Kathleen Kohut, MS, RN, CIC
Kathleen Kohut an is Infection Prevention Consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the field of infection prevention. Her clinical expertise includes maternal/child health and surgical services where she spent more than 10 years specializing in trauma and open heart procedures. Kathleen loves to provide consultative services to the Operating Room, Labor and Delivery, Cath Lab, and Interventional Radiology as these are such niche areas of Infection Prevention and has worked with organizations as large as Johns Hopkins Hospital and as small as a two room ambulatory surgery center. She is the author of the APIC “Guide for the Prevention of Mediastinitis Surgical Site Infections Following Cardiac Surgery” and the “Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology” chapter for the 2014 revision of the APIC Text as well as numerous other publications. Kathleen has been an invited speaker at local, national and international APIC and AORN conferences. Kathleen has been a KOL with 3M since 2008. She is certified in Infection Control, earned her BSN from Widener University and her MS from the University of Maryland, School of Nursing. She currently resides on Cape Cod in MA.
Kathleen has more than 20 years of experience in the field of infection prevention. Her clinical expertise includes maternal/child health and surgical services where she spent more than 10 years specializing in trauma and open heart surgical procedures. Kathleen has work at the director level for more than 5 years in multi-hospital systems and has been responsible for as many as 12 FTEs. Kathleen has also worked on numerous assignments as an Infection Prevention consultant with clients that include major teaching universities, small community hospitals and stand alone outpatient surgicenters where she has provided consultative services for Infection Prevention program management. In addition, she consults with clients seeking assistance in the Operating Room, Labor and Delivery, Cath Lab, and Interventional Radiology. Kathleen is the author of many continuing education courses and articles related to infection prevention and the operating room. She recently authored the “Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology” chapter for the 2014 revision of the APIC Text. Kathleen has been an invited speaker at local, national and international APIC and AORN conferences. She is certified in Infection Control and earned her MS from the University of Maryland, School of Nursing.
- Responsible for implementation of Infection Prevention programs with the opportunity to utilize extensive surgical and SSI prevention background to promote positive patient outcomes.
- Develops data systems to increase the ability for data analysis and unit based data reports.
- Develops structure and implementation of HAI reduction strategies with results that exceed system goals with a greater than 50% reduction in CLABSI, CAUTI, VAP and MRSA within one year in one organization.
- Creates and facilitates multidisciplinary process improvement teams for SSI reductions in specialty services that result in standardized practice changes to positively impact SSI rates.
- Facilitates successful integration of the Infection Prevention programs in newly acquired hospitals within the Healthcare system.
- Facilitates process improvements for CLABSI reductions resulting that resulted in a sustained zero CLABSI rate in the 5 critical care units for greater than one year and a significant reduction in non-critical care units in one hospital system.
- Creates Ambulatory Care programs with successful Joint Commission accreditation outcomes.
- Experienced in converting paper to electronic databases to enhance data entry, analysis and reporting capabilities.