This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are having a conversation about an educational opportunity for nurses and the perils of working in agriculture. We’re having that conversation with Cheri Fast and Charlotte Halverson, who are Registered Nurses with AgriSafe.
“The potential for danger is so great in farming and ranching and is so overlooked”
-Cheri Fast, RN
Cheri has a diverse healthcare background. She played a pivotal role in the development of a Home Health Infection Prevention Toolkit and has served on the Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) technical expert panel to provide feedback on the Recognizing and Reporting Changes in Skin Conditions Home Health Aide Course developed in response to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare (CMS) Conditions of Participation.
She serves as a certified intensive case manager and has worked with patients, families, and physicians to coordinate care and teach on disease processes along with other quality improvement efforts. As the education coordinator, she implemented a wound department and coordinated a variety of patient and staff education programs.
Beyond her Bachelors of Science in Nursing, she is a Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurse (WOCN), certified case manager and master trainer for Better Choices, Better Health Chronic Disease Self-Management, and Diabetes Self-Management programs. She most recently completed the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar program and has been selected to represent South Dakota as an Agrisafe Total Farmer Health Coach.
Charlotte serves as the Clinical Director for AgriSafe. Prior to this role, she worked for several years in hospital acute care settings and community education. During those years, Charlotte developed and managed a Rural Outreach Health service and a Parish Health Ministry department serving nine counties in northeast Iowa. A charter graduate of the University of IA agricultural occupational medicine course, she served as the agricultural occupational health services manager for the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety. Her primary role with AgriSafe involves development and dissemination of educational programs for health care professionals, agricultural businesses, and educators.
To learn more about the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar Program, use this link: https://learning.