Karen has over twenty-five years of diverse healthcare administration and consulting experience. She was previously the Senior Vice President and for Patient Services at Boston University Medical Center and Associate Dean at Boston University School of Nursing, and Associate Director of Nursing and member of the Nursing Faculty at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1990, she entered the international healthcare arena as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Healthcare International, LTD, an international tertiary care hospital and hotel complex near Glasgow, Scotland. In 1995, Karen joined Harvard Medical International, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, as a Senior Consultant, and then a Director, where she provided consulting services in India, Abu Dhabi, Spain and various other international locations.In 2003, Karen became the President and CEO of Kirby Bates Associates a nurse owned and operated company providing consultation and coaching, executive search, and interim management services all within the nursing domain. Karen has published papers on topics important to nursing administrators, including variable budgeting, operating room productivity and alternative patient care systems. She has been a member of the American Organization of Nursing Executives (AONE) for over 20 years, is a Past President of the Massachusetts Organization of Nursing Executives (MONE), and a current member of the Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders (PONL) and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). She received her BSN from the University of Michigan, her Masters in Administration from the University of California, San Francisco, and she completed a Johnson and Johnson Nursing Executive Fellowship at the Wharton School in Philadelphia.