Speakers

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

Dr. Dawn Mueller-Burke is a nationally certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner who has dedicated her career to caring for critically ill neonates and advancing nursing education across all levels. She earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) and completed postdoctoral training in developmental genetics at Johns Hopkins University, where her research focused on neonatal brain injury, hypothermia and stem cell treatment.

Now a leader in academic nursing and competency-based education (CBE), Dr. Mueller-Burke serves as an Assistant Professor and chairs UMSON’s Curricular Revisions Taskforce, leading the transformation of programs to align with the 2021 AACN Essentials. She previously directed the transition of all advanced practice master’s specialties to the doctoral level. A catalyst for CBE innovation, she has helped ignite initiatives across Maryland and serves nationally as a consultant, AACN Essentials Champion and Coach, co-lead of the AACN Curricular Workgroup, and member of the NONPF Curricular Leadership Committee, shaping the future of nursing education through collaboration and curricular excellence.

Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler, PhD, APRN 
Assistant Clinical Professor 
Director, Institute for Educational Excellence 
Duke University

Dr. Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler is an Assistant Professor and the Director for Educational Excellence at the Duke University School of Nursing. She received a BSN from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an MSN in Nurse-Midwifery from Vanderbilt U niversity, and a PhD in Nursing Education from Villanova University. Grounded by her Masterful Educator Model, she mentors faculty and presents nationally on faculty development, fostering inclusive learning environments, and employing impactful teaching strategies. Her efforts extend to guiding nursing programs toward competency-based education and researching effective teaching practices and health equity. Beyond academia, she advances health equity through Cultural Intelligence workshops and a culturally concordant doula training initiative. 

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 Curricular Revisions Taskforce at UMSON, transforming entry and advanced practice programs to the 2021 Essentials. As an AACN Essentials Champion and Coach, and the co-lead for the AACN Essentials Curricular Workgroup, as well as a member of the NONPF Curricular Leadership Committee, she is part of the national dialogue and consultant on curricular revisions and speaks at various venues around implementation of the AACN Essentials and the move to competency-based education. 

Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler, PhD, APRN 
Assistant Clinical Professor 
Director, Institute for Educational Excellence 
Duke University

Dr. Jacqui McMillian-Bohler is an Assistant Professor and the Director for Educational Excellence at the Duke University School of Nursing. She received a BSN from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an MSN in Nurse-Midwifery from Vanderbilt University, and a PhD in Nursing Education from Villanova University. Grounded by her Masterful Educator Model, she mentors faculty and presents nationally on faculty development, fostering inclusive learning environments, and employing impactful teaching strategies. Her efforts extend to guiding nursing programs toward competency-based education and researching effective teaching practices and health equity. Beyond academia, she advances health equity through Cultural Intelligence workshops and a culturally concordant doula training initiative. 

Speaker

Courtney Pitts, DNP, MPH, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN

Courtney Pitts, DNP, MPH, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, is a Clinical Professor and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Specialty Director at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She is a nationally certified and actively practicing FNP with a clinical background in primary care and the management of patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Her experience as a nurse educator includes curricular oversight, clinical training program development and clinical practicum placement. As a former project director of a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) federally funded advanced nursing education workforce grant, Dr. Pitts focused on establishing and maintaining academic practice partnerships required to support nurse practitioner student success in their clinical learning. In 2021, Dr. Pitts was appointed by the United States Secretary of Health to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP). In this role, she serves with a national cadre of colleagues who focus on nursing workforce, practice, and education issues. Other roles of leadership include service or past service within the National League for Nursing (NLN),  the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF).
 

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

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 coordinator at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the designated outreach coordinator for the National Parkins on 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 teaches 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. Additional 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.