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. 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.

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

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.