Nurse, U.S. Air Force general serves as leader, mentor and thermostat during crisis

Facing national supply shortages as the first wave of COVID-19 hit Colorado, UCHealth leaders turned to a research nurse scientist whose service and accomplishments are unmatched: U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Kathleen Flarity.

“They looked to Kathleen for leadership, advice and insight. Not a lot of people have experienced things of this magnitude, for what COVID-19 turned out to be,” said Sara Stowell, special projects manager with UCHealth and captain with the U.S. Army Reserve.

With Flarity’s collaborative guidance and nursing research background, Stowell, Chris Olson – infection preventionist and emergency preparedness program manager with UCHealth Highlands Ranch Hospital – and team swiftly developed a plan using ultraviolet light to sanitize N95 masks across all UCHealth hospitals, extending the use of the PPE essential to caring for COVID-19 patients. The efforts helped to keep infection rates among UCHealth staff below those of the general public in spring 2020.

“Everybody worked tirelessly to ensure the staff at the bedside had what they needed,” said Flarity, who holds doctorates in both education and nursing practice. “I have worked a lot of different command centers for various types of incidents, and I was continually impressed with UCHealth system leadership and command centers. They stood up swiftly and were very proactive in execution and decision-making to protect our staff and patients.”

When she was 17, Flarity was accepted to nursing school but couldn’t afford it. With her parents’ permission, she joined the U.S. Army and served as a combat medic. Her military career now spans 40 years, including service with both the Army and Air Force.

She regularly travels to Illinois, where she serves as deputy command surgeon with Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base. Flarity has served on deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Most recently, she was the aeromedical evacuation commander in Bagram, Afghanistan, where she was responsible for all aeromedical and critical care transport teams, providing en route care for over 3,500 patients.

A UCHealth nurse for over 10 years, Flarity helped UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central achieve its Level 1 trauma designation and led research into compassion fatigue and resiliency, among many other topics.

She served on COVID-19 task forces for both UCHealth and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. With UCHealth, she continued treating hospital patients in emergency and inpatient units while also helping develop plans to 3D print supplies such as masks and ventilator parts (3D printing, the construction of three-dimensional objects using digital models, is increasingly used to make medical supplies and equipment). With the state, she supported research into care facilities.

Flarity enjoys mentoring clinicians of all experience levels. Stowell said she inspires her to be a better leader in a male-dominated military environment, that she puts people first and is especially supportive amid tense crisis situations – with her presence providing reassurance during conference calls amid the pandemic.

“There’s this phrase I hear circulating: Be the thermostat,” Stowell said. “Kathleen is 100% the thermostat. I felt like the best version of myself because she was on the call and just keeping an even temperature.”

For the past several years, Flarity researched and presented her work on caregiver resiliency to newly-graduated nurses. The goal of compassion fatigue research is to develop healthy caregivers who, after exposure to highly-demanding and traumatic experiences, are able to master the practice of real-time resiliency and return quickly to high-functioning behaviors.

Those new graduates, participants in the year-long UCHealth Nurse Residency Program, frequently describe Flarity’s presentations as extremely valuable.

“She uses examples from her military experience to really drive home the message that nurses are constantly exposed to traumatic events and needing to develop techniques to build resiliency in order to carry out a fulfilling career in health care,” said JoAnn Delmonte, vice president of professional development and practice, adding that this is “especially poignant right now” as nurses care for COVID-19 patients.

Flarity said it’s important that nurses learn resiliency techniques early in their careers.

“Nurses perform some of the most valuable and challenging mental and emotional work in our society. Healing, satisfaction, and resilience are possible and within reach of any nurse. I want them to have the same energy and passion that I still have.”

Learn more about Brig. Gen. Kathleen Flarity on UCHealth evrē, the self-care podcast for women. In Episode 8: Believe and Achieve, Flarity shares advice on goal-setting, resilience and achieving personal and professional success.