Karen Fernandes R.N., CPHQ

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Karen Fernandes is a distinguished healthcare professional with a 55-year career spanning bedside nursing, executive leadership, and national healthcare consulting. She is the CEO of AYR Consulting Group, founded in 2004, which provides hospitals across the United States with guidance on Joint Commission accreditation, CMS Medicare Conditions of Participation, compliance, and patient safety. Karen’s clinical foundation includes Emergency, Labor & Delivery, and Medical/Surgical nursing, and she advanced into leadership roles such as Nursing Supervisor, Chief Nursing Officer, and Director of Quality Management, including positions at Tenet Health System and the Daughters of Charity National Health System (Ascension).

Karen is also the Administrator of the DES Info Association since 2011, an advocacy and educational organization supporting individuals exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES). Her volunteer and professional work in this area reflects her belief in the association’s motto: “Knowledge is Power.” She has worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the CDC on DES-related coding and guidance and has been active in DES advocacy since the late 1980s. Her professional philosophy centers on quality, patient safety, honesty, and integrity, combining clinical expertise with a lifelong commitment to advocacy and education.

Throughout her career, Karen has contributed extensively to healthcare quality leadership and policy. She has served on the Joint Commission’s Professional Technical Advisory Committee for Hospitals, the Hospital Advisory Committee, and Nursing Advisory Council, and remains active in national workgroups and initiatives focused on patient safety and performance evaluation. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Beyond her professional contributions, Karen engages in community service through the North Texas Nurse Honor Guard, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Society of First Families of Quebec, blending healthcare excellence with volunteerism and heritage preservation.

• Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)

• Association for Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)
• DES Info Association (Administrator)
• ASHRM

• Small Paws Rescue
• Bichon Frise Club of Dallas
• North Texas Nurse Honor Guard