Speakers

Mary Jo Vetter, DNP, RN
Director, Doctor of Nursing Practice Program and Clinical Associate Professor
New York University

Mary Jo Vetter is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the DNP Program at NYU Meyers College of Nursing. Dr. Vetter co-led the integration of Design Thinking in the undergraduate curriculum at Meyers. As a nurse entrepreneur, she engages in clinical practice as the founder of VetterAPN Consulting promoting clinical and care management strategies to support successful aging in place. Dr. Vetter focuses her scholarship on evidence-based quality improvement, designing and implementing cutting-edge, NP led, primary care services in the community, and virtual care delivery. She has a proven track record of innovation in practice and education that focuses on promoting the nurse practitioner as leader and has received awards and accolades for her contributions to clinical academic partnerships, advancing and leading the profession, and transforming advanced practice nursing.

Karyn Boyar, DNP, RN
Director, Master of Science, Clinical Research Program and Clinical Assistant Professor
New York University

Karyn Boyar is an Assistant Clinical Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, the director for the Master in Clinical Nursing Research Program, Interim FNP Program Director, as well as a Certified Nurse Educator. As an educator and family nurse practitioner specializing in neurology and long-term care, she teaches both didactic and clinical courses and simulation. She has over 25 years of experience in healthcare and over ten years of experience in the clinical care and management of patients with Parkinson’s disease and Dystonia. Before joining the faculty at NYU, Boyar was the clinical specialty coordinato r at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the designated outreach coordinator for the National Parkinson Center of Excellence at the Robert and John M. Benheim Center for Movement Disorders. Boyar earned her DNP from Pace University and MS and BS in nursing science from Pace University. Currently, she serves on the board of directors of the IARCN (International Association of Clinical Research Nurses) as a member-at-large. Her current scholarship focus; bringing Design Thinking Models to life for undergraduate students in the large classroom. She has presented her work on Design Thinking on the local, national and international levels and has contributed several book chapters disseminating this innovation in teaching.

Stacen Keating, PhD, RN
Clinical Associate Professor
New York University

Stacen A. Keating is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU's Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Dr. Keating tea ches across programs in both the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral departments (DNP). She has established competencies in Instructional Design as well as Design Thinking (DT). Design Thinking is a means of teaching nurses a framework of creative thinking and innovation and has established a process for utilizing this framework within her public health classes. Her areas of scholarship interest are further focused on global public health. She has written numerous publications related to both educator and student needs. A key focus has been to assist nurse educators and students attain access to the most evidenced based resources to achieve excellence within professional nursing practice. Dr. Keating is on the Nursing Advisory Board for Nurses International, a 501c3 organization devoted to providing excellence in global nursing education, especially in countries with limited resources. Dr. Keating has developed educational products in collaboration with colleagues at Nurses International which are open access resources and are readily available at Nurses international's main website. Key courses relate to: oncology nursing, fundamentals of nursing and medical surgical nursing. Add itional courses taught at NYU include: Community/Public Health Nursing (UG), Applied Epidemiology (DNP), Environment and the Health of Populations (G) and Psych Nursing (UG, simulation).

Emerson E. Ea, PhD, DNP, APRN, FAAN
Dean, Clinical and Adjunct Faculty Affairs
New York University

Dr. Emerson Ea is the associate dean and a clinical associate professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. His scholarship interest areas include nursing education and innovation, immigrant health and well-being, and cardiovascular health. He has published peer-reviewed articles and authored/co-authored books and several book chapters on topics that relate to work and personal-related outcomes among internationally educated nurses, Filipino immigrant health, gerontologic nursing, and nursing education and practice. Dr. Ea was part of the inaugural cohort of the American Academy of Nursing Jonas Policy Scholars working with the Cultural Competence and Health Equity Expert Panel (2014–2016). Dr. Ea is a Fellow of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership in Academic Nursing Program, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Nursing. He is also chair of the Kalusugan Coalition, a community organization that aims to promote cardiovascular health among Filipino Americans in the New York metropolitan area, and chair of the Education Committee of the Philippine Nurses Association of America. Dr. Ea earned a PhD in nursing from Duquesne University, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Case Western Reserve University, MS in adult health from Long Island University, and BSN from the University of St. La Salle, Philippines.

