An Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Joins the Otorhinolaryngology Team
Kathryn “Katie” Lidard, MSN, APRN, AGACNP-BC, CEN, has joined the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and the medical staff of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center as an adult acute care nurse practitioner. In her new role she is involved in the medical management of complex ENT patients, including those who have undergone flaps, neck dissections, total and hemithyroidectomy, and parotidectomy. She works primarily with Ron Karni, MD, chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology; Tang Ho, MD, chief of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in the department; and Kunal Jain, MD, an assistant professor of otorhinolaryngology who focuses his practice on patients with benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck.
Lidard is the first nurse in her family. “My mother was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2003. I was 13 and felt pretty helpless watching her and wanted to be able to help,” she says. “She passed away in 2004, and afterward I found I wanted to help other people. My best friends’ mothers were nurses, and I admired them. Being a nurse felt just right.”
Lidard received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2011 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. After graduation, she served as an emergency department staff nurse at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Her experience also includes cardiovascular ICU, neurosurgery ICU, and high-acuity step-down units, including cardiovascular, neurovascular, gastrointestinal surgical, and bariatric post-operative.
From her start in nursing, Lidard aspired to advance to nurse practitioner. “During my first job as an ER nurse, I was inspired by an ICU nurse practitioner,” she says. “She was cool and collected in stressful situations, and I admired her confidence and knowledge. I wanted to care for patients, and I was also interested in the pathophysiology of disease.”
She received her Master of Science in Nursing and Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner certification at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where she was inducted into the graduate chapter of Sigma Theta Tau. After graduation, she accepted a position at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
“I enjoy forming long-term relationships with patients and their families,” Lidard says. “We have the opportunity to see them from the beginning of treatment through cancer survivorship. It’s impressive to see them learn to manage their own care efficiently and become masters of their disease.”
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