Kathleen M Kerstetter, APN

Kathy Kerstetter’s motto has always been to be happy in her work— it’s the reason she walked away from a prestigious position as a hospital CEO to go back to patient care. Kathy spent nearly her entire nursing career of three decades at AtlantiCare, mostly in the Trauma Center. She left to take a position at Acuity Specialty Hospital of New Jersey, specializing in long-term care for critically ill and medically complex patients. At first, she remained on the front lines of patient care, but with her natural abilities and leadership skills, she rose to the level of chief executive.
\nAlthough flattered by the opportunity, she missed patient care dearly and recently joined AtlantiCare Primary Care Plus as a nurse practitioner. She is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She started at AtlantiCare as a primary care technician at the Atlantic City campus. She didn’t know she was destined for nursing until that moment. But she’s never looked back. She did her early training at Helene Fuld School of Nursing and Camden County College. She earned her bachelor’s and her master’s at Thomas Jefferson University.
\n“AtlantiCare feels like home. I have never worked in a place where I felt more like I belong. I am very excited to be back,” she says. She is looking forward to being an advocate for a whole new population of patients. “In trauma, we are focused on the most immediate needs caused by a severe injury. But in primary care, I’ll have the chance to treat the whole patient and really be an advocate for health,” she says.

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