Speakers

Shelley A. Johnson, EdD, MSN, MBA, RN
Dean & Professor
Florida A&M University

Dr. Shelley Johnson holds a bachelor’s (University of Pennsylvania) and master’s degree (Penn State) in nursing, and a doctorate in educational leadership. She also completed certificate programs from Harvard University in educational leadership and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and a Community Participatory Research Fellowship at University of Pennsylvania. She is dedicated to life-long learning and was graduated from Northwestern University’s, Kellogg School of Management’s Executive MBA program.

Dr. Johnson has created, taught and led undergraduate and graduate programs for over 18 years. She serves as the Dean and Professor at the Florida A & M University, School of Nursing. She has worked in higher education administration for Chamberlain Univers ity, Lincoln University, Rutgers University, LaSalle University, and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

She was the Founding Director and Chair of Nursing and Health Science at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. She recently served as a Dean at Chamberlain University and as an independent consultant for Kairos Solutions, LLC. Her specialties include higher education, leadership, curriculum and instruction, assessment, and community health. She is certified as a nurse executive, nurse educator, and as a comprehensive systematic reviewer.

Dr. Johnson lives servant leadership. She served as the President of Sigma Theta Tau, Xi Chapter at University of Pennsylvania through 2019 and continues to serve on other community organization boards. She has served as a reviewer for Joanna Briggs Institute, the Journal of Leadership, ABNFF, and Sigma Theta Tau International. She has published articles and book chapters, served as subject matter expert, and participated in research related to a variety of topics. These topics included: Healthy educational environments, health disparities, cultural diversity, advocacy, leadership, VUCA management and digital transf ormation, and nursing education. Her research interests include nursing, healthcare, and general educational practices, healthy work environments, and leadership development.

Speakers

Robert Englander, MD, MPH
Leading Authority on Competency-Based Education and Entrustable Professional Activities

Dr. Englander is the immediate past Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) at the University of Minnesota. He attended Yale Medical School, received an MPH from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, completed pediatric residency at Children’s National Medical Center and a Critical Care fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His career has included stints at the University of Maryland Medical School (1993-2002), the University of Connecticut Medical School (2002-2011), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) (2011-2015) and the University of Minnesota Medical School (2016-2022). His clinical career has focused on the inpatient care of pediatric patients with an emphasis on quality and patient safety. He served as Vice Pr esident of Quality and Patient Safety at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center from 2005-2011.

Dr. Englander has held leadership positions in both UME and GME with a scholarly focus on Competency-based Medical Education. He was a member of the Pediatric Milestones working group and helped write the General Pediatric Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). While at the AAMC, he led the Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum pilot to test the feasibility of competency-based, time variable progression from medical school through residency. He also led the development of the Core EPAs for Entering Residency, delineating the 13 activities that every graduate of medical school should be able to do on day one of residency, regardless of specialty choice. Dr. Englander is excited in this next phase of his career to continue to advance CBE across the health professions.

Speakers

Dawn Mueller-Burke, PhD, CRNP, NNP-BC
Assistant Professor/Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
University of Maryland Baltimore
University of Maryland Medical Center

Dr. Mueller-Burke has a clinical focus in the Neonatal Intensive Care arena where she spent most of her career as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) PhD program with a focus in neonatal neurophysiology. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in a developmental genetics laboratory with a focus in stem cell biology. Her research sought to better understand neonatal brain injury and to identify potential interventions, including hypothermia and stem cell therapy to improve outcomes after neonatal brain injury. She shifted her focus to leadership and educational-based endeavors once joining the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in 2004 where she teaches across degree programs, specifically in the NNP program. She is nationally certified as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, with a per diem practice in the NICU at the University of Maryland Medical Center. In 2011 she served as the Faculty Chair of the DNP Transition Task Force incorporating the AACN Essentials, leading all the APN Master’s specialties at UMSON to the doctorate (DNP) beginning Fall 2014. She is currently the Chair of the New Essentials Curricular Revisions Taskforce at UMSON, with a targeted implementation of the graduate programs in the Fall of 2024.

Speakers

Kathleen Amos, MLIS
Director, Academic/Practice Linkages
Public Health Foundation

Kathleen Amos, MLIS, serves as the Director, Academic/Practice Linkages for the Public Health Foundation. In this role, she supports collaborative public health workforce development initiatives designed to strengthen connections between academia, public health practice, and healthcare. She coordinates the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice and its initiatives, including the Academic Health Department Learning Community and Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, as well as other performance improvement efforts related to workforce development. Kathleen holds a Master’s degree in library and information studies, with post-graduate training in health sciences information services.

