On-Demand Webinars

Speakers

Marcia B. Proto, MEd, CAS
Executive Director
Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce, Inc.

Marcia Proto enjoys a successful career in state and national association leadership, nursing education and workforce development, healthcare fundraising, and statewide coalition building. She is currently Executive Director for the Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce (CCNW) as well as the owner of Marcia Proto Consulting, LLC.

Her life’s work has involved connecting people through education and targeted skills training toward fulfilling career paths, particularly in the nursing field. In addition to her roles with the CCNW, she has held management positions at the Connecticut Hospital Association, Junior Achievement of South-East Connecticut, Flath & Associates Consulting, and the National League for Nursing.

Marcia has spent the past 25 years ensuring that the nursing workforce will meet the nation’s growing healthcare needs by contributing to and engaging in state and national workforce development activities, including the Center to Champion Nursing in America, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with AARP.

Catherine E. Johnson, PhD, RN, CNE, APHN-BC, RA, CPH
Assistant Professor in Nursing
Pacific College of Health and Sciences

Catherine (Kate) E. Johnson has been a registered nurse for 35 years and was the public health nurse in her community for 13 years (2008-2021). Dr. Johnson has taught Community/Population Health for over 8 years in traditional undergraduate and RN to BSN programs. She is certified in Advanced Public Health Nursing by the ANCC and in Public Health by the National Board of Health Examiners in 2022. In 2021, Dr. Johnson was a member of the Education and Professional Development Committee for the Association of Public Health Nurses, which focused on developing the Public Health Policy Cycle content for the New to Public Health (N2PH) Residency Program. She previously served on the Massachusetts Local Public Health Advisory Committee.

Dr. Johnson graduated from Keuka College in New York with a BSN, earned an MBA from Western New England College in Massachusetts, an MSN from American International College in Massachusetts, and a PhD in nursing education from Capella University in Minnesota.

Speakers

Emily Helbick, BSN
DNP Student
Jacksonville University

Emily is a registered nurse as well as a value-based population health management expert with 13 years of experience. Throughout a decade of working in and out of a critical care hospital setting, Emily has experienced shifts in healthcare culture and policy firsthand. She witnessed the trend towards poor healthcare quality with a focus on volume over value. It was at this point that she decided to pivot to a career focusing on value-based care and health system improvement. Emily is now employed by one of the largest and most successful Accountable Care Organization’s in the nation. As a clinical project manager, she spearheads the organization’s initiatives for optimizing the spend towards post-acute care and their provider network of high caliber specialists while increasing patient care quality. Her toolbelt includes the power of artificial intelligence and innovative predictive analytics to help satisfy these demanding initiatives.

Emily attained a Bachelor of Nursing Science from the University of New Hampshire and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Jacksonville University. Emily volunteers with a local LGBTQ+ community non-profit delivering preventative care services as an HIV awareness and screening counselor. In her free time, Emily loves to travel, scuba dive, and participate with international ocean and coral conservation programs.

Gemma O'Donnell
PhD Student
Arizona State University

Gemma O’Donnell, MSN, RN is a master’s prepared registered nurse. She is a PhD student in the Arizona State University Edson College School of Nursing, PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation program. Her research interest is in exploring solutions for family caregivers of persons with dementia. She teaches undergraduate nursing students at Northern Arizona University’s School of Nursing, focusing on Gerontology, Palliative Care and Nursing Leadership. She has over 20 years of nursing experience serving the needs of patients with dementia at all stages and their family members.

Speakers

Elizabeth Kuzma, DNP, RN, FNP-BC
Clinical Associate Professor
University of Michigan

Elizabeth Kuzma, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, is a Clinical Associate Professor at University of Michigan's School of Nursing (UMSN) in the Health Behavior and Biological Sciences department. She is a Program Lead for their Adult-Gerontology and Family Nurse Practitioner Programs and serves as the Coordinator of the five Graduate Program Leads. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, she is committed to working with vulnerable and underserved populations, particularly at-risk, high ACE youth. Dr. Kuzma is an expert in providing holistic, trauma-informed primary care with cultural humility, including health promotion, disease prevention, management of minor acute and chronic conditions. Her research and scholarship focus includes a variety of adolescent health issues, particularly related to trauma, sexuality and gender identity, as well as integrating these content areas into NP education. She is actively involved and committed to professional and policy advocacy. She is a former past American Association for Nurse Practitioners (AANP) State Representative for Michigan, has served on the AANP Research Committee, and is currently serving on the AANP National Nominations Council.

Speakers

Patricia Morton, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, FAAN
Editor of the Journal of Professional Nursing
Dean Emeritus
University of Utah

Patricia G. Morton is Dean Emeritus, University of Utah College of Nursing. Dr. Morton has authored three textbooks, numerous book chapters, and over 60 journal articles. She has served on the editorial board of six nursing journals and for seven years was the editor of a clinical journal sponsored by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Currently, Dr. Morton is the editor of AACN’s Journal of Professional Nursing. She is a certified acute care nurse practitioner. Dr. Morton was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1999.

