Mary S. Fay Essence of Nursing Award Finalists
Karen Green, BS, RN, IBCLC, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Karen Green's compassion and genuine love for nursing inspire her colleagues, newly-licensed nurses and patients' families. After watching Green care for her premature twin girls, one mother was so moved that she decided to become a nurse herself.
"My time in the NICU with Karen was life-changing. Every day that I spent observing her dedication, talent and compassion brought me closer to the realization that I was being called to a career in nursing and that I hoped to one day bring the same level of dedication and skill to my own patients," the mother wrote.
Green has been demonstrating such dedication in caring for patients and precepting nurses in the NICU since 1981. She is especially well known for making new nurses feel welcome and gain confidence as they develop professionally.
"I can still recall my nervousness at being a first-time primary nurse to 28-week premature infant twin girls," said Marie Field, MS, RN, NICU nurse educator. "Karen was a relaxed and non-threatening senior staff nurse, who teamed up with me and helped me navigate this first primary nurse experience. Twenty-five years later, I still remember my pride and Karen's pride as I started my first IV in the NICU."
For all her NICU colleagues, Green exemplifies the best in patient care. "I have seen the look of gratitude in the eyes of parents as they take home a healthy baby knowing that Karen's involvement and advocacy were primary reasons for the good outcome," Steven Ringer, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine, said. "On more occasions than I can count, she has made the critical difference for a patient and family under our care."
Green's understanding of patients' needs led her to be part of an effort to reexamine feeding practices in the NICU. "Karen was key in influencing a paradigm shift in practice towards infusing focused and individualized developmental assessment when determining an infant's readiness and competency to feed," according to her nominators. "Her ability to communicate the importance of parental partnership and developmental assessment in relation to feeding has largely been accomplished through her actions as a primary nurse."
Prior to joining the NICU, Green was a staff nurse for the Boston Visiting Nurses, MGH's Emergency Department, New England Deaconess Hospital's SICU and a flight nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Denver. She is a graduate of New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing and has a BS in biology from UMass-Boston.
Karen Green was nominated by Deirdre Greene, MS, RN, IBCLC, nurse in-charge, Marie Field, MS, RN, nurse educator, Marianne Cummings, MSN, RN, nurse manager, Sandra Harmon, BS, RN, assistant nurse manager, Kerri Halligan, RN, and Deirdre Ellard, MS, RD/LDN, CSND, all of the NICU.