Speakers

Susan L. Bindon, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, CNE, FAAN
Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Director
Institute for Educators
University of Maryland School of Nursing

Susan Bindon is the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Director of the Institute for Educators at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She earned her BSN at the University of Pittsburgh, and her MS, graduate teaching certificate, and DNP at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

She has extensive experience teaching in classroom, clinical, and online settings and has mentored many nurses and nurse educators to develop their teaching expertise. She manages a statewide faculty development grant that has prepared over 500 clinical nursing faculty. She is an NLN certified nurse educator and ANCC certified in nursing professional development, has authored peer-reviewed articles and presented widely on effective teaching/learning strategies and professional development.

She is the immediate past-president of the Association for Nursing Professional Development and served as co-editor of the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. She has won state and national awards for teaching excellence and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Speakers

Darci McCall, PhD, RNC-OB, C-EFM
Clinical Associate Professor
Boise State University School of Nursing

Dr. Darci McCall has been a nurse for 13 years, working primarily in the maternal-child setting. She earned her BSN from Idaho State University, her MSN from Jacksonville University, and her PhD in Nursing Education from the University of Northern Colorado. She discovered her passion for nursing education when she became a clinical instructor working with students in OB, NICU, and pediatrics. She was hooked and in 2015, she moved into a full-time faculty role at Boise State University. Having taught in a variety of settings at Boise State, she currently teaches in the RN-BS completion track program, where she is the lead faculty for several courses. Dr. McCall is passionate about nursing education and helping students learn and apply new information in every setting.

Dr. McCall’s research interests focus on substance use, specifically marijuana, during pregnancy and the stigma surrounding its use. Her interest in substance use disorder stems from her work in different hospital systems providing care to patients experiencing addiction and substance use disorder during pregnancy and as a faculty member working with students who care for this vulnerable population.

Dr. McCall has earned certifications in Inpatient Obstetric Nursing, Electronic Fetal Monitoring and is a Fetal Heart Monitoring Instructor. She is a member of the NCC’s Inpatient Obstetric Content Team, Inpatient Obstetric Item Writing Team, and the Inpatient Obstetrics Standard Setting Committee. She strongly advocates for SUD recognition, treatment, recovery, and educating nurses to care for this population compassionately and effectively.

Speakers

Catherine A. Stubin, PhD, RN, CNE, CCRN-K
Assistant Professor
Rutgers School of Nursing - Camden

Dr. Catherine A. Stubin is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University School of Nursing-Camden and has been an undergraduate nurse educator for over 20 years. She holds national certification as both a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) and Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN). As a PhD-prepared nurse researcher, she has designed and conducted qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods nursing research as both a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on resilience, stress, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in nursing students. Dr. Stubin has been the recipient of several internal and external small grants, including awards from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and a co-sponsored National League for Nursing (NLN)/ Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS) doctoral research grant. She was also selected to the eighth cohort of the NLN Jonas Scholars Program, a prestigious honor which supports doctoral research in nursing education. Dr. Stubin has disseminated her research on nursing student mental health by way of numerous national and international peer-reviewed, professional nursing education conferences and published, peer-reviewed articles.

Ludy Llasus, PhD, RN, APRN, NP-C
Associate Professor
Nevada State University

Dr. Ludy Llasus is a tenured Associate Professor at Nevada State University School of Nursing. She earned her PhD in Nursing from University of Nevada Las Vegas. She holds certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Llasus has 32 years of experience in nursing, including 23 years in nursing education. She has been a major force in the establishment of the nursing curriculum and programmatic infrastructure at Nevada State. She played a significant role in establishing the structure of simulation education and received recognition by the Nevada Board of Regents for her outstanding contribution in the development of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Clinical Simulation Center of Las Vegas.

She has served as Interim Dean, Associate Dean and Pre-Licensure Director for the School of Nursing and was instrumental in facilitating the growth for both the RN to BSN and pre-licensure programs. Dr. Llasus is a Watson Caring Science Institute Caritas Coach®. She provides leadership in the integration of Caring Science in the BSN curriculum at Nevada State. Her soul's work is nursing education and remains committed in educating future nurses who are expected to lead and advance the nursing profession.

Moderator

Kate Gawlik, DNP, RN, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN
Associate Clinical Professor
Project Manager, Million Hearts
Director of Undergraduate Health and Wellness Academic Programming
Co-Director of Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness
The Ohio State University

Kate Gawlik is an Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing, Director of Undergraduate Health and Wellness Academic Programming, and Project Manager for the Million Hearts® initiative at Ohio State University. She is a Family Nurse Practitioner and her areas of expertise are in wellness, cardiovascular prevention, and nursing education. She pioneered an online educational program, the Million Hearts Fellowship, for healthcare professionals that has resulted in the cardiovascular screening and education of over 100,000 people nationwide and has been embedded into nursing curricula across the U.S. This work has received four national awards, including most recently, the 2022 AACN’s Innovation Award. She is a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the National Academies of Practice, and the American Academy of Nursing. She is the editor of four nursing textbooks.

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

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.