Tribune staff reports

A clinical research educator at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour recently received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Faculty from the Indiana University School of Nursing.

Karen Werskey, MSN, RN, CNOR, was nominated by Bethany Murray, full-time faculty at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus.

The DAISY faculty award honorees personify the remarkable impact of the school’s part-time faculty, adjunct faculty and preceptors on students and, therefore, patients, according to a news release from Schneck.

These instructors consistently demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and extraordinary compassionate care, and they are recognized as outstanding role models in our nursing community.

Werskey is the clinical resource educator and the coordinator of the simulation laboratory at Schneck.

In her 30 years as a registered nurse at the Seymour hospital, she has worked in the emergency department, the operating room and as a nurse educator.

She spent 20 years in the operating room serving in the roles of circulator, scrub nurse and unit educator.

Werskey co-authored the article “Creating a Professional Development Plan for a Simulation Consortium,” published in Clinical Simulation in Nursing.

She also serves as the chairwoman of Schneck’s Evidence Based Practice and Research Council and is a member of the Regional Medical Internal Review Board for both Schneck and Columbus Regional Health, Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses, Southeastern Indiana Simulation Consortium and Indiana State Nurses Association.

Werskey received her associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing from Indiana State University and her master’s degree in nursing leadership from the University of Southern Indiana.