Ms. Karen Hicks

"Less sophisticated telemetry systems provided no display on the patient-worn device, says Karen Hicks, Chief Nurse Executive.

Women's Board President Lisa Tompkins is pictured with nursing scholarship recipients, Dr. Richard Becker, C.E.O. and Ms. Karen Hicks, Chief Nurse Executive at the December 2004 Women's Board meeting.

(Left to Right) Karen Hicks, Chief Nurse Officer; Dr. Richard Katz, Chairman Department of Cardiology; Larry King; Dan McLean, CEO GW Hospital; and Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at GW Hospital

Karen Hicks, Chief Nurse ExecutiveGW Hospital : Karen Hicks, Chief Nurse Executive
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Karen Hicks, Chief Nurse Executive

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Karen HicksChief Nurse Executive

Ms. Hicks is a native on New York State, born in Syracuse.She attended college at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh through a partial academic scholarship awarded by the State of New York.After the completion of her degree in 1980, she moved to Boston and was employed as a Registered Nurse at the Massachusetts General Hospital.She provided direct patient care on a General Medicine and Dermatology unit and then in an Adult Critical Care Unit over a four year period.

Karen met her future husband (Tony) while in Boston.They married and moved to Washington, DC for Tony to attend Law School at The George Washington University's National Law Center.It was the Hospital's excellent reputation that also brought Karen to The George Washington University Hospital.She has been employed in a number of different positions at the Hospital since 1984.Her direct patient care experience included Obstetrics and Critical Care with a strong focus in Cardiology.Ms. Hicks was promoted to her first management position in January 1988 as the Nursing Unit Coordinator of the Coronary Care Unit (CCU).She had the opportunity to participate on numerous committees and planning groups.Her management responsibilities expanded between 1988 and 1996 to include an outpatient recovery room (SPRA) and eventually the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Karen has a record of leading staff to excellence.The CCU and SPRA were awarded the Bronze Commitment to Quality Award by the University in 1993.Criteria were based upon the Malcolm Baldridge Award.This was the only clinical area to achieve such an award.In addition, during her management tenure, the CCU/SPRA (1993) and the ICU (1996) received an award as "Unit of the Year" by the Attending Physician's Association.

Ms. Hicks has also shared her management expertise with others through consulting.Her first opportunity was through a joint program between GWU and USAID.Karen participated on a five-member team and worked with two hospitals in Tallin, Estonia over a two-year period.Her role was to support the hospitals in development of the management staff as well as the nurse's clinical expertise in Cardiology.The work of the group caught the attention of President Clinton.First Lady Hillary Clinton visited one of the Hospitals, escorted by a member of the GWU nursing team.

In 1996, Karen chose to broaden her skills and became an independent consultant.It was through this role that she developed a relationship with the Catholic University of America.Her experience included lecturing, management project support, and as a Clinical Instructor.She also maintained a relationship and employment at GWUH as a per diem clinical nurse.

In 1997 she returned full-time to GWUH as a Supervisor and joined the UHS family that same year when the George Washington University entered into a partnership with Universal Health Services.This role presented her with the opportunity to be a clinical and management "Jack of all trades".Karen enjoys facilitating projects, managing, educating staff, and problem-solving.She functioned as the Nurse Recruiter, Day Supervisor, the Manager of the Acute Rehabilitation Unit, and eventually became the Director of Clinical Operations.

In 1999, she was promoted to the position that she currently holds, Associate Administrator and Chief Nurse Executive.Internally, Karen has focused her efforts on improving patient care, decreasing turnover of staff and, the nurse vacancy rate, and decreasing dependence on temporary clinical staff.She has been successful in accomplishing this while supporting a growth in patient volume since the initiation of the UHS and GWU partnership.Externally, Karen has also focused her efforts on increasing interest in nursing as a profession through volunteering and participating in career events at a local middle school and the Girl Scouts of America.

"The best thing about all these advances in technology is that it allows us to deliver care in a much more efficient manner," says Karen Hicks, chief nurse at GW."It brings the information to nurses in real-time."

AHA, MC Strategies to Offer Coding Help Online (08/26/02)The American Hospital Association and MC Strategies, an Atlanta-based vendor of Web-based educational services, recently joined forces to produce coding educational services, according to a report on http://www.healthdatamanagement.com.Under the agreement, the partners will create videotape curriculum and digitize portions of the videos into Web-based, 15-minute educational presentations.