Speakers

Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, CPNP/PMHNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from West Virginia University, her Master of Science degree with a specialization in nursing care of children and pediatric nurse practitioner from the University of Pittsburgh and her PhD in clinical research from the University of Rochester where she also completed her post-master’s certificate as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. She is a nationally/internationally recognized expert in evidence-based practice, intervention research, child and adolescent mental health, and health and wellness, and is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international conferences on these topics.

Melnyk has led the EBP movement in nursing for the last two decades and consulted with hundreds of healthcare systems and colleges throughout the nation and globe on how to improve quality of care and patient outcomes through implementing and sustaining evidence-based practice. Her record includes over $33 million of sponsored funding from federal agencies and foundations as principal investigator and over 400 publications. She is co-editor of seven books, including Evidence-based Practice in Nursing & Healthcare: A Guide to Best Practice (4th Ed), and Implementing the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Competencies in Healthcare: A Practical Guide for Improving Quality, Safety, and Outcomes, both American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award winners.

Melnyk is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Nursing, the National Academies of Practice, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She served a four-year term on the 16-member United States Preventive Services Task Force and the National Institutes of Health’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research. She currently serves as a member of the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Behavioral Health Standing Committee. Melnyk is editor of the journal, Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, a board member of the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience.

Melnyk has received numerous national and international awards, including the Audrey Hepburn Award, Mary Tolle Wright Excellence in Leadership Award, the International Nursing Research Hall of Fame Award from Sigma Theta Tau International, the Jessie Scott Award from the American Nurses Association, the Midwest Nursing Research Society Senior Scientist award, the NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research’s inaugural director’s lectureship award, and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties Lifetime Achievement Award. She also has been recognized as an Edge Runner three times by the American Academy of Nursing for founding and directing the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners’ KySS child and adolescent mental health program, her COPE Program for parents of preterm infants and critically ill children, and her COPE programs for decreasing depression/anxiety and improving healthy lifestyle behaviors in children, teens and young adults.

Cindy Beckett, PhD, RNC-OB, LCCE, LSS-BB, CHRC, is assistant professor of clinical practice at The Ohio State University College of Nursing, assistant director of the Academic Core and program director of the EBP Certificate, a transdisciplinary value-based certificate in evidence-based practice. Beckett has been a nurse for over 40 years. During that time, she has worked in many roles from staff nurse, charge nurse, manager, director, educator, faculty and researcher. Her research focus has involved rural and under-served communities and populations using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies: Description of Neonatal Outcomes in Substance Abusing Women; Navajo Children and Families Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)/Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE); Collaborative Communication: Integrating SBAR to Improve Quality/Patient Safety Outcomes; The Effects of Massage Therapy on Pain Management in the Acute Care Setting; Comparison of Apnea Detection by Pulse Oximetry Versus Capnography; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Native American Journey to Prevention; Reduction of Hospital Readmissions for Patients with Previously Identified Malnutrition; Flinn Foundation Grant (Paired studies): 1-Precision Population Health Management: Integrated Paired Proposals for Personalized Transitional Medicine for Native American Populations in Northern Arizona, 2-Precision Population Health Management: Integrated Paired Proposals for Personalized Transitional Medicine for Hispanic and Anglo Populations in Northern Arizona, and Cognitive-Communication Screening and Early Rehabilitation for Adults with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Beckett has mentored and supported students, medical and nursing residents, healthcare providers and researchers across the spectrum of experience in clinical research and EBP for over 18 years. She is an expert mentor for evidence-based practice, teaching graduate students at Arizona State University and at The Ohio State University College of Nursing as well as immersion participants through the former Center for Transdisciplinary Evidence-Based Practice (CTEP), now the Fuld Institute for EBP, on evidence-based change projects to improve practice and patient outcomes and to demonstrate value added strategies that also produce strong return on investment (ROI). 

Beckett served as the Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) coordinator for THRIVE (Translating Health Research Initiatives for Population Health) collaborations between clinicians and researchers across NAH and Northern Arizona University (NAU) for 5 years. In this role, she matched clinicians with researchers to respond to requests for proposals from intermural and extramural funding sources. She managed research and EBP funds for pilot and preliminary studies focusing on population health and patient outcomes research.

