Karen Mack is executive director of the Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) program at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, a 350-member organization whose mission is to create age-friendly healthcare services for older adults. NICHE is an award-winning nursing practice model that positions nurses to lead substantive changes in the design and delivery of nursing care to older adults to improve clinical outcomes, reduce the cost of care, and meet national quality goals. As the executive director of NICHE, Mack oversees the growth and implementation of the NICHE practice model to improve health outcomes for older adults in care delivery settings, including hospitals and long-term care.
Mack joined NICHE leadership at NYU Meyers as director of programs in 2022. Before joining the NICHE program office, she led NICHE implementation at MedStar Health, a ten-hospital system in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., region, for a decade. Under her leadership, the health system achieved advanced NICHE member recognition of Exemplar or Senior Friendly at all MedStar Health hospitals. She also contributed to the work of the NICHE program through her presentations at NICHE Conferences and in reviewing NICHE materials.