Ms. Kimberly Merritt is a Joint Commission nurse consultant with The Mihalik Group, LLC.  With more than thirty eight years of experience in all levels of health care, her expertise includes nursing, administration, and quality assurance.  Ms. Merritt’s has been assisting with TJC consulting variety of health care organizations including private, VA and DoD facilities, her experience includes assisting hospitals, long term care, home health agencies, behavioral health, and ambulatory care organizations.

 

Ms. Merritt’s served in the military for over 15 years in various positions. In her last assignment she served at the Travis Airforce Base as a Flight Commander (Director OR Services). Some of the responsibilities included: administrative/operational oversight for flight of > 80 personnel (GS, VA, contract and active duty); interim chief nurse/Medical Operations (MDOS) commander during incumbent’s absence; led Operating Room, Sterile Processing and Distribution, and Cardiovascular OR w/ combined supply budget of $5.9M/equipment >$3M.  Her former position of Staff Nurse/Surgical Services Element Chief/Interim Flight Commander (Nurse Manager) at Langley Airforce Base included: leading operating room element w/13 officers/civilians & 27 enlisted members; maintaining standards/staffing according to local /national guidelines & patient safety goals; sustaining metrics and data overview for 2.4K cases and 9 surgical specialties; POC for surgical optimization project/OR informatics; flight commander/infection control resource for largest facility in AOR; 7 services/257 procedures per month.

 

She also served at Seymour Johnson Airforce Base as a Nurse Manager/Flight Commander/ Deputy Squadron Commander, where she led two primary care elements with 7 providers, > 21K patient (pt.) visits &10.8 K immunizations/yr; oversaw records sections with >13K charts; supervised 51 staff members; set staffing requirements, clinic policies; evaluated work performance; review of provider coding and documentation utilizing Milliman Criteria; Created/reviewed7 PCM/support staff schedules; sustained visit access over 90%; authored support staff protocols/developed operational plans for health/disease management and screenings.  At Elmendorf Airforce Base, Ms. Merritt served as a Clinical Nurse/Operations Officer (Charge Nurse), she coordinated day-to-day scheduling of 7-room surgical suite supporting 8 surgical specialties/20surgeons/3K annual procedures; supervised over 20 staff members; assumed responsibilities of Infection Control Officer & Element chief during incumbent’s deployment/absence.

 

Ms. Merritt received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina.  She received her Master’s in Healthcare Administration, from Seton Hall University, in New Jersey.  She is holding a Certificate in Legal Nurse Consulting from Duke University, North Carolina, Healthcare Accreditation Certification Program through the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality and Certified Nurse Operation Room Emeritus. Her professional affiliations include: Member of the Association of perioperative Registered Nurses, Member of the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality, Member of the Association for Professional in Infection Control.