UAOHN Leadership

Karin Kolbus RN, COHN-S, CCM--President

Karin has been certified as an Occupational Health Nurse since 2001. She has worked as an OHN for Kennecott Copper, an OHN and case manager for Delta Airlines, and PacifiCorp. She is currently the employee health nurse for medical group with Intermountain Health Care. and is working toward a DNP at the University of Utah .

Allison Ludlow, RN, BSN President-Elect

I got my BSN in 1991, started working in peds while finishing nursing school, went to the ER as a new grad (and survived) and stayed there for 10 years. Thought I might want to do flight nursing so I worked SICU at the U of U for a year, then 10 years ago I had an opportunity to go work in a steel mill as the Occupational Health Nurse for Nucor in Plymouth, Utah. Pretty drastic change going from ER/ICU to Occupational Health but I have loved it! I still maintain my Certified Emergency Nurse and EMT, am finishing my MSN and FNP in December (yeah!) from Gonzaga University, and am planning on taking the COHN and Safety Management exams this spring. I am married and have 2 kids that are in college also. In my spare time, I love to bike, ski, and be outside any other ways I can think of.

Kelsie Anderson MS RN -- Secretary
Kelsie is a recent graduate of Weber State University’s Masters of Nursing Administration program.
She has been an Occupational Health Nurse for the past 3 years for ATK. She worked her first year for Launch division. Learning this new role as an Occupational Health Nurse, she developed the strength and courage to take on a whole new chapter for a new nursing clinic at ATK Space Structures and has enjoyed her 2 years in this challenging position. Previous to this position Kelsie worked as a Nurse Manager for a little over a year on a sub-acute nursing floor in a sub acute long term care facility. Her first years of nursing were with a hospital where she enjoyed the hectic chaos of the ER and varied floors. The experience as a Nurse Manager and opening a new nursing clinic has given her the insight and problem solving skills that will benefit UAOHN as we move into the future.

Marie “Murff” Hargett, RN, COHN-S, EMT-I--Treasurer
Murff lived her whole life wanting to be a nurse until the Vet gave our duck a shot and she passed-out. Then in 1974, at the age of 23, her husband had a stroke. While at the hospital (prior to his death) the nurses helped desensitize her to needles. She left her career as a secretary and enrolled in school and graduated from SLCC with herLPN in 1976. Her only regret in life was not staying in school and getting her RN.
In 1980 she married and moved to Evanston, Wyoming where she started her Occupational career working for Amoco building a gas plant. In 1992 her arm was severely injured and was told it would be impossible to return to nursing. As a single mother and needing to find a way to support four young children, sheturned back to her previous career and went back to school an earned her bachelors degree in business. While looking for a position for her daughter, Murff found the position as an Occupational Nurse for Alcoa. Years later she went to Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe, and is currently working for Concentra at Discover Financial. While at Alcoa, she completed her training for an EMT and had the opportunity to run with the American Fork Ambulance. While working for Pacific States she finally had the opportunity to go back to school and earn her RN degree which has made it possible to finally reach my goal to become an Occupational Health Nurse-Specialist.
When not at work Murff really enjoy spending time with her 17 grandkids, her garden, multiple church activities, and remodeling her home. For the past 4 years she has been privileged to teach three programs at Mountainland Applied Technology College; Medical Assistant, Certified Nursing Assistant, and EMT.

Elaine Breitweiser RN, BSN, COHNCM -- Member @ Large
Elaine has been a member of UAOHN since 1995. She has been with URS (formally EGG) since 1998, during which time they have achieved VPP Star status, ACOEM best in practice for Case Management, ACOEM's National Health Achievement Award, and a National Safety Council awards within the last few years and the teams at URS are interested in helping others accomplish similar goals. Elain believes there are always new things to learn and it is an honor to work with other nurses.

Jennifer Clagg RN -- Member @ Large
Jennifer graduated from Sacramento State University (California) in May 2008 Magna Cum Laude with a BSN. After graduation and receiving her license, she worked briefly in the Emergency Department at Sutter Davis Hospital, but decided she wanted to seek other opportunities in nursing. In October of 2009, Jennifer began my Occupational Health career as the Occupational Health Nurse/Medical Case Manager at JBS in Hyrum, Utah. JBS is a beef-processing plant, and over the past two years, has learned a great deal about Occupational Health, Workers’ Compensation and the beef industry. She was fortunate to be able to attend the AAOHN 2011 National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia this year, and found it very beneficial to her practice. Jennifer looks forward to building relationships with fellow Occupational Health Nurses, continuing to improve her practice, and increasing her experience by serving in a professional organization.

David Allcott--Immediate Past President

David is currently Medical Services Manager for ATK Launch Systems. He is a graduate of the University of Utah with both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1998 and a Master of Science, ANP in 2002 with a specialty in occupational health. Dave has a varied career history ranging from ditch digging, bouncer/bartender, ICU Nurse and, finally, Nurse Practitioner.