Karen Daley is an American nurse, past president of the

American Nurses Association The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is ba ...

, former director of the

American Nurses Credentialing Center The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA), is a certification body for nursing board certification and the largest certification body for advanced practice registered nurses in the U ...

and an advocate for the prevention of

needlestick injury A needlestick injury is the penetration of the skin by a hypodermic needle or other sharp object that has been in contact with blood, tissue or other body fluids before the exposure. Even though the acute physiological effects of a needlestick i ...

in healthcare. Daley, a former emergency room nurse, sits on the boards of trustees for several organizations.

Biography

Daley was born and raised in Massachusetts. She worked as an emergency room nurse for many years until sustaining a needlestick injury on the job in 1998 while working at

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts Gener ...

. Daley had drawn blood from a patient and when she disposed of the needle in a

sharps container Sharps may refer to: * Plural form of many of the terms as defined on Sharp (disambiguation) * Sharps waste, a form of biomedical waste composed of used ''sharps'' * Sharps, Virginia, unincorporated community in Richmond County * Sharps Bedrooms * ...

, she was stuck by another needle that was wedged in the container. A few months later, Daley tested positive for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

. Daley encouraged the passage of a bill at the

Massachusetts state legislature The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

that required hospitals to report needlestick injuries to the

Massachusetts Department of Public Health The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with various responsibilities related to public health within that state. It is headquartered in Boston and headed by Commissioner Monica B ...

. For Daley's work in needlestick injury prevention, she was named a Fellow of the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in 1 ...

in 2006. Daley has served as director of the

and as president of the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses (MARN) and the Massachusetts Center for Nursing. In 2010 and 2012, she was elected to two-year terms as president of the

, where she had previously served on the board of directors. She is on the board of trustees for the

Dana Farber Cancer Institute Dana may refer to: People Given name * Dana (given name) Surname * Dana (surname) * Dana family of Cambridge, Massachusetts ** James Dwight Dana (1813–1895), scientist, zoological author abbreviation Dana Nickname or stage name * Dana ...

, the American Nurses Foundation, The International Safety Center and the Barnstable Land Trust. In 2013, she was named to the ''

Modern Healthcare ''Modern Healthcare'' is a twice monthly business publication targeting executives in the healthcare industry. It is an independent American publisher of national and regional healthcare news. The publication is also known for providing statistic ...

'' Top 25 Women in Healthcare for 2013. Daley holds a nursing diploma from Catherine Laboure School of Nursing and an undergraduate degree from

Curry College Curry College is a private college in Milton, Massachusetts. It was founded as the School of Elocution and Expression by Anna Baright in 1879. In 1885, it was taken over and renamed by Samuel Silas Curry. History Curry College was founded in 1 ...

. She earned master's degrees from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and

Boston University School of Public Health Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1976, the School offers master's- and doctoral-level programs in public health. It is located in the heart of Boston University's Me ...

as well as a Ph.D. from Boston College. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from

Rivier University Rivier University is a private Catholic liberal arts university in Nashua, New Hampshire. Rivier is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education. History Rivier Universit ...

and Curry College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, Karen Living people American nurses American women nurses Connell School of Nursing alumni Boston University School of Public Health alumni Curry College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women