Nola Martz, EdD, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Truman State University

Nola earned her BSN and MSN (with clinical specialty in Public Health) from the University of Missouri - Columbia (MU). Nola completed her Doctorate of Education with William Woods University where her dissertation research was on the impact of accreditation to public health funding in Missouri. Following her early nursing practice in NICU, rural community hospital and physician practice settings, she has spent the majority of her career in public health nursing in rural and suburban local public health agencies, and with the State health department in Missouri at programmatic and administrative levels. Nola joined the Truman State University (TSU) Nursing Department in Fall of 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Nursing. She currently teaches the NU485 – Rural and Public Health Nursing course and the NU250 Life Span Development course. She has also taught Pharmacology I and II for TSU. Prior to joinin g the TSU Nursing faculty, Nola taught for 6 years as adjunct instructor and full time as Visiting Assistant Professor for the graduate Master in Public Health (MPH) online program at MU where she instructed Applied Epidemiology in Community Assessment, and Introduction to Research Methods courses. At MU, she additionally served as a Public Health Consultant for the MU Extension Community Health Team. Nola currently serves on the Missouri Public Health Association Board.

Joann Hoganson, MSN, RN
Director of Community Wellness
Kent County Health Department

Joann Hoganson is the Director of Community Wellness at the Kent County Health Department in Grand Rapids, MI. Prior to this, Joann, along with her husband and four kids, served in Brazil, South America as a missionary nurse for sixteen years. A primary focus of her efforts in Brazil was providing holistic and redemptive care to children and families l iving on the streets of Salvador, Bahia. Through this experience, she honed her administrative skills, learned the importance of community collaboration, and deepened her passion and commitment to bringing quality, holistic care to those who most need it. Additionally, she has worked as a Nursing Instructor at Grand Valley State University and Davenport University.

Joann is originally from Danbury, Connecticut, and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Cedarville University in Ohio, majoring in Biology and Chemistry. She then received a Master’s Degree in Nursing from Pace University in Pleasantville, NY, just outside of New York City. Joann has a deep commitment to the future generations of nurses and finds joy in passing her acquired knowledge on to future nurses who are diverse, well-prepared, innovative, and culturally competent. These are the people she hopes will carry the nursing torch after her retirement.

Moderator:

Susan M. Swinder, PhD, PHNA-BC, FAAN
Professor
Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing
Rush University

Susan Swider is a Professor in the Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing at Rush University in Chicago. Dr. Swider has practiced in acute care, home health care and public health settings over the past thirty years. Her research has focused on program development and evaluation of community health workers, engaging urban communities in health promotion, and health policy to support health promotion efforts. She has taught public health nursing at the pre-licensure and graduate/specialty level at several universities, and co-directed 10 years of HRSA supported work to develop an online doctoral program in Advanced Public Health Nursing, ensuring that it met the Quad Council competencies for Public Health Nursing practice. She is a member of a number of public health and public health nursing organizations, and is a past president of the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE). In her role with ACHNE, she served on the Quad Council for Public Health Nursing organizations, and was a member of the Task Force that revised the Competencies for Public Health Nursing (2010-2012). In 2011, Dr. Swider was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health, a group designed to advise on the development and implementation of the National Prevention Strategy. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. In 2016, she was appointed to serve on the Community Preventive Services Task Force of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Speakers

Cecilia Sorensen, MD
Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Columbia University

Cecilia Sorensen, MD is the Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia Irving Medical Center and Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Dr. Sorensen received her Doctor of Medicine from Drexel University College of Medicine and completed a four-year emergency medicine residency at Denver Health. Following residency training, she completed a 2-year fellowship in climate change and human health policy with the National Ins titute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Her work focuses on the intersection of climate change and health and how policy solutions, clinical action and education can build resilience in vulnerable communities. She currently serves on the working group for the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate and Human Health Initiative. She was an author for the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment and serves as a technical advisor for the Lancet Climate and Health U.S. Policy Brief. She is the co-editor of the textbook Climate Change and Human Health: From Science to Practice.

Teddie M. Potter, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP
Clinical Professor/Coordinator, Doctor of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership
Director of Planetary Health; Pauline A. Vincent Chair of Public Health
Directorate, Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership
School of Nursing
University o f Minnesota

Dr. Potter is deeply committed to climate change education including co-founding Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, membership in the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and membership on the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. She chairs Clinicians for Planetary Health (C4PH) and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance at Harvard.