Speakers

Gerry Altmiller, EdD, APRN, ACNS-BC, ANEF, FAAN
Professor
Director, Quality and Safety Innovation Center
School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science
The College of New Jersey

Gerry Altmiller is a professor of nursing, a clinical nurse specialist consultant for Jefferson Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and director of the Quality and Safety Innovation Center at The College of New Jersey. She served on the QSEN Advisory board for over a decade and for 7 years led the QSEN Academic Task Force, creating opportunities for its 120 faculty members to network, share ideas, and conduct academic focused research.

Dr. Altmiller authored the Teamwork and Communication Module of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s Transition to Practice program and in 2014 she received a Lindback Award for distinguished teaching. Her work on constructive feedback led to the development, testing, and dissemination of support tools for nurse educators and learning tools for students to view feedback as an opportunity. Dr. Altmiller serves on the editorial board for Nurse Educator Journal. She is a member of the AACN workgroups that developed the toolkits to support adoption of the 2021 AACN Essentials and serves as an AACN Coach for implementation of the Essentials. Her research focuses on clinical evaluation, quality and safety integration, and creating a just culture in academia.

Speakers

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP
President
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP, is the eighth president of Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Immediately prior to her appointment, she served for 15 years as the Ralph W. Gerard Professor in Medicine and Dean for Medical Education at The University of Chicago.

In 1989, Dr. Humphrey and a colleague delivered the country’s first White Coat Ceremony address at The University of Chicago. The Gold Foundation later adopted and formalized this ceremony and today supports similar events in medical and nursing schools across the country. During her tenure as Dean for Medical Education, her signature programs focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, mentoring, and professionalism. She led efforts to increase diversity and belonging by developing pathway programs and co-founding the Bowman Society, which explores issues of health disparity and provides mentoring for those underrepresented in medicine. She was the founding dean of the school’s Identity and Inclusion Committee, which advances civil discourse in the medical school. She is also the founding dean of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and of the MERITS Fellowship program for faculty pursuing research, innovation, teaching, and scholarship in medical education.

She is Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine’s Board of Directors. She is Chair Emeritus of American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and a past President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM).

Dr. Humphrey earned her MD degree with honors from The University of Chicago. Following an internal medicine residency, pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and Chief Residency all at The University of Chicago, she served a 14-year tenure as Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, which provided the foundation for her career in medical education. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Crain’s Chicago Business featured her as one of their “Women to Watch,” and the NorthShore University Health System created the Holly J. Humphrey Medical Education Fund with a one-million-dollar gift to The University of Chicago in recognition of her leadership in medical education. The Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine honored her with the Dema C. Daley Founders Award for national excellence as an educator, innovator, and leader. Graduating medical students at The University of Chicago honored Dr. Humphrey five times with the Gender Equity Award and more than 25 times with the Favorite Faculty Teaching Award.

Brigit Carter, PhD, RN, CCRN, FAAN
Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Dr. Brigit Carter, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer joined American Association of Colleges in Nursing (AACN) February 2023. She is Professor Emerita at the Duke University School of Nursing where she served as the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion from 2018-2023. From 2015-2018 she served as the Director of the DUSON Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program.

Brigit earned her BSN at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in 1998, a Master of Science in Nursing Education from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2002 and PhD in Nursing from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. Her current educational research is focused on understanding experiences of students with microaggressions and development of strategies to mitigate the impact of microaggressions. She also has a focus on strategies to increase historically marginalized students in nursing and understand individual level social determinants that are barriers to achieving nursing education.

Brigit is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity, and a Duke Teaching for Equity fellow. She retired from the U. S. Navy as a Commander after 28 years of service in January 2018.

Speakers

Jennifer Lollar
Executive Director, Strategic Marketing and Communications
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Jennifer Lollar is the Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing. She has been with UAB since 2001, starting in University Relations doing Media Relations first for the University side of campus and then from 2005 to 2013 for the health schools and medical center. She moved to the School of Nursing in 2013 and now leads an eight-member marketing and communications team that is responsible for all communications and marketing functions for the School of Nursing (except for media relations). Prior to joining UAB she was a general assignment and business reporter for newspapers in the Birmingham area.

Steve Rudolph
Director of Marketing and Strategic Communications
University of Minnesota

Steve Rudolph is the Director of Strategic Communications at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, where his goal is to connect the school and its stakeholders through authentic storytelling and compelling communications. He joined the School of Nursing from the Carlson School of Management where he led the creation of the business school’s external communications and ground-breaking digital and video content. Prior to higher education, he was a public relations executive known for providing sound and strategic counsel to clients, building and protecting brands, and staging successful events and programs.

Speakers

Michael Ackerman, PhD, RN, FCCM, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN
Director, Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership
The Ohio State University

Michael Ackerman is currently the Director of the Master in Healthcare Innovation Program and Professor of Clinical Nursing, and the Director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership at the Ohio State University College of Nursing. He also maintains a clinical practice as an acute care nurse practitioner at St Joseph’s Neighborhood in Rochester, NY. He is also the Owner of Ackerman Consultants.Dr. Ackerman has held just about every position a nurse could hold in academia and clinical practice, from candy striper to senior director. His entire career has been dedicated to critical care, with numerous publications as well as invitations to speak nationally and internationally. His research and writing have focused on a variety of clinical topics, including sepsis, airway management, hemodynamics, innovation, and leadership. His innovative work has led to many disruptions in clinical practice and health system change. He has been recognized for his various contributions with various fellowships, including Fellow in Critical Care Medicine, Fellow in the National Academy of Practice, Fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and The American Academy of Nursing.

