Volunteer Reflection: Nurse Karen Denison

Nurse Denison (second left) poses with the FAME team.

Today, we publish the volunteer reflection of Karen Denison a dedicated volunteer who has been supporting our work at FAME for quite some time. Karen has been helping FAME set up our infection prevention program. Karen was actually the first person we interviewed for our "Volunteer Reflection" series back in December 2021. You can read that reflection HERE. 

---

“I have volunteered at FAME five times since 2018. I am a Registered Nurse (RN) and an Infection Preventionist (IP) helping to develop the infection prevention program at FAME in Karatu. I usually volunteer at FAME for about three weeks, but this last time, in May-June 2023, I stayed for five weeks.

This time, my experience was even more fulfilling because of the time I spent working with FAME’s excellent team of nurses. Together, we work to improve the instrument sterilization processes. The team is wonderful to work with, and I found that they are knowledgeable in the processes and eager to develop best practices.

In addition to sterilization, a team of individuals from each department volunteered to be FAME’s Infection Prevention Champions. They monitor their departments for infection prevention practices and provide “just-in-time” training if missed opportunities occur. The group picture below is the “IP Team”. I back them up with continuing education throughout the year.

This has, by far, been one of the best experiences I’ve had traveling or volunteering.  I am looking forward to returning to FAME next year in the fall.”