PACU Educator joins Nursing Professional Development Department

Kathy McCarraher, MHA, BSN, RN, CPAN, ONC, recently joined the Nursing Professional Development Department at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in the role of PACU Educator. McCarraher comes to BWFH from New England Baptist Hospital where she was most recently Critical Care Educator.

McCarraher holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Fitchburg State University. For nearly 25 years, she was a bedside nurse in the community hospital setting with experience in the ICU, cardiothoracic nursing, the VNA setting, the ED and the PACU before becoming a nurse educator in the PACU at New England Baptist Hospital. She eventually took on the role of Critical Care Educator, covering the PACU, pre-op holding, the ICU and the telemetry units.

“I believe in life-long learning,” she says. So McCarraher went back to school and earned her master’s degree in healthcare administration from Framingham State University in 2009. She is also certified in perianesthesia nursing and orthopedic nursing.

Here at BWFH, McCarraher says she is looking forward to working closely with Ambulatory Nurse Director Kathy Merrigan, MSN, RN, and the team of nurse educators. She is also eager to take on a mentoring role, encouraging staff to continue their education and seek certification. “Right now I’m really still learning the ropes,” she says. “But I am anxious to get out there and meet the staff and find out what they need.”

After just a few weeks in her new role, McCarraher is certain she made a good decision. “I keep pinching myself. Everyone is so nice. I feel comfortable here already,” she says.

McCarraher lives in Franklin with her husband, two grown sons and rescue dog Tobey. “On beautiful days, I like to go for walks with him,” she says. She also enjoys cooking, baking, doing yard work and spending time at her summer home in Maine.