. On the show today, Karen shares with us some of the most important lessons she has learned over the years, in the diverse range of settings she has worked in, including the army and a psychiatric hospital. Karen has received a number of well-deserved awards for her services, but she won’t take the credit herself and attributes much of her success to the teams she has been surrounded by. Pride, compassion, and resiliency are the three core pillars on which Karen builds her life, and she explains how she lives these out, and how she helps her team members get through challenging times. Karen has a wealth of valuable knowledge to share about ways of improving communication channels between nurses and management, working with multigenerational teams, and how to deal with the curveballs that life will inevitably throw at all of us at some point. Karen also shares her thoughts on what she thinks the future of nursing will look like, and the main thing she wishes she could change in the healthcare industry. Karen’s passion for her work is undeniable, and the world is lucky to have her as a CareHero. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Why Karen would choose flying as her superpower. 
• Karen’s early introduction to the world of nursing. 
• The trajectory of Karen’s nursing career, from the army to her current position at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.  
• What Karen’s job entails, and what she loves the most about it.
• Advice that Karen gives to the new graduates who come to work at her hospital.
• The succession plan for nurses that exists at Karen’s hospital. 
• Karen’s journey of continuous learning. 
• Accreditation that Karen’s hospital received during the week this podcast was recorded. 
• How Karen’s time in the army equipped her for all the jobs she has held since then. 
• A person who has had a hugely positive influence on Karen’s life.
• Ways that you can improve your communication with management. 
• Value that is being brought to the hospital by the millennial nurse mentor that Karen consults with.
• Lessons that Karen learned from working at a psychiatric hospital. 
• Don’t be afraid of the curveballs; what this means to Karen and why it is the best advice she has ever been given.
• Karen explains the action she took which led to her receiving an Above and Beyond Award.
• Ways that nurses make memorable differences in patients' lives. 
• Pride, compassion, resiliency; the core pillars that Karen lives by. 
• How Karen looks after her own mental health, and the mental health of her team. 
• Karen shares her thoughts about the future of nursing. 
• The biggest challenge that Karen sees in the healthcare sector. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

LinkedIn

Dartmouth-Hitchcock

The Dartmouth Institute | For Health Policy & Clinical Practice

DAISY Foundation

Health Leaders Media Article

University of Maine

Husson University

FACHE | American College of Healthcare Executives