PONL 2025 Annual Conference Snapshot sessions

1. RN Recruitment: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 

In less than a year, one academic medical center reduced RN vacancies by 60% and agency spend by over 80% through a bold, interprofessional recruitment redesign. This session explores how a nurse-led team from HR, Talent Acquisition, Finance, and Communications aligned around a shared goal and implemented an innovative, fast-track hiring model. Learn how real-time problem-solving, executive engagement, and relentless follow-through drove sustainable results.

 

Presented by: 

 Nicole Hartman, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC
Vice President, Nursing Clinical Excellence | Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

2. Improving Nurse Satisfaction and Patient Outcomes Through Digital Care Integration

TBD

Presented by: 

 Sara Angelilli, DNP, MS, RN, CNOR, NPD-BC, NE-BC
Director Nursing Education & Professional Development | Allegheny Health Network

3. Beyond the Checklist: Creating a Peer Review Process Nurses Value

Are your current peer reviews yielding measurable results? This session offers a solution! Learn how we replaced traditional Likert scales with rubric-anchored assessments and narrative feedback to create a peer review process that's valued by nurses at all levels. You'll gain actionable insights for fostering a more accountable and continuously improving nursing practice.

Presented by: 

 Lynn Kosar, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer | Allegheny Health Network, Forbes Hospital

 Janine Valko, MSN, RN, CEN
Magnet Program Director | Allegheny Health Network, Forbes Hospital

4. Nurse Leader-Driven Nightly Safety Huddles

Safety huddles amongst interdisciplinary team leaders during the night shift promote relationship building, improved awareness of safety concerns, and prioritization of complex patient care scenarios. This Snapshot Session discussion will focus on the implementation of nightly safety huddles and the related impact on perceptions of teamwork and psychological safety. Huddles are an easy-to-implement and low-cost intervention that nurse leaders can utilize to enhance patient safety and improve night-shift team engagement.

Presented by: 

 Joanna Dixon,DNP, RN, NPD-BC, NEA-BC
Lead Clinical Nurse Educator | Main Line Health

5. Nursing Students’ Perspectives on Interruptions and Healthcare Management's Role: A Qualitative Study

Interruptions are a daily reality for nurses, and they compromise efficiency and safety by diverting attention, increasing task completion time. Addressing these challenges requires more than individual coping strategies; it demands system-level solutions and leadership engagement. This qualitative descriptive study explored how 42 senior nursing students experienced interruptions during a high-fidelity simulation and reflected on the role of healthcare administrators in mitigating their impact. Through content analysis of narrative responses, three themes emerged: 1. Patient Safety Amid Interruptions as a Shared Responsibility, 2. Empathetic Advocacy when Making Business Decisions in the Real World, and 3. Impact of Interruptions on Well-being

Students found the simulation realistic and valuable, highlighting the need for healthcare leaders to understand frontline realities and collaborate meaningfully with nurses. This session underscores the importance of early systems thinking, empathy, and interprofessional engagement in shaping safer, more responsive clinical environments. Join us to hear what future nurses want leaders to know.

Presented by: 

Monica Rochman, RN, PhD

Assistant Professor, Director, Health Systems Leadership | Widener University

6. Leveraging Technology for Effective Fall Prevention and Post-Fall Care

Student nurses’ preparedness for entry level practice has been significantly impacted over the past several years, while hospitals are experiencing a growing number of retirements and turnover. Bridging the experience-complexity gap is critical. This organization collaborated with local nursing schools to focus on the nursing student experience. Strategies included individual discussions with the Dean and CNO, group discussion with numerous university contacts and adjunct faculty, school of nursing and nurse resident surveys, innovative changes in nursing student clinical rotations, and the implementation of an Advanced Extern Program. Strategies used and outcomes experienced not only by the students, but the Healthcare organization will be shared.

Presented by: 

 Amy Callahan, DNP, RN
System Director, Nursing Education & Professional Practice | Main Line Health

7. Implementing a Multidisciplinary Cohorting Care Model to Reduce Heart Failure Readmissions on a Med-Surg Unit 

This session will describe an innovative model designed to reduce readmission rates for Heart Failure patients. This was driven by the 30-day readmission rate being above the CMS benchmark. Using a Cardiac Step-Down unit as an inspiration, a multidisciplinary team was formed to create a similar model tailored for a medical-surgical telemetry unit. Initial 9-month metrics indicate a drop-in 30-day readmission rates to below the CMS benchmark.

Presented by: 

Pam Juritsch, MSN, RN, NE-BC

Director of Clinical Services | Lehigh Valley Health Network, Part of Jefferson Health

Annie DeRoberts, BSN, MHS, LSSGB, RN

Senior Continuous Improvement Specialist | Jefferson Health

8. The Impact of a Healthcare Financial and Business Management Education and Mentoring Program on Nurse Leaders: A Mixed Methods Project

The healthcare ecosystem has evolved into a complex landscape, demanding a shift in nurse leaders' competencies. In this value-based environment, they must demonstrate astute healthcare business skills. However, financial and business principles remain the most underdeveloped skills and competencies among nurse leaders, leading to a significant practice gap.

This presentation session will showcase the statistically significant results of a multi-method project study that revealed improvements in nurse leaders' knowledge acquisition and self-perceived competency in healthcare financial and business management through participation in an educational and mentoring program.

Presented by: 

 Carol Fluegge DNP, MBA, MA, CENP, RN
Executive HealthCare Consulting

9. Cultivating Civility

Are your nurse leaders equipped to handle bullying and incivility within their teams or are unhealthy work environments left unchecked? A culture of civility is essential for high-functioning teams and safe patient care. Nurse leaders are vital to the creation, maintenance, and promotion of a healthy work environment, yet they lack the skills and abilities to do so.

This presentation highlights a nurse leader-led quality-improvement project, focused on empowering nurse leaders through structured training to proactively address disruptive behaviors. Learn how this project enhanced nurse leaders' ability to recognize, prevent, and manage bullying and incivility while fostering accountability. Empowering nurse leaders to champion civility is a strategic imperative that can drive lasting cultural change, transform patient care, improve staff well-being, and change the stigma of nursing as a profession marked by bullying and incivility.

Presented by: 

Courtney Ruck, DNP, RN, SCRN, NEA-BC

Division Director Critical Care, Nursing Unit Director Neuroscience Medical Surgical Unit | Tower Health - Reading Hospital