At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Potter designed and co-teaches an interdisciplinary course titled “The Global Climate Challenge: Creating an Empowered Movement for Change”. In addition, she co-leads a Health Sciences initiative titled, “Climate Change and Health: An Interprofessional Response”. In 2019, Dr. Potter was appointed the first Director of Planetary Health for the School of Nursing.

In addition, Dr. Potter is Executive Editor for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies; a peer-reviewed, open-access, online jour nal promoting interdisciplinary collaboration as a solution for solving society’s grand challenges.

Dorothy Biberman, MPH, CPH
Director of Global Engagement and Executive Initiatives
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health

Speakers

Anita Catlin, PhD, FNP, CNL, FAAN
Manager of Nursing Research
Kaiser Permanente

Anita Catlin is Manager of Nursing Research at Kaiser Permanente, Vallejo, California. Anita taught in the CNL programs at both Touro University and University of San Francisco, becoming a CNL by challenge exam. Anita uses her CNL skills daily as mentor to nurses at all levels, and in several countries, in advancing their academic and clinical careers. Anita’s role includes writing grants to obtain funding for projects and she has multiple publications in research, ethics and in clinical care. She is currently the Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Surgical Nursing. She is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau in both California and Portugal. Dr. Catlin is a 2022 CNC CNL Innovation in Practice Award Winner for her project entitled, International Study of Pediatric Nurses Caring for Adult Patients During COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sorayah Bourenane, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL
Clinical Nurse Leader
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

At the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Sorayah Bourenane has developed educational content and served as a subject-matter expert on Oncologic Emergency Nursing for the Board of Certified Emergency Nurses. She co-authored a chapter in a medical textbook for Oncologic Emergencies and assisted in the development of the institutional sepsis program at MD Anderson, which has resulted in decreased mortality. She also serves as Speaker of the Nursing Pla tform for the Global Sepsis Alliance and has presented nationally and internationally on oncologic emergencies, end-of-life care in the emergency department and in-flight medical emergencies. Sorayah is a 2022 AACN and CNC CNL Vanguard Award Winner.

Lauren Salinas, MSN, RN, CNL, CCRN
Clinical Specialist
Texas Children’s Hospital

Lauren Salinas is a Clinical Specialist certified as a CNL at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Since graduating as a CNL, she has worked to improve patient outcomes and the patient-family experience while in the CICU through her coordination of care, quality initiatives, and innovation at the bedside. Lauren incorporated her knowledge as a CNL to decrease central line associated bloodstream infections through her innovative quality improvement projects surrounding central line care and quality rounding. Lauren has presented her quality projects at local and national conferences. She is passionate about incorporating the CNL focus of care coordination and transitions of care into her complex patient population. Lauren is a 2022 AACN and CNC CNL Vanguard Award Winner.

Speakers

Gerry Altmiller,EdD, APRN, ACNS-BC, ANEF, FAAN
Professor of Nursing
The College of New Jersey

Gerry Altmiller, EdD, APRN, ACNS-BC, ANEF, FAAN, is a professor of nursing at The College of New Jersey, a clinical nurse specialist consultant for Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has pioneered the integration of quality and safety competencies in nursing education since 2006 when she served as a faculty leader for one of the 15 pilot schools for the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Collaboration. She currently is a national consultant for QSEN and director of the Quality and Safety Innovation Center at The College of New Jersey. She leads the QSEN Academic Task Force, creating opportunities for its 110 members to network, share ideas, and conduct academic focused research. Dr. Altmiller authored the Teamwork and Communicat ion 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 was co-editor of a special QSEN issue of Nurse Educator and currently serves on the journal’s editorial board. Her research focuses on clinical evaluation, QSEN integration, and communication challenges in educational and practice environments.

