A Life Changing Helicopter Crash – An Interview with Krista Haugen, Former Flight Nurse Turned Patient Safety Director

On today's riveting episode, I interview Patient Safety Director Krista Haugen, MSN, RN, CTFE about her experience surviving a helicopter crash as a former flight nurse and how this experience put her on a trajectory for patient safety. Krista has a background in ER, ICU and flight nursing. She shares her story of being in this crash on the heels of losing a crew; two nurses and a pilot only one month prior. Krista talks about how this crash impacted her well-being, the toll it took and how she sought help to get to the other side.

In her current role, Krista is a Patient Safety Director at a major medical air and ground transport organization reviewing adverse events. She is passionate about just culture and has a systems view of how mistakes are made. She speaks openly about how we need to support the clinicians who are involved in such events so they know they are not alone.

This is such an inspirational episode. Thank you for being on the show, Krista. Thank you for your message of hope and encouragement to keep going even when things are hard.

As Always, Stay Safe and Stay Sane,

Nicole