She has received awards related to her work as a Federally-certified Health Facility Surveyor and Kansas Risk Management Specialist with numerous organization and associations
BUCKEYE, AZ, July 31, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Lynn Marie Searles with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplishment listee, Ms. Searles celebrates many years' experience in her professional nursing network. She has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individual profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility and prominence in a field are all taken in account during the selection process.
Ms. Searles was the Kansas Risk Management Specialist (a Kansas mandated position) for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers and the Kansas OASIS (patient assessment tool) Education Coordinator (a United States government mandated position for Federally certified United States home health agencies, from 2004 until her retirement from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in 2011. Responsibilities for these positions included monitoring compliance survey practice, education and consultation for Kansas Health Facility staff and hospital, Ambulatory Surgery Center, and Home Health Agency staff involved in activities related to Risk Management and/or OASIS assessments.
During a High School class project her sophomore year, Ms. Searles was intrigued by the passion displayed when she interviewed the school nurse. She conducted further research of a possible nursing career by volunteering as a Candy Striper at Labette County Medicxal Center and worked as a nurse aide at Good Samaritan Home, both in Parsons, Kansas. Staff at both facilities afforded Ms. Searles numerous learning opportunities. As a Candy Striper, she completed a rotation in Surgery/Recovery Room and the Laboratory.
Ms. Searles earned an Associate's Degree in Fine Arts in 1969 from Labette Community Junior College (now Labette Community College) in Parsons, Kansas. As a first graduating class student of the third Associate Degree Nursing program in the State of Kansas (also at Labette Community College) in 1970, she experienced advantages and disadvantages. Ms. Searles' Nursing Board results qualified her for Register Nurse Licensure in all 50 states and territories of the United States. However, Associate Degree Registered Nurses were basically "unproven" in Kansas in 1970; many Kansas health facilities did not offer jobs to these graduates.
In 1970, Ms. Searles' professional nursing career began as a charge nurse on a Medical-Surgical floor at Coffeyville Memorial Hospital (now Coffeyville Regional Medical Center) in Coffeyville, Kansas, not her training hospital. Ms. Searles continued her career as a Registered Nurse in California working as a charge nurse in Long Beach and Signal Hill, California, Convalescent Hospitals during the fall of 1970. Upon her return to Kansas in mid-1971, she resumed her Coffeyville Memorial Hospital Medical-Surgical charge nurse position and progressed to Head Nurse of the Medical-Surgical unit in 1972. In 1973, Ms. Searles held the positions of evening Assistant Director of Nursing (House Supervisor) and evening Emergency Department nurse before accepting the position of Recovery Head Nurse in 1973. When the hospital expanded services to include an Ambulatory Surgery Unit, Ms. Searles' Head Nurse position also expanded to include this unit in addition to the Recovery Room. Upon the retirement of the Surgery Department's Head Nurse, Ms. Searles' Head Nurse position once again expanded to include the entire Surgery Department with continued responsibility for the Recovery Room and the Ambulatory Surgery Unit until she relocated to Kansas in 1984. During Ms. Searles employment with Coffeyville Regional Medical Center, she developed and implemented policies and procedures for the Medical-Surgical Department, Recovery Room and Ambulatory Surgery Unit and worked with architects during the developmental phase for the construction of a new Surgery Department during hospital expansion from 1983 to 1984.
From 1984 to 1987, Ms. Searles was a Public Health Nurse for the Jefferson County Health Department, based in Oskaloosa, Kansas. Her responsibilities with the health department included Director of Family Planning, Director of the Rural Bath Aide program, Director of AIDS education, testing and counseling and a registered nurse providing care and services related to home health, multiphasic-screening clinics, hospice and school nursing for the residents of Jefferson County. Certifications included: Audiology, Well-Women physical exams, Title XIX physical exams – all ages, AIDS Testing, Education and Counseling, and School Nursing. During her employment with the Health Department, she developed and implemented policies and procedures and assisted in the establishment of the AIDS and Rural Bath Aide programs.
As a Health Facility Surveyor with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment from 1988 to 2011, Ms. Searles worked with other Health Facility Surveyors, health facility staff and medical associations and organizations statewide and nationally. She is certified by the Unitd States Government to survey the following health facilities for compliance with Federal Regulatory Requirements: Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Home Health Agencies, Hospices, Hospitals, Long Term Care Facilities and Outpatient Physical Therapy. Additionally, Ms. Searles was qualified to conduct surveys on all healthcare facilities licensed through the Medical Facility division, including specialist training in environmental requirements in addition to healthcare. As the Kansas Risk Management Specialist, she completed comprehensive Patient Safety Training provided through the Department of Veteran Administration and was the Kansas representative on multiple occasions to collaborate with representatives across the nation at meetings with the National Quality Forum and other related organizations and associations.
Mr. Searles has several published articles related to Risk Management. They are, as follows: "Reduction of Preventable Errors – A Mandate, Not an Option"; "Effective Risk Management; Putting the Patient's Safety First"; "The Triumphs and Challenges of Emergency Medicine"; "Managing Medical Technology and Other Risk Management Challenges"; "Life Happens"; "First, Do No Harm – Preventing the Avoidable": and "Effective Communication."
She has received awards related to her work as a Federally-certified Health Facility Surveyor, Kansas Risk Management Specialist and work with numerous organization and associations. Many organizations are included in Mr. Searles' roster of memberships. Some of these include the following: Jefferson County Medical Reserve Corps, the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, Association of Operating Room Nurses, Kansas Public Health Association, Kansas Department of Transportation, Heart to Heart International and Nazzarene Parish Nurses.
Ms. Searles is grateful to her family and friends and the many outstanding individuals she worked with during her five decades to healthcare. She credits her success to teamwork, the support and collaboration with family, friends, assistants, peers and superiors, and being blessed with a compassionate heart and desire to facilitate others to be their best. Ms. Searles is listed in the third edition of Who's Who Among Human Services Professionals, as well as several editions of Who's Who in American Nursing, who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in the Midwest, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.
About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
# # #