Speakers

Karen Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN, president, American Nurses Association

In 2012, Daley was re-elected as the president of the American Nurses Association. She spent more than 26 years as a staff nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. In 2006, the American Academy of Nurses inducted Daley as a fellow in recognition of her advocacy work in needlestick prevention. She is a past president of the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses and the Massachusetts Center for Nursing and has served on the boards of ANA, ANCC, and ANA–PAC.

Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN, FNAP, innovations specialist, Center for Innovations in Care Delivery, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

Blakeney serves as one of 73 health care experts who has been tapped by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help transform health care. Prior to joining the staff at MGH, Blakeney served for four years as the president of the American Nurses Association.   

Jeannie Cimiotti, DNSc, RN, associate professor & executive director, New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing

Cimiotti's research interests have focused on nurse workforce factors and the quality of patient care in the hospital setting for adult and pediatric clients. As executive director of The New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing, Cimiotti works closely with the New Jersey State Board of Nursing to collect and analyze data on the New Jersey nurse workforce.

Matt McHugh, PhD, JD, MPH, RN, assistant professor of nursing and faculty member, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania

McHugh’s research focuses on how the organization and delivery of nursing services can influence health outcomes and the achievement of our most important national health policy goals.

Jack Needleman, PhD, FAAN, professor of health services, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health; associate director, UCLA Patient Safety Institute

For the past decade, Needleman’s research has focused on studies of quality and staffing in hospitals and on the evaluation and design of performance improvement activities.  Three of Needleman’s first authored publications on quality of care and nurse staffing are designated patient safety classics by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Jennifer Mensik, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, administrator for nursing and patient care, St. Luke's Health System

Mensik works at a three-time Magnet-designated facility in Boise, Idaho. She just published through Sigma Theta Tau one of the few books on nurse staffing:  The Nurse Manager's Guide to Innovative Staffing.

Kathy Malloch, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, president, KMLS, LLC; associate professor, Arizona State University, College of Nursing and Health Innovation

Malloch is a recognized expert in leadership and the development of effective evidence-based processes and systems for patient care. She is the designer of the Expert Nurse Estimation Patient Classification System (ENEPCS), an innovative model to integrate the role of the professional nurse in daily nurse-patient staffing to achieve the best outcomes. She currently consults with API Healthcare, Inc. in the oversight of the patient classification system. 

Sue B. Davidson, PhD, RN, CNS, assistant executive director for practice, education and research, Oregon Nurses Association (ONA)

A significant component of Davidson’s practice at ONA has been in the implementation of the Oregon Nurse Staffing Law. This implementation includes education, consultation with staffing committees in many of Oregon's hospitals, and leadership in the Oregon Nurse Staffing Collaborative, as well development, support, and reporting from a data base related to insufficient and unsafe nurse staffing episodes.

Marla Weston, PhD, RN, FAAN, CEO, American Nurses Association

Weston, a nurse leader with nearly 30 years of diverse management experience in health care operations, is the CEO of the American Nurses Association and the American Nurses Foundation. Prior to joining ANA, she led Weston Healthcare Consultants, assisting hospitals across the country to optimize their nurse staffing.

Sean P. Clarke, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, director, McGill Nursing Collaborative for Education and Innovation in Patient and Family Centred Care

Clarke's research deals primarily with organizational aspects of acute care nursing (with a particular emphasis on staffing levels, work environment factors, patient outcomes, and nurse occupational health) and nurse workforce issues. He has co-led nursing health services research groups at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Toronto and collaborates with researchers in the field around the world.

Robert Dent, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, FACHE, vice president of patient care services and chief nurse executive, Midland Memorial Hospital

In his 23-year-career as a nurse, Dent has been a nursing assistant, licensed vocational nurse (LVN), registered nurse (RN), licensed nursing home administrator, and chief nursing officer for small and large organizations. He has been published and has presented on such topics as improving work environments, business planning, staffing and using technology to improve outcomes.

Mary Kay Silverman, BSN, RN, CEN, Assistant Vice President, Critical Care Services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Silverman has taken a leadership role for the past six years with a focus on Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Patient Flow, and Patient/Staff Management. Silverman spearheaded multiple initiatives involving patient flow and staffing within an emergency or inpatient settings.

Karlene M. Kerfoot, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, vice president, API Healthcare

Kerfoot has held a variety of positions in nursing and patient care administration, clinical practice, and academic positions in nursing, MHA and MBA programs and health care consulting. Kerfoot has been the corporate chief nursing and patient care officer at three of the largest health care systems and is currently the vice president, API Healthcare. Her passion has been to improve the care of patients by improving the quality of work life for clinicians on the front line. 

Karen Tomajan  RN, MS, NEA-BC, director, professional practice/Magnet® program director, John Muir Concord

Tomajan is currently the Director of Professional Practice at John Muir Concord; a community-based health care system in the San Francisco Bay Area of California as well as a Magnet®-designated facility. She is responsible for nursing professional development and nursing quality.

LuAnn Joy, BSN, RN, MBA, NE-BC director of perioperative services, Children's Hospital Central California

Joy is a collaborative leader and mentor, who promotes a professional practice environment including the multidisciplinary efforts to develop and implement the Just Culture model for Children’s Hospital Central California. She has served as a president and board member for nursing organizations throughout her career.

Joanne Spetz, PhD, FAAN, professor, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco

Spetz’s research focuses on the economics of the health care workforce. She has conducted studies of the relationship between nursing and patient outcomes, analysis of hospital services and organization, and assessments of the effects of minimum nurse staffing regulations on patients and hospitals.

Donna M. Nickitas, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, CNE, FNAP, FAAN, editor, Nursing Economic$, Journal for Health Care Leaders

Nickitas is a professor at Hunter College, City University of New York, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing and the executive officer, Doctor of Philosophy of Nursing at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. She is a nationally and internationally known speaker in global-service learning, health and public policy and nursing leadership.