Karla received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree with honors, and a minor in Psychology from Purdue University. She has cared for burn patients for more than 19 years at three different regional burn centers. Karla's employment experience includes Mayo (Clinic) Health System, University of North Carolina Hospitals, and St. Joseph Hospital-Fort Wayne. Karla joined the University of Michigan Trauma Burn Center staff in 1993. Since that time Karla has worked as bedside ICU nurse, Charge Nurse, Nurse Staff Educator, Research Nurse, and Trauma Burn Program Manager. Her responsibilities have included staff education/training; clinical care and practice advancement; process improvement; data analysis and research integration; policy and protocol implementation; program development; and Level 1 Trauma and Burn Center Verification. Karla has held multiple specialty certifications in CCRN (Critical Care Registered Nurse), ABLS (Advanced Burn Life Support), ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support), ATCN (Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses), CCRP (Certified Clinical Research Professional), and as a national instructor of BCLS and ABLS. She is a member of several professional and honorary organizations. Karla speaks throughout the state and nation on burn and trauma injuries, safety, and prevention. She is a guest lecturer at universities. She has published numerous peer-reviewed professional journal articles and textbook chapters. Karla is a national reviewer of continuing education articles and procedure manual for the American Association of Critical Nurses (AACN). She was appointed to the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee, as well as the American Burn Association's National Committee on TRACS Database. As our Injury Prevention Nurse, Karla manages the Trauma Burn Center's family-centered injury prevention programs, which focus on mitigating high-risk behaviors. Karla is an advocate and speaker within the community, lecturing to first responders and community groups on fire and home safety and health issues. Her focus is understanding injury statistics in order to educate the community, thereby reducing the occurrence of tragic burn and trauma injuries. The Prevention Programs include:
|
