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Kathleen Pagana    

Leader in Healthcare; Author of "The Nurse's Etiquette Advantage"

Kathleen D. Pagana has been a leader in healthcare for more than 30 years, with experiences including college teaching, administration, clinical practice, business management, writing, and professional speaking. Among the 25 books she has written, she has co-authored the number one best-selling book on healthcare diagnostic and laboratory testing. This book (Mosby’s Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Reference, 9th ed) has sold more than 1 million copies and has been translated into French, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. She has written more than 75 articles and is a contributor to the second edition of Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul.

She has a BSN from the University of Maryland and a MSN from the University of Pennsylvania. She received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Nursing Research, where she focused on how individuals respond to stress. She created a research instrument that is still in use around the world today.

Her most prestigious awards include the Army Commendation Medal, a Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, and numerous accolades recognizing her articles and books. Kathy and her husband, Tim, are the proud parents of 3 daughters. Kathy enjoys swimming, yoga, golfing, weight lifting, running, and biking.

Working today as a keynote speaker and best-selling author, her presentations, seminars, and retreats help businesses and not-for-profit organizations address the challenges of leadership, life balance, and professional etiquette.

Speech Topics


Balancing Your Life by Managing Your Time: How to Use Your Time Best … Every Moment … Every Day

Today’s high achieving individuals feel increased demands on their life, both socially and professionally. They increase the risk of living an “out of balance” life, stressing their health, and making them feel overwhelmed. By being more intentional about our time, we can increase both our productivity and sense of well-being. Learn how to:

The Nurse’s Etiquette Advantage: How Professional Etiquette Can Advance Your Nursing Career

While nursing education has focused on leadership, management, and professional issues, etiquette has been the “missing link” for success in the workplace. This fun and entertaining session will prepare you to handle awkward and challenging situations that could diminish your confidence, tarnish your reputation, and derail your career aspirations.

Celebrating the Pride, Power & Passion of Nursing

This uplifting and thought–provoking program is designed to remind nurses why they chose nursing and to inspire them to face each day with passion and purpose. It will them make proud to celebrate their contributions to the profession they entered as new graduates, the profession they are working in today, and the profession they are shaping for tomorrow’s nurses.

Learn how to: - Implement strategies to enhance pride and power. - Promote a professional presence with patients and colleagues. - Re-energize your passion for nursing.

Reinvesting in Your Potential: A Game Plan for Life and Work

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.” However, believing is not enough to reach our dreams and maximize our potential. We need to be proactive and take action demonstrating the importance of investing in ourselves. We need to cross the bridge from ‘saying and thinking’ to actually ‘doing and achieving’. If you’re not for yourself, who else will be? This fun, interactive, and lively program provides the tools and techniques for building a career without sacrificing the importance of a personal life.

Learn how to:

  • Explain why you (not just coaches) need to have a game plan.
  • Determine two ways you can start reinvesting in yourself.
  • Develop a life balance plan that considers your personal and professional life.

Generating Momentum to Reach Personal and Professional Goals

Do you ever feel like your career is stuck in a rut? Perhaps you want something different but do not know what it is or how to get it. This engaging and inspirational session supports this challenge by generating professional momentum and maximizing leadership opportunities. Participants will learn how to position themselves today for the position they want tomorrow.

Learn how to:

  • Use opportunities and positioning to re-energize your career options.
  • Use etiquette as a navigational device to keep you on track by avoiding delays and blunders.
  • Utilize the power of passion to create and sustain action as you target your goals.

Momentum Leadership: Energizing Your Career with Purpose, Protocol & Passion

Today’s leaders are challenged to continually solve new problems. But they must also implement the creative solutions they conceive. By increasing and sustaining their leadership momentum, they can succeed at both. Learn how to proactively:

  • Broaden your knowledge base to help you recognize opportunities when they arise
  • Evaluate and improve your skill sets
  • Facilitate the implementation process with etiquette
  • Create positive outcomes by “failing forward” to success

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