Karen LaMartina

Karen LaMartina served as the Program Director for Associate Degree Nursing at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas until her retirement in 2023. As a 1987 graduate of the University of Kansas School of Nursing, Dr. LaMartina began her career working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. After working as a pediatric nurse for seven years, the opportunity to teach at Johnson County emerged in 1994. Over the next 18 years, she taught in the nursing program, and served on multiple program and college-wide committees. She assumed the role of Program Director in 2012.

Dr. LaMartina has been active in promoting nursing education in the Kansas City area and in the state of Kansas. Professional activities include being past-President of the Collegiate Nurse Educators of Greater Kansas City, serving two terms on the Education Committee at the Kansas State Board of Nursing, and currently serving as President of the Kansas Council for Associate Degree Nursing. She serves on multiple local, regional, and national advisory boards.

Dr. LaMartina was instrumental in the development of a unique partnership with the University of Kansas wherein Associate Degree Nursing students can be dually enrolled in baccalaureate coursework, thus earning both the ADN and the BSN concurrently. Dr. LaMartina is currently serving as a Board Director for the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. Dr. LaMartina earned her Baccalaureate in Nursing from the University of Kansas, her Master’s in Nursing and PhD in Nursing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

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