Nursing at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President, Nursing  

Karen Wyche Latham, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, is the Vice President, Nursing, and Chief Nursing Officer for MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. 

Karen came to MedStar Southern Maryland from MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where she served as the Senior Nursing Director for Resource Management. In this role, she was responsible for all Nursing Office operations, supplemental staffing and oversaw the RN, unit clerk and patient care technician float pools. Additionally, in 2015, Karen helped design the Biocontainment Unit, in response to worldwide concern about Ebola patients.

Karen, who is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, spent a portion of her career at the renowned Cleveland Clinic before relocating to the Washington, D.C. area and beginning her career at MedStar Washington as a medical surgical nurse in 1995. Her experience includes perioperative services, Nursing Supervisor and Nursing Director of Capacity Management. In 2016, she was awarded a Nurse Manager Fellowship by the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) and the Leader of the Quarter Award from the MedStar Washington Hospital Center Board of Directors.

Karen received her BSN from the University of Toledo, her MSN from George Mason University, and her DNP from George Washington University. She is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives and Sigma Theta Tau International, Honor Society of Nursing.

Senior Director of Nursing Operations

Sunita A. Waddell, DNP, MSN, RN, is the Senior Director of Nursing Operations for MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. In this role, she serves as a nursing leader for the critical care units, inpatient medical units, and the behavioral health unit. She has direct oversight of the nursing critical care units. Prior to returning to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Dr. Waddell served as the Director of Nursing Resources at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, with direct oversight of the nursing staffing office, bed management, patient care supervisors, and the float pool.

Dr. Waddell’s primary background in emergency and trauma care led her to serve in director roles in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Florida. While serving active duty in the United States Air Force (USAF), she earned an Associate of Science degree in nursing from Prince George’s Community College. She later earned a Master of Science in Nursing, with a concentration in Nursing Informatics, from Walden University. Waddell returned to Walden University and obtained the Doctor of Nursing (DNP) in 2018.

Dr. Waddell is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), Maryland Organization of Nurse Leaders (MONL), Maryland Nurses Association (MNA), Sigma Theta Tau, The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), and the Golden Key Honor Society. Dr. Waddell is also a member of the Maryland Emergency Response Team.

Lisa T. Hawksworth, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, joined MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center as the Senior Director of Nursing Excellence & Resource Management in December 2022. Lisa started her nursing career in 1993 at Washington Adventist Hospital on a medical-surgical floor. She joined MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in February 1994 as part of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program. She advanced to Clinical Manager and Nursing Director roles over her 15-year tenure at MWHC. She has also served as Administrative Director of Critical Care Services at Mary Washington Hospital and then Corporate Director of Cardiovascular Services for Mary Washington Healthcare over her 4-year tenure. Prior to returning to MedStar, Lisa was the Senior Director of Nursing Operations at Inova Alexandria Hospital for 9 years.

Lisa is a second-degree nurse and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology-Psychology from Wells College in 1989, her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from The Catholic University of America in 1993 and her Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from George Mason University in 2005. She completed her PhD in Nursing at George Mason University in 2023. She is board certified from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Nurse Executive, Advanced.

Lisa is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the Maryland Nurses Association (MNA), and the Virginia Nurses Association (VNA); the American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL), Maryland Organization for Nursing Leadership (MONL) and Virginia Organization for Nursing Leadership (VONL). She is the current treasurer of Sigma Theta Tau International, Epsilon Zeta Chapter, and has served on the Chapter Board in various roles. 

Kristin Quade, MSN, RN, CNML advanced to the Senior Nurse Director of Operations in 2022. Prior to that Kristin served as the Director of Emergency Services since 2018. Kristin started her leadership path as Assistant Director of Emergency Services in 2017 and a staff RN since 2008 at MSMHC. Ms. Quade serves as the Co-Chair of the Medstar Health ED Nurse Leaders Committee.

She earned her Master's in Nursing Leadership in 2020 from Western Governor’s University. Kristin obtained her Associate Degree in Nursing from the College of Southern Maryland in 2008 and her BSN from University of Maryland University College. Ms. Quade obtained national certification as Certified Nurse Manager and Leader through the American Organization for Nursing Leadership in 2022. Ms. Quade is a member of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), the American Organization of Nurse Leadership (AONL).

Ms. Quade received the MSMHC Director of the Year award in 2021.

Director of Nursing Practice and Innovation Pathway to Excellence Coordinator

Jennifer F. Bierbaum, DNP, APRN-CNS, AGCNS-BC, GERO-BC, is the director of Nursing Practice & Innovation at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. She joined MedStar Health in 2018 as a clinical nurse specialist for MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center and Medstar St. Mary’s Hospital with the responsibility of bringing the systemwide practice changes to the entity level. She also serves as the MedStar Health Nurses Improving Care for HealthSystem Elders (NICHE) program practice lead. In addition to these roles, she is also the Pathway to Excellence Coordinator for MSMHC.

Dr. Bierbaum graduated from Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska with an Associate Degree in Nursing and later attended the University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Nursing where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse certification as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees. In addition, Dr. Bierbaum attended the Wharton Nursing Leaders Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

She is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the Maryland Nurses Association (MNA) and on the board of Directors for District 9. Dr. Bierbaum is also a member on the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialist (NACNS) and a part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. She is a member of American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) and Sigma Theta Tau, Gamma Pi Chapter.

Director of Nursing Informatics

In November 2020, Sarah joined MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center as the Director of Clinical Nursing Informatics. Her efforts have been focused on working with IT regarding optimizing devices and infrastructure, improving the onboarding and provisioning process for new hires, and supporting the implementation of several projects, both local and enterprise.

Sarah obtained her BSN in 2013 and MSN in Nursing Education in 2014 from Western Governors University. Her post-graduate certificate in Healthcare Informatics from University of Illinois – Chicago was received in 2015. She worked as a consultant for six years across North America supporting implementation, training, project management, analytics, and build efforts. Sarah became Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) of Central Maine Healthcare in 2019.

Sarah is a certified nurse informaticist through the ANCC and has been working with nurse.com since 2011 to present the regular course for ANCC nursing informatics certification. In addition to managing the discussion board, she teaches about data management and healthcare technology, system design life cycle, and exam strategies.

Nursing Director PeriOperative Services

Deborah A. Walker, RN, BSN, MHA, returned to MedStar at our Southern Maryland Hospital Center location as the Director of Perioperative Services in June 2017. Ms. Walker had previously worked for over 17 years in varied roles in the Operating Room at Medstar Washington Hospital Center. Prior to rejoining Medstar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Ms. Walker served in Director roles within Perioperative Services in both hospital and Ambulatory Surgery settings around the Metropolitan Area.

She earned her Master of Healthcare Administration from Warren University in 2009. In addition to her clinical and administrative roles, Ms. Walker is a member of the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN), and with the Howard University Nurses Alumni.

Ms. Walker is also a member of both Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Howard University Alumni Association and the Prince Georges County Alumni Chapter of Howard University.

Nursing Director, 2 South

Robin Stinnie was officially named the nursing director of 2 South in July 2023.

Robin holds a Master of Science degree in nursing, emphasis in leadership in health care systems from Grand Canyon University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Robin has progressed in her nursing career for the last 22 years at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, to include the role of interim nursing director, 2 South since April 2023. Prior to this, Robin served in the role of assistant nursing director on 2 South for 11 years.