Columbus OH- The Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare at The Ohio State University College of Nursing is pleased to announce the 2023-2024 cohort of its Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Postdoctoral Fellowship.

"In the first two cohorts, we welcomed a diverse set of participants from around the country and various corners of healthcare, all of whom made significant contributions to furthering infusion of evidence-based practice (EBP) into education and practice. This year, we could not be more excited to work with these nine dynamic change agents who we are confident will continue to leverage EBP to improve outcomes and make inroads toward a healthier future for everyone," said Cindy Zellefrow, DNP, MSEd, RN, CSN, EBP-C, Academic Core and DNP Postdoctoral Fellowship director. The nine fellows that make up the 2023-2024 cohort represent nursing leadership, clinical practice, and academia.

The 2023 Fellows:

Amy Hu, DNP, RN, NPC-BC, CCRN, is a professional development specialist and manages John Muir Health's Nurse Residency Program and Simulation Program. She is also a lecturer at San Jose State University's Valley Foundation School of Nursing. Hu's doctoral work focused on advancing EBP competency in nurse residents. She is leading an initiative to reimagine John Muir Health's professional/shared governance model to ensure professional equity and governance, thus creating an EBP culture that provides the bedside nurse has professional accountability and clinical decision-making power. Hu received her DNP from California State University (San Jose, CA).

Angela Occidental, DNP, APRN-CNP, is a primary care provider practicing in West Portsmouth, Ohio. She provides care to rural residents who may have economic, geographical, or social barriers to accessing healthcare. She values patient education and is committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based patient care to improve health outcomes. Occidental received her DNP from The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH).

Christine Kuchenrither, DNP, RN, is an associate professor of nursing at Baldwin Wallace University, focusing on nursing fundamentals, medical-surgical nursing, and nursing theory. She teaches in both the traditional and accelerated BSN programs. She has an extensive background in coronary intensive care and clinical research, and is particularly interested in patients with heart failure. She serves as the Northeast Region Board member (at large) for the Ohio League for Nursing (ONL) and as a faculty advisor for the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) Baldwin Wallace chapter. Kuchenrither received her DNP from Chatham University (Pittsburgh, PA).

Eugena (Gena) Bergvall, DNP, AGACNP-BC, AGCNS-BC, ACCNS-AG, CCRN, CNRN, is a triple-board certified Advance Practice RN. She is the Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (NIHCC) in Bethesda, Maryland. As a CNS, she oversees neuroscience clinical research nursing practice and policies, is the program lead for the Neuroscience Nursing Education Series and Exemplary Practice for the Magnet Leadership Document Team and is also the co-developer and co-director for the NIHCC nursing EBP Fellowship Program and EBP-Research Innovation Council. Bergvall obtained her DNP from the University of Maryland Baltimore (Baltimore, MD).

Jessica Reuter, DNP, RN, EBP-C, NBC-HWC, has been faculty at The Ohio State University College of Nursing for 17 years. She teaches in the RN to BSN and traditional undergraduate programs. While pursuing her DNP, she focused on evaluating the outcomes of offering a perioperative elective to encourage students to enter the perioperative workforce after graduation. She has published several articles in the AORN Journal highlighting her work. Reuter received her DNP from The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH).

Karrie Boss, DNP, RN, APRN, ACCNS-AG, EBP-C, CCRN-K, is the System Director Evidence-Based Practice for Summa Health in Akron, Ohio. She leads and develops the strategic and operational goals, objectives, and focus areas contributing to Summa Health's Center for Clinical Inquiry. She is responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining infrastructural systems and processes supporting the clinical staff's ability to provide coordinated, evidence-based care effectively. Boss has over 20 years of nursing experience with expertise in critical care/intensive care, trauma and emergency nursing, stroke, and evidence-based practice. She holds national certifications as an Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (ACCNS-AG), Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN-K), and Evidence-Based Practice (EBP-C). Boss received her DNP from Kent State University (Kent, OH).

Shannon Patel, DNP, NEA-BC, CPHQ, CCRN-K, is a senior nurse leader who supports strategic planning initiatives, quality outcomes management, and professional practice development for several healthcare organizations and academic institutions, including Cooper University Medical School of Rowan University, Stockton University, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, New Jersey and her other alma mater, Rutgers University Camden. Her passion for promoting clinical quality and innovation has fostered her abilities to conceptualize, develop, and implement successful and innovative care delivery models supporting patient care and nurse professional development within healthcare organizations nationwide. Since 2018, Patel has served as an evidence-based practice mentor for the Fuld National Institute for EBP, where she leads and fosters the translation of research into clinical practice for nurses and healthcare professionals.  She received her DNP from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ).

Shivani Bhatnagar, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, is a practicing pediatric neurology nurse practitioner who specializes in caring for children with epilepsy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She is also a clinical assistant professor of practice at The Ohio State University College of Nursing, focusing on pediatrics. She teaches traditional pre-licensure and graduate entry students in clinical and didactic settings. Bhatnagar received her DNP from Otterbein University (Westerville, OH). Tiffany Messerall, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, RNC-OB, EBP-C, is the Evidence-Based Practice Lead at OhioHealth and a women's health nurse practitioner. Her notable accomplishments include improving fracture risk management in postmenopausal women and securing grant funding for identifying human trafficking in healthcare settings. She was appointed by the US Health Resources & Services Administration and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as an AIM Clinical Champion and part of a team of seven multidisciplinary clinicians dedicated to enhancing maternal outcomes. Messerall, received her DNP from the University of South Alabama (Mobile, AL).

The fellowship is a one-year, mentored experience with a primary goal to provide participants opportunities to engage in experiences that will elevate their expertise in EBP, evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI), implementation science and strategies, innovation, leadership, and navigating change in complex systems. The secondary goals of this program include:

• helping fellows become recognized as experts by providing high-profile experiences.
• fostering dissemination of their work.
• building a foundation for ongoing practice scholarship.

All fellows will continue working full-time in their professional positions thanks to support from their organizations.