Speakers

Barbara A. Fowler, EdD, PhD, RN
Professor of Nursing
Wright State University

Barbara A. Fowler holds an EdD in Curriculum Instruction & Design from Teacher’s College at the University of Cincinnati, OH in 1988 and later earned a PhD from Rush University – College of Nursing in Chicago, IL (2003). She has more than 30 years of experience in teaching and mentoring the next generation of nurses across programs (non-licensure BSN, RN-BSN, accelerated BSN, MS and DNP) on providing equitable and evidence-based nursing care to racial/ethnic minorities and marginalized groups (i.e., immigrants and homeless) in underserved urban communities. She has received the Graduate Teaching Excellence Award in the College of Nursing and Health at Wright State University on several occasions. Dr. Fowler’s program of research is funded by the American Nursing Foundation ( ANF), Oncology Nursing Society and Bristol-Myers Squibb Community Health Research Grant, Sigma Theta Tau – Honor Society of Nursing/Beta Iota Chapter (Cincinnati, OH) and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (Population-Health Grant) on health disparities faced by racial/ethnic minority females in accessing preventive breast health screenings in underserved urban communities. Recent research on systemic or structural barriers to leadership development and career advancement for minority nurses in public health nursing departments was published in Public Health Nursing in 2020; the findings were presented (virtual) via poster at the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) Annual Conference in April 2021 and oral/podium (virtual) presentation at the Association of Public Health Nursing (APHN) Annual Conference in May 2021. Dr. Fowler was an inaugural member of the AACN subcommittee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in 2019, and later played a leadership role on the Campus Climate & Intergroup Relations portion of the Diversity Tool Kit by compiling available data and co-authoring a scoping review of the literature on systemic, structural barriers and implicit biases aff ecting racial/ethnic minority nurses across practice settings. In 2020, Dr. Fowler was appointed by the Interim Dean in the College of Nursing and Health to serve on the President's Advisory Council on Inclusive Excellence at Wright State University.

Patricia G. Francis-Johnson, DNP, RN
Director of Diversity and Inclusion
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Patricia Francis-Johnson is an Assistant Professor and Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the School of Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). She received her DNP with a concentration in Executive Leadership from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas. She has over twenty years of experience in traditional and online education, clinical teaching, quality improvement, patient safety, and interprofessional teamwork. Dr. Francis-Johnson is also a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer who conducts training classes for students, faculty, and staff. Dr. Francis-Johnson led a diverse group of faculty and staff to design and implement Shared Governance at the School of Nursing, which resulted in the development of an Academic Shared Governance Model for Nursing Education. She serves as the inaugural Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the School of Nursing to increase diversity and inclusion among faculty, staff and students. She represents the School of Nursing (SON) on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Dr. Francis-Johnson is a member of the search committee for the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion (VPDEI) position at TTUHSC. She is a member of the AACN Diversity Equity, Inclusion Leadership Network (DEILN) and participated in developing the AACN Diversity Toolkit. She represents TTUHSC as an Executive Board member of the Texas Tech University/ Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTU/TTUHSC) Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA), which includes faculty and staff from the Texas Tech System. She also chairs the Texas Nurses Association Leadership S uccession Committee. Dr. Francis-Johnson has participated in Unconscious Bias training and attended a webinar on National Inclusive Excellence. She serves as a member of various admissions and progressions committees, bringing the perspective of diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias into the process. Dr. Francis-Johnson has led the dissemination of educational innovation through invited presentations to various groups.

Antonea’ Jackson, PhD, RN, CNE
Director of Undergraduate Programs
Prairie View A&M University

Antonea’ Jackson is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs at Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing, where she has served as faculty since 2009. She is a Certified Nurse Educator, and has been recognized a nominee for the President’s Teaching Award Service Learning Award from Prairie View A&M University. In 2020, Dr. Ja ckson received her PhD from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and completed both her undergraduate and graduate studies at Prairie View A&M University. Her research interests include nursing education, cultural competence of nurse educators, and health disparities and health equity. She is currently the PI of the Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach and Education Grant designed to reduce vaccine hesitancy in communities of color, and the Co-PI of the Nursing Innovation Grant Program funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board designed to improve interprofessional communication via telehealth in nursing students. Dr. Jackson has presented at professional conferences on the national level and is an active member of several professional nursing organizations including Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, Eta Delta Chapter. Dr. Jackson has a passion for nursing and nursing education, and believes in educating students by providing opportunities that foster student success academically and professionally. She values education and the opportunities it creates, specifically for students of disadvantaged backgrounds.

Janelle R. Sokolowich, PhD, MSN Ed, RN
Academic Vice President, Dean
College of Health Professions
Western Governors University

Dr. Sokolowich is an accomplished visionary academic leader. She has been an academic leader for over a decade, having held various roles, including dean of academic operations, interim dean, and faculty. In her current role as the Academic Vice President/Dean for the College of Health Professions at Western Governors University (WGU), her goal is to close the equity and access gap in the health professions by providing degree programs and certifications to student who seek to advance their education. Her passion for student success, specifically the underserved, is marked by her drive for innovation to reach all who desire a degree. Her research includes the successful orientation of nursing faculty and intentional, focused academic support of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Dr. Sokolowich has presented nationally and internationally, highlighting the use of technology in the classroom, non-academic support strategies for high-risk students, and cultural inclusivity in the classroom. She is a member of the inaugural American Association of College of Nursing, Diversity Equity and Inclusion leadership network, National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, and numerous other academic societies. She serves as an American Nurses Association Mentor and is a National League for Nursing Writing Scholar. Dr. Sokolowich earned her bachelor's and master's in the science of nursing degrees from the University of Phoenix and Ph.D. in Education, with Distinction from Capella University.

