Dawn Berthiaume RN, MSN, MBA, CNOR, CRCST

Dawn Berthiaume is an Adjunct Faculty at Southwestern College, as an instructor in their Central Service Technician Certificate Program. She was the Chief of the Sterile Processing Service at the VA in San Diego Healthcare System for almost 18 years. Prior to this role she worked as an Operating Room Nurse. Ms. Berthiaume has been an active member of AORN of San Diego and has served AORN on many committees and as a leader in the Sterile Processing Specialty Assembly. Ms. Berthiaume understood that others helped her grow as a nurse and that she needed to help others to learn and grow. She has mentored others into leadership roles creating a succession plan as staff turned over. One of her most fulfilling opportunities occurred when she mentored a perioperative nurse pursuing her doctorate of Nursing Practice. Their relationship began by guiding her mentee to “find” and develop her research question for a successful project. Ms. Berthiaume believes that a mentor is someone that encourages the mentee and is the sounding board for idea discussion and brainstorming. A mentor guides the mentee to develop their passion for personal and professional growth. As a mentor, Dawn Berthiaume finds that her own passion as a nurse is continuously renewed.