Natasha Crain, MSN RN CCRN CESA

Natasha earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Nursing Leadership and Administration in 2023 and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Executive Leadership at the University of Kentucky. With 11 years of nursing experience, she has spent the past seven years in the Cardiovascular ICU at UK Healthcare. Starting as a staff ICU nurse, she later advanced to the role of ECMO Specialist, and in January 2023, she became the ECMO Operations Manager. In this role, she oversees the quality and safety of ECMO patient care, manages departmental resources and efficiency, provides ECLS education to staff both on-site at UK Healthcare and off-site to regional partners, facilitates monthly ECLS Steering Committee meetings, and leads preparations for the triannual ELSO Center of Excellence certification. Throughout her career, Natasha's dedication to nursing has been recognized with numerous honors, including being named Nurse of the Year in her department at CHI St. Joseph Main in 2017, DAISY Award nominations, and a nomination for the MJ Dickson Quality Nursing Award. In her current role, she continues her commitment to quality care through research and quality improvement initiatives in the MCS department. Over the past year, she has presented conference abstracts showcasing the accomplishments of their high-volume ECLS program, recognized by ELSO as a Gold Center of Excellence. Most recently, she was acknowledged as a top abstract presenter at the SEECMO Conference, hosted by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where she presented on “Efficiency in Action: Dressing Change Policies Tailored for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Patients, Enhancing Quality Care and Cost Management.”