Kurin Sponsored Webinar: Breaking Down Silos: A Collaborative Approach to Blood Culture Contamination Reduction
Includes a Live Web Event on 11/12/2026 at 11:00 AM (PST)
Webinar Description:
Reducing blood culture contamination isn’t the responsibility of a single department; it takes collaboration across the organization. In this sponsored panel discussion, leaders from emergency nursing education, sepsis program management and quality, and infection prevention will share their real-world experiences working together to improve blood culture quality and drive sustainable change. Panelists will discuss their approaches to reducing blood culture contamination, the role of cross-functional leadership and accountability, and how their partnership with Kurin has supported sustained improvements and financial savings. Attendees will leave with practical strategies they can apply within their own organizations as they work toward blood culture contamination rates below 1%.
No CE credits are offered for this sponsored webinar. Content was determined by the sponsor.
Webinar Sponsor:
Sepsis Alliance gratefully acknowledges the support provided by Kurin, Inc. for this sponsored webinar.
Heidi Gilbert, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, SANE-A
Emergency Department Clinical Educator and SANE Program Coordinator
Stillwater Medical Center
Heidi Gilbert, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, SANE-A, is an emergency nursing leader with more than 25 years of clinical experience spanning emergency care, trauma, forensic nursing, and nursing education. She currently serves as Emergency Department Clinical Educator and SANE Program Coordinator at Stillwater Medical Center and is in her third year on the Emergency Nurses Association Board of Directors. A certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Heidi is passionate about advancing emergency nursing, rural healthcare, and trauma-informed care through education, advocacy, and clinical leadership.
Robbie Mae Lopez, RN, BSN, CIC, CPHQ
Infection Prevention Manager
Sutter Health
Robbie Mae Lopez, RN, BSN, CIC, CPHQ, is a healthcare quality and infection prevention leader with more than 20 years of experience in acute care, patient safety, regulatory compliance, and healthcare epidemiology. Board-certified in Infection Prevention and Control and Healthcare Quality, she specializes in healthcare-associated infection reduction, outbreak response, accreditation readiness, and performance improvement. Robbie has successfully partnered with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to implement evidence-based solutions that improve patient outcomes, strengthen regulatory compliance, and advance cultures of safety.
Gigi Guan, MSN, RN, PHN, CEN, TCRN, CPEN
Clinical Effectiveness Consultant III
Sutter Health
Gigi Guan, MSN, RN, PHN, CEN, TCRN, CPEN, is a quality improvement leader with 13+ years of nursing and healthcare leadership experience driving multidisciplinary performance improvement initiatives across acute care. Her expertise includes patient safety, clinical quality, evidence-based practice implementation, workflow redesign, performance measurement, and change leadership. She has proven success partnering with physicians, nursing leaders, multidisciplinary teams, and executive leadership to improve patient outcomes, CMS core measures, organizational quality metrics, and operational performance through data-driven decision-making and collaboration.
Abby Norfleet (Moderator)
Executive VP of Sales
Kurin, Inc.
Abby Norfleet is an accomplished healthcare executive with nearly two decades of experience spanning critical care nursing, clinical education, consulting, and strategic leadership. Her career combines frontline clinical expertise with executive sales leadership focused on improving patient outcomes and strategic growth across health systems. Abby began her career as a critical care nurse in a nationally recognized Level I trauma center, an experience that continues to inform her outcomes-driven leadership approach. Prior to joining Kurin, Abby served in leadership roles at 3M Corporation following its acquisition of Ivera Medical Corporation, where she was instrumental in driving clinical integration initiatives and sustaining customer outcomes nationally. She later led the 3M Clinical Outcomes Team before advancing to Strategic Solutions Director, leading partnerships with large integrated delivery networks (IDNs) to develop enterprise-level clinical and operational solutions. As EVP of Sales at Kurin, Abby leads commercial growth initiatives while partnering with health systems to improve patient safety, clinical outcomes, and economic performance.