Speakers

Kendra M. Barrier, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE
Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Nursing

Dr. Kendra M. Barrier is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, serving as the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Nursing. She is also an Associate Faculty for the School of Graduate Studies at LSU Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC). She is a National League for Nursing Certified Nurse Educator. In her administrative role she engages in quality improvement and programmatic development in creating and sustaining an inclusive, an equitable, and a respectful academic environment for students, faculty, staff, and stakeholders. She has a passion for the recruitment and academic success of underrepresented and underserved student s.

Dr. Barrier has more than 20 years of nursing experience and over 12 years in academic nursing education. Her clinical expertise spans from emergency and intensive care, to quality management, and school nursing. She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and podium presentations of her research interests of simulation, diversity, equity, inclusion, mentoring, emotional intelligence, and cultural competence, at local and regional conferences. Dr. Barrier has served in several leadership roles and chaired councils and committees within the SON. She has received many honors and awards. She has been accepted into the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing (ELAN) Cohort III (2021 to 2022) and the AACN Diversity Leadership Institute (2022).

Dr. Barrier mentors and coaches through her dedication to a life of service to the profession and community at large. She currently serves as the President of the New Orleans District Nurses Association (2019), a member of the Louisiana State Nurses Association (LSNA), serving on several committees and subcommittees, a member of the Steering Committee and Communica tions Subcommittee for the Organizational Leadership Network (OLN). She is a member of the Steering and Nominations Committees for AACN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Network (DEILN), as well as a member of The New Orleans (LA) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated.

She earned a Bachelor of Science (2000) and a Master of Science in Nursing (2009) in Nursing Education from LSUHSC. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy (2016) in Nursing Education and Administration from William Carey University.

Linda Haen, EdD, MSN, FNP-BC
Assistant Professor/Faculty Success Coordinator
United States University

Dr. Linda Haen is an Assistant Professor and Faculty Success coordinator at United States University teaching in the graduate nursing program. She has been a nurse for 42 years and an FNP for 21 years. Her clinical practice has been primarily in women’s health. She began teaching ful l time in 2018 and earned her doctorate in Education with a specialty in adult education in December 2020. Her capstone project was titled “Nurse Educators and Implicit Bias: Does Critical Self Reflection Change Practice?”. She has served on AACN’s diversity, equity, and inclusion group since its inception. She also serves on the DEIG at United States University.

Kae Rivers Livsey, MPH, PhD, RN
Western Carolina University School of Nursing

Dr. Livsey has been a nurse educator for more than a decade, with a scholarship focus on community based service learning experiences. She has extensive experience in policy and advocacy and serving underserved populations. Since 2016, Dr. Livsey has been leading development of innovative primary care focused experiences for BSN-RNs and is serving as PI on a HRSA Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant.

Speakers

Michelle DeCoux Hampton, RN, PhD
Associate Professor
Special Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Valley Foundation School of Nursing
San Jose State University

Michelle DeCoux Hampton is the College of Health and Human Sciences Special Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Associate Professor in The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San Jose State University. She joined SJSU in 2018, but has 16 years of experience in academia and 27 years as Registered Nurse. Her teaching experience has focused on decreasing stigma and promoting a recovery mindset in psychiatric mental health nursing, as well as preparing prelicensure, Master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice students for evidence based practice in her research courses. She served as an administrative leader in Doctor of Nursing Practice programs and pr ovided university and departmental leadership with regard to faculty development. Her goal is to contribute to improving health equity for underserved populations by increasing access to health professional education for members of underrepresented communities, and by educating current students and practicing professionals.

