With more than 20 years of nursing experience, including 16 years in a wide range of leadership roles at MedStar Health, Karen has demonstrated the successful implementation of contemporary models of care, achieving quality goals and multidisciplinary engagement, designing process improvements and directing Nursing operations. As Chief Nursing Officer at MedStar Harbor Hospital, Karen is responsible for more than 300 nurses who deliver specialized care in such areas as behavioral health, women’s and infant’s services, emergency services and perioperative services.
Prior to her role as CNO, Karen served as the Senior Director of Nursing Operations at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, a role she has held since June 2015. Karen has a long history of professional advancement at MedStar Health. She began her career in 2000 at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center as an Emergency Department Staff Nurse. In 2006, she joined MedStar Washington Hospital Center as the Assistant Director of Emergency Services. At MedStar Southern Maryland, she was named the Director of Telemetry/Cardiac Unit in 2012 and promoted to s Senior Director of Nursing in 2015.
Karen earned both her BSN and her Master’s in Health Care Administration from Towson University and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of New Hampshire.
Karen Elliott, DNP, MHA, RN, NEA-BC