YOUR YEAR
IS WHAT YOU
MAKE IT
AMBER KERR, BSN, RN, CPN
Clinical Level IV, Caritas Coach
A nurse who has spent more than half
her career at Children’s Colorado — 11 of
her 17 years, to be exact — Amber Kerr’s
passion for kids is evident. She’s worked
in a variety of the hospital’s programs,
including the medical / surgical unit
and outpatient oncology, but in 2016 she
accepted a position more personal to her
than all her others. Amber has a cleft lip.
And the position she accepted was a Cleft
Team nurse for southern Colorado.
Soon after accepting the position, Amber met Shandra
Kight, a Cleft Team nurse for Anschutz who also happened
to have a cleft lip. It was the first time Amber had met a peer
who shared her condition, and that gave her an idea: launch
a sustainable community outreach program for patients
with clefts in the southern Colorado region. It could help
strengthen those patients’ resiliency skills as they navigate
through the many challenges that come with having a
having a cleft lip.
Amber began her outreach work by organizing the first
annual cleft family picnic. With over 200 attendees, it was
a huge success. Since then, she’s organized two additional
picnics, is looking forward to another in June 2020, and
hopes to organize many more beyond that.
12
People