On-Demand Webinars

Joelle Fathi is an Adult Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist who has dedicated the majority of her clinical career to oncology, including integral roles in thoracic surgery, pulmonary medicine, and lung cancer screening. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics at the University of Washington School of Nursing, has spent over 20 years providing direct patient care, and serves at local, national, and global levels as an expert and advocate in tobacco control.

Dr. Fathi is committed to preventing cancer and chronic disease while optimizing health outcomes through comprehensive patient education and innovation through technology. She has served as the Program Director of telehealth clinics, Director of Nursing Practice and Health Policy for the Washington State Nurses Association and is a member of the Washington State Telehealth Collaborative. Dr. Fathi is the lead or co-author of numerous publications including, Nurses Advancing Telehealth Services in the Era of Healthcare Reform.

Rachel Stevenson, joined the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in June 2018 as the Director of Government Affairs. Rachel leads the Association’s daily advocacy efforts and works closely with Members of Congress, their staff, coalitions, and AACN membership to advance health and health care through a nursing lens. Rachel compliments these efforts as the Executive Director of the Nursing Community Coalition, which is convened by AACN. The Nursing Community Coalition is a 63-member organization that is a cross section of nursing education, practice, research, and regulation.

Prior to her arrival Rachel spent eight years as a Legislative Director and Senior Legislative Assistant at Polsinelli and Wheat Government Relations, respectively. In those roles, she provided critical advice and advocacy on behalf of a wide-array of health care clients, including AACN.

Dr. Harriet A. Fields doctoral and master’s degrees are from her beloved graduate school Teachers College, Columbia University. Ed.D. Community Health Education and Nursing Education; Ed.M. Public Health Nursing Education. She has also served on Teachers College, Columbia University Alumni Council. While in graduate school at Columbia, she was research assistant to anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead at the Museum of Natural History in New York. Dr. Fields is also a former RN member of the District of Columbia Board of Nursing and long-term care expert for the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program in Nursing.

As a nurse educator based in Washington, DC, with an expertise in health care policy and professional nursing’s leadership role in humane health care reform, she teaches Health Care Policy online to graduate students throughout the country for Simmons University in Boston.

Since 2012, Dr. Fields has worked in Rwanda for Empowerment of Women in Health. Now partnering with a local NGO in Kigali, she is Project Director for “Grassroots Empowerment of Women as Gatekeepers of the Health of the Community”. A visionary program through Train the Trainer programs for Community Health Workers and Nurses in Rwanda that meets WHO and UN Sustainable Development Goals 2020 for Women Empowered Good Health and Well Being.

For more information see www.drharrietfields.com.

Barbara has been an RN for 48 years, acquiring an ADN, BSN, and MSN over the years. Barbara teaches Community Health, Nursing Leadership and Health Assessment at the University level in addition to her duties as the Clinical Director of Salvera Medical Cannabis Dispensary in Bowie Maryland. In this role she conducts clinical conversations and assessments with each new patient that comes to the dispensary. The facility is a very medical model and each patient is given the opportunity to work with Barbara and her staff to determine the correct medicine for their symptoms or diseases. Currently Barbara is pursuing her Doctorate in Health Administration and Leadership with a focus on cannabis research and the dispensary experience. Education remains a top priority, teaching medical professionals, patients and caregivers what is available, what works, how to access, and how to use cannabis and cannabinoid products. Under Barbara’s leadership there is ongoing research with our cannabis patients looking at their experiences and how cannabis works to alleviate symptoms. There is a goal to contribute to the body of knowledge that is building on what we know about using cannabis as an alternative/adjunct to traditional treatments and medications. For instance, the dispensary has many patients that are treating their chronic pain with opioids and are desperate to discontinue them. The introduction of cannabis into their regimen has been highly successful for these patients. The possibilities are endless and yet the education is lacking. This is Barbara’s mission!

Dr. Leaver comes to AACN with a distinct and diversified background including excellence in nursing education, administration, research and practice, and advanced practice, aimed to lead improvement in healthcare outcomes for individual, family, and community. She has demonstrated success as a nurse scientist with Manet Recognition, diversity in nursing research design, grant funding, and both on-ground and onsite implementation of innovative technology in nursing education. She also has remarkable success impacting the intersection of integrative healthcare, cultural competency, and technology applied to optimize potential of nursing education, practice, research, and administration.

Alexa Tehansky has a Master’s of Science degree in Information Technology and Program Management from the University of Maryland, University College. Alexa started working for AACN in October 2008 under grant program New Careers in Nursing (NCIN). NCIN was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) with a focus on promoting diversity in accelerated nursing programs by developing pipeline initiatives, mentoring, professional development and leadership opportunities. Alexa’s work administering the grant and facilitating operations for the scholars helped many future nurses by providing several years of funding via scholarships to more than 3,500 students at 130 nursing schools.

In January 2017, Alexa transitioned to a new role at AACN to work on a wide range of faculty initiatives to increase engagement through the development of leadership programs, producing Webinars, launching AACN Connect - a collaboration community/discussion forum, maintaining education modules, assisting with several awards, and coordinating the redevelopment and launch of the AACN Leads portfolio of programs