Stephanie Justice, DNP, RN, CHSE
Assistant Clinical Professor
The Ohio State University

Dr. Stephanie Justice is an Assistant Clinical Professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. She worked in the simulation lab for several years and served as the Graduate Simulation Coordinator. She helped to plan and currently works in the XR lab, teaches courses, and is part of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership. She is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE), virtual reality educator, and moulage artist. She volunteers with the Central American Medical Association (CAMO), co-chairs Champions in Higher Education for XR (CHEX), and is a faculty advisor for Buck-I-SERV alternative break trips to Antigua, Guatemala, and Akokwa, Ghana. Dr. Justice participated in the National League for Nursing (NLN) Sim Leaders program in 2022. Dr. Justice is working on several grants, including the Disrupting Nursing Education Using Extended Reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning grant sponsored by the American Nurses Foundation Reimagining Nursing Initiative.

Speakers

Rebecca C. Mueller, PhD, RN, CRNP, FNP-BC
Associate Professor
Neumann University

Dr. Rebecca C. Mueller is an associate professor of nursing at Neumann University. Prior to joining Neumann, she was employed as a primary care family nurse practitioner in Philadelphia, PA and Las Vegas, NV. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate nursing students, she works as a nurse practitioner at Swarthmore College’s Student Health and Wellness clinic providing primary care to a college-aged population. Dr. Mueller received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Villanova University, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from Villanova University. She is passionate about the care of adolescents, young adults, and vulnerable populations. After earning her BSN, she spent a year of service with the Augustinian Volunteers program working as a nurse in a free clinic in San Diego, CA. Her background also includes medical-surgical nursing, home health, and community-based nursing. Her passion for equitable health care has translated to research at Neumann to develop and implement curricula focused on caring for patients who are LGBTQ. Dr. Mueller serves on the board of the Southeastern Pennsylvania College Health Nurses Association, and is an active member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, earning an AANP and Sigma Theta Tau research grant in 2022.

Speakers

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP
President
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP, is the eighth president of Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Immediately prior to her appointment, she served for 15 years as the Ralph W. Gerard Professor in Medicine and Dean for Medical Education at The University of Chicago.

In 1989, Dr. Humphrey and a colleague delivered the country’s first White Coat Ceremony address at The University of Chicago. The Gold Foundation later adopted and formalized this ceremony and today supports similar events in medical and nursing schools across the country. During her tenure as Dean for Medical Education, her signature programs focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, mentoring, and professionalism. She led efforts to increase diversity and belonging by developing pathway programs and co-founding the Bowman Society, which explores issues of health disparity and provides mentoring for those underrepresented in medicine. She was the founding dean of the school’s Identity and Inclusion Committee, which advances civil discourse in the medical school. She is also the founding dean of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and of the MERITS Fellowship program for faculty pursuing research, innovation, teaching, and scholarship in medical education.

She is Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine’s Board of Directors. She is Chair Emeritus of American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and a past President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM).

Dr. Humphrey earned her MD degree with honors from The University of Chicago. Following an internal medicine residency, pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and Chief Residency all at The University of Chicago, she served a 14-year tenure as Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, which provided the foundation for her career in medical education. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Crain’s Chicago Business featured her as one of their “Women to Watch,” and the NorthShore University Health System created the Holly J. Humphrey Medical Education Fund with a one-million-dollar gift to The University of Chicago in recognition of her leadership in medical education. The Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine honored her with the Dema C. Daley Founders Award for national excellence as an educator, innovator, and leader. Graduating medical students at The University of Chicago honored Dr. Humphrey five times with the Gender Equity Award and more than 25 times with the Favorite Faculty Teaching Award.

Cassandra Godzik,PhD, MS
Director of Nursing Education
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Cassandra Godzik is a practicing psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) and postdoctoral research fellow in the Departments of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), Centers for Aging at Dartmouth, and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Godzik’s nursing journey began in high school when she worked as a nursing assistant in a memory care unit and older adult assisted living facility. During her undergraduate (University of Vermont) and master’s degrees (Regis College), Godzik engaged in research that focused on populations with mental health disorders, while simultaneously working as a psychiatric nurse. All these research and clinical experiences compelled her to earn a doctorate degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she graduated in 2020. Throughout her doctoral work, she focused on sleep medicine and mental health symptoms and conducted a trial of an online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) program.

Godzik’s nursing journey began in high school when she worked as a nursing assistant in a memory care unit and older adult assisted living facility. During her undergraduate (University of Vermont) and master’s degrees (Regis College), Godzik engaged in research that focused on populations with mental health disorders, while simultaneously working as a psychiatric nurse. All these research and clinical experiences compelled her to earn a doctorate degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she graduated in 2020. Throughout her doctoral work, she focused on sleep medicine and mental health symptoms and conducted a trial of an online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) program.