Speakers

Tami J. Rogers, PhD, DVM, MSN, CNE
Professor of Nursing, Curriculum QA/Course Development
Rasmussen University

Dr. Tami J. Rogers holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Florida State University, a Master’s of Science in Nursing in Nursing (MSN) from the University of Phoenix, a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Nursing Education from Capella University. Tami practiced as a small animal Veterinarian for 12 years before transitioning to nursing, where her clinical background in nursing focused on the adult population in open-heart surgical recovery. Since 2003 Tami has served as Nurse Educator and Curriculum Manager at the Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral levels. Currently, she manages quality assurance and course development for the School of Nursing Curriculum Team. Dr. Rogers holds a specialty certification as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) and has presented findings from research and evidence-based interventions at local and national conferences, including Sigma Theta Tau Annual Research Day, National League for Nursing Summit, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing BSN and MSN Conferences. Her current research interests include perceived self-efficacy for information literacy among faculty and students and use of embedded information literacy activities in nursing education, alignment of ACRL nursing information literacy competency standards to EBP competencies at undergraduate and graduate levels, meaningful evaluation strategies and feedback for the DNP specialty clinical practice experience, and cognitive and emotional impacts of graduate competency-based education.

Becky Costello, EdD
Director of Instructional Design
Rockford Public Schools

Dr. Becky Costello has been designing online learning for adults for over ten years. Her research area of interest is the impact of online facu lty training on learning communities. In her current role, she designs professional learning opportunities for teachers and other certified staff at a large, urban public school district in Northern Illinois. She takes great pride in the collaborative relationships she builds with stakeholders in the instructional design process. Though she is not a nurse, she is invested in understanding the regulatory challenges, student and faculty experience, and other key aspects of online nursing course and program quality.

Speaker

Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Professor Emeritus
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Dr. Gwen D. Sherwood was a Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing. Her program of scholarship evolved from a model for caring relationships which led to examination of patient satisfaction with pain management, particularly from a multicultural perspective and the development of a Spanish Language tool, the Houston Pain Outcome Instrument. She also applied the caring model to spiritual dimensions of care and the impact on healthy work environments and helped develop the Methodist Caring Tool to examine patient satisfaction with caring. Through her work at the University of Texas at Houston School of Nursing she was co-investigator with the Medical School’s Center for Patient Safety to examine teamwork as a variable in patient safety.

Dr. Sherwood is co- investigator on Phases I, II, III, and IV of the award winning Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to transform nursing curriculum to prepare nurses in quality and safety for redesigned health care systems. She was a nursing leader for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Inter-professional Patient Safety Education Collaborative to measure effectiveness of teaching modalities for interdisciplinary teamwork training involving nursing and medical students. She participates in the annual Telluride Science Institute on interprofessional education with the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a member of the National Patient Safety Foundation Research Committee. She has been a leader in developing nursing education across borders, working with nursing faculty in China, Thailand, Macau, Mexico, England, and Kenya.

She is Past President of the International Association for Human Caring and served two terms as Vice President of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing.

Speakers

Margaret Rauschenberger, MSN, RN
Professor, Dean of Nursing Emerita, and Associate Dean
School of Adult Learning and New Initiatives
Alverno College

Peg Rauschenberger, MSN, RN, is an associate dean in the School of Adult Learning and New Initiatives in charge of health related programming, and the dean emerita of Alverno College's JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions. She has been consulting and lecturing since 1997, and has presented numerous workshops nationally and internationally on topics including ability-based education, nursing education, child and adolescent mental health care, nursing in corrections, conflict resolution, stress management and the effects of stress on health.

Judeen Schulte, PhD, RN
Professor
JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions
Alverno College

Judeen Schulte, PhD, OSF, is a professor of Nursing at Alverno College where she has taught since 1980. In addition to her nursing expertise, Schulte has given presentations on Alverno’s abilities-based curriculum across the country, as well as around the world. She has also served as a consultant to several universities here and abroad on performance assessment, student learning and abilities-based curricula.

Ann Van Eerden, MSN, MS, RN
Associate Professor
JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions
Alverno College

Ann Van Eerden, MSN, MS, RN, CNE , NCSN, is an associate professor of nursing in the JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions at Alverno College. She also serves as the director of both the Undergraduate Nursing Program and the Health Education Program. She has nearly 40 years of nursing experience and has been teaching since 2008.

Speaker

Colleen Leners, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAN FAANP
Director of Policy
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)

Dr. Colleen Leners is the Director of Policy at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), which serves as the national voice of academic nursing. Dr. Leners was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator John Thune (R-SD) of the Senate Finance Committee. She has maintained an active family nurse practitioner practice for over 25 years and has served our country in the United States Army Nurse Corps, which after multiple deployments overseas was honorably discharged. She has many notable achievements both civilian and military, she has been inducted as a Fellow Academy of Nursing, Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and awarded the Bronze Star for her service overseas.

