Lora Bognar, PhD, RN, NE-BC

Rosanne Raso, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, FAONL, is the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the #1 hospital in New York and #7 in the country. Previously she was the Chief Integration Officer for NYU Langone-Brooklyn and prior to that the Nurse Executive at Lenox Hill Hospital. As an experienced nurse executive, Rosanne is a national leader in improving the practice environment for staff, enhancing patient safety, and advancing nurse leadership.

Linda Flynn, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and tenured Professor at Rutgers School of Nursing, completed an NIH-funded postdoctoral research fellowship at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania, under the direction of Dr. Linda Aiken, where she developed expertise in systems outcomes research focused in acute and non-acute health care settings. Dr Flynn is a past recipient of the New Jersey Governor’s Merit Award for excellence in research, a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a Fellow in the New York Academy of Medicine, and serves as an honorary Senior Fellow at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania. She has most recently served as Co-Lead on several multi-state PCORI-funded projects that identified veterans’ healthcare needs, access challenges, and preferred strategies for fostering engagement. Her current PCORI project focuses on veterans’ chronic pain management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Helene Burns, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
of Clinical Services at Jefferson Health in New Jersey. In this role since 2013, Dr. Burns led her organization to receive its first Magnet Designation® in 2018.

Dr. Burns has overall responsibility for patient care services and nursing operations at the multi-hospital New Jersey division of Jefferson Health, with oversight of its more than 1,400 RNs and Department of Nursing staff. Dr. Burns has direct oversight of patient safety as it relates to nurse-sensitive indicators, e.g., patient fall rates, readmission rates, catheter-associated urinary track infections, blood stream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia rates, sepsis rates, and pressure ulcer rates. She collaborates with the medical staff and administrative teams leading High Reliability initiatives as they relate to patient safety.

An inspiring and engaged leader, Dr. Burns has championed many key initiatives linking patient and employee satisfaction, including leading a healthy work environment nursing council with clinical nurses; infusing shared governance councils within the organization; and improving nurse communication through nursing hourly rounds and beside communication initiatives. She also implemented several nursing retention initiatives, including Nurse Intern, Nurse Residency, and Nurse Mentorship programs. Dr. Burns has jointly led initiatives with two hospital administrators to design new patient towers with clinical staff putting design input.
Dr. Burns serves as president of ONL NJ.

Isabella Kocienski, RN, CNN, Clinical Staff at Ocean University Medical Center, Hackensack Meridian Health will share her research as an example of research that changed practice.

Kathryn Fleming, PhD, RN, Nurse Scientist, Hackensack Meridian Health served as a mentor to Isabella Kocienski during her research effort. Dr. Fleming will join the discussion with Ms. Kocienski.

Komal Saggu, MSN, RN, NP-C, CWOCN, Advanced Practice Nurse, Wound & Ostomy Center at The Valley Hospital will share her research project on wound care that changed practice at her hospital.

Sami Abate, PhD, MSHS, MSN, RN, CCRN, CNML is Director of Clinical Research at Inspira Health.

Tia Sheck, MSN, RN, CCRN, CNML,NPD-BC is the Clinical Manager of Nursing Excellence at Inspira Health.

Mildred Kowalski, PhD, RN, NE-BC, CCRP, is the Nurse Research Manager at Atlantic Health System.

Anita Skarbek, PhD, RN is the RN-BSN Program Director at the University of Missouri - Kansas City.