Dr. Leners has served as the Traumatic Brain Injury Program man ager, created a nurse-managed primary care clinic for Wounded Warriors at Navy Medical Center San Diego. She has also been a registered nurse and nurse practitioner for three decades. She received her DNP in Leadership from Case Western Reserve University, MSN FNP from University of San Diego and her BSN from California State University Dominguez Hills.

Speaker

Colleen Leners, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAN FAANP
Director of Policy
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)

Colleen Leners is the Director of Policy at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). AACN serves as the voice of academic nursing, encompassing education, research, and practice. Dr. Leners was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator John Thune (R-SD) of the Senate Finance Committee. She has maintained an active family nurse practitioner practice for over 25 years and has served our country in the United States Army Nurse Corps, which after multiple deployments overseas was honorably discharged. She has many notable achievements both civilian and military, she has been inducted as a Fellow Academy of Nursing, Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and awarded the Bronze Star for her service overseas.

Dr. Leners has served as the T raumatic Brain Injury Program manager, created a nurse-managed primary care clinic for Wounded Warriors at Navy Medical Center San Diego. She has also been a registered nurse and nurse practitioner for three decades. She received her DNP in Leadership from Case Western Reserve University, MSN FNP from University of San Diego and her BSN from California State University Dominguez Hills.

Panelists

Georges Benjamin, MD, MACP, FACEP(E), FNAPA, Hon FRSPH, Hon FFPH
Executive Director
American Public Health Association

Dr. Benjamin is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation in one generation.

At APHA, Benjamin also serves as publisher of the nonprofit's monthly publication, The Nation's Health, the association's official newspaper, and the American Journal of Public Health, the p rofession’s premier scientific publication. He is the author of more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters. His recent book The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History is an exposé of the nearly 100-year quest to ensure quality affordable health coverage for all through the use of political cartoons. Benjamin is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (Formally the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and also serves on the boards for many organizations including Research!America and the Reagan-Udall Foundation. In 2008, 2014 and 2016 he was named one of the top 25 minority executives in health care by Modern Healthcare Magazine, in addition to being voted among the 100 most influential people in health care from 2007-2017.

Deborah Trautman, PhD, RN, FAAN
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Dr. Deborah Trautman assumed the role of AACN’s President and Chief Executive Officer in June 2014. Formerly the Executive Director of the Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Transformation at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Trautman has held clinical and administrative leadership positions at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. She also served as the Vice President of Patient Care Services for Howard County General Hospital and as Director of Nursing for Emergency Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Since her appointment at AACN, Deb has been asked to join a number of high-profile boards and advisory groups. The Secretary of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Special Medical Advisory Group (SMAG), which advises the VA Secretary on matters related to healthcare delivery, research, education, training of healthcare staff and planning on shared care issues facing VA and the Department of Defense. In addition, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) named her program director of the New Careers in Nursing project, and her colleagues with the Interprofessional Education Collaborativ e (IPEC) elected her to serve as Chair as of 2019. She also serves on the Joint Commission’s Chief Nurse Executive Council.

Panelists

Kate Sustersic Gawlik, DNP, APRN-CNP, FAANP
Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing
The Ohio State University
Project Manager, Million Hearts

Kate Gawlik is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, Director of the Health and Wellness Innovation in Healthcare program, and Project Manager for the Million Hearts® initiative at The Ohio State University. She is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Her clinical interests are cardiovascular population health, preventive medicine, clinician well-being, evidence-based physical assessment, and online nursing education. She has taught advanced assessment for over 10 years and has been teaching it all online for five of those years. She was awarded the 2018 American Association of Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence for Oh io. She was inducted as a Fellow into the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in June 2018.

Alice M. Teall, DNP, APRN-CNP, FAANP
Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing
The Ohio State University

Alice M. Teall is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, Director of Telehealth Services, and Director of Academic Wellness Programming at the Ohio State University College of Nursing. While serving as director of the online Family Nurse Practitioner program, she was honored with the Ohio State University Provost Award for Distinguished Teaching. An experienced educator, Alice Teall has taught assessment online and on campus for students across nursing programs including traditional undergraduate, RN-BSN completion, accelerated graduate entry, graduate, and doctoral programs. Dr. Teall is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; her contributions to advan ced practice education include innovative use of synchronous web-conferencing, incorporation of wellness coaching techniques in clinical practice, and use of telehealth as an evaluation strategy for distance students.