Cindy Zellefrow, DNP, MSEd, RN, LSN, PHNA-BC, is assistant professor of clinical practice at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and director of the Academic Core. Zellefrow has traveled the world presenting, teaching, consulting and collaborating with faculty about various aspects of EBP in academia and practice. She is actively engaged in research and publishing about various aspects of EBP, including EBP teaching, integration and competency. In addition to articles on various aspects of EBP, she is a contributing author to several textbooks about EBP, and has created online interactive EBP education resources for several textbooks as well. Zellefrow’s research interests include various aspects of EBP in both academic and clinical settings as well as wellness in newly graduated nurses. As faculty in the OSU College of Nursing, she teaches EBP, mentors faculty around EBP integration and has led re-imagination of the EBP courses and EBP integration across curricula. Her clinical practice background includes 15 years in adult ICU, ED and critical care transport and 15 years in school nursing.

Dónal P. O’Mathúna, PhD, MA, BSc (Pharm), is associate professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing; associate professor at the School of Nursing & Human Sciences at Dublin City University, Ireland; and Cochrane Affiliate program director at the Fuld Institute for EBP. His degrees are in pharmacy and ethics, with research interests focused on both evidence-based practice (EBP) and healthcare ethics. His EBP activities have focused on systematic reviews with the Cochrane Collaboration and he was director of Cochrane Ireland from 2014 to 2017. O’Mathúna has conducted systematic review training in Ireland, the UK and the USA, and is co-author on a number of systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library. His ethics research has focused on disasters and humanitarian crises, most recently as co-editor of Disasters: Core Concepts and Ethical Issues (Springer, 2018). O’Mathúna is the principal investigator on funded research projects examining research ethics in the context of disasters and humanitarian crises. He has contributed to ethics initiatives and guidelines with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN agency for disaster risk reduction (UNISDR). As the director of a new virtual Center for Disaster & Humanitarian Ethics, he is developing practical tools and support strategies to facilitate ethical reflection within evidence-generation activities in humanitarian and disaster settings. He has spoken and published widely, including peer-reviewed articles in The Lancet, Bioethics, BMC Medical Ethics, Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, and Worldviews on Evidence-based Nursing.

Elaine Finucane, PhD, RM, BSc, is a midwife, Cochrane fellow and research associate in the Centre for Health Evaluation, Methodology Research and Evidence Synthesis (CHEMRES), located in the National University of Ireland Galway. She is a PhD Fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the National University of Ireland Galway. Finucane’s research is based mainly within the maternity care setting. She is the lead author on two Cochrane Systematic Reviews within the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Review Group.

Inga Zadvinskis, PhD, RN, is assistant director of the Community Core at the Fuld Institute for EBP. Zadvinskis earned her PhD in Nursing Science from The Ohio State University after receiving her MSN, Nurse Practitioner with a focus on adult health, primary care from Wayne State University and BSN from Michigan State. Her nursing career began with serving patients in the surgical step-down and surgical ICU settings. Zadvinskis has worked as a nurse practitioner in primary care and pre-admission testing. In her clinical educator role, she promoted evidence-based practice and the Magnet™ accreditation process. Zadvinskis has mentored teams of interprofessional staff conducting evidence-based practice projects and nursing research in hospital settings. Her dissertation work explored contributing factors to patient safety and adverse events in the hospital setting. She has numerous publications related to patient safety, safe patient handling and mobility, and health information technology. Zadvinskis is delighted to be part of the Fuld Institute for EBP interprofessional team that promotes evidence-based interventions to improve health and quality outcomes.

Jacqueline Hoying, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, is assistant professor of clinical nursing and director of MINDSTRONG™ at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and director of the Consumer Core at the Fuld Institute for EBP. A behavioral intervention researcher, Hoying studies interventions to promote overall health and well-being, promote mental resilience, and reduce stress, anxiety and depression principally among college-age young adults, health professionals and adults. Her interventions include cognitive behavioral interventions with a focus on cognitive behavioral skills building techniques, which she teaches and studies. Presently serving as co-investigator in a NIH-funded RO1, she is a recognized expert in cognitive behavioral research and trains professionals nationally to deliver the evidence-based program, MINDSTRONG™.

Karla Soares-Weiser, PhD, MD, MSc, is the editor-in-chief of the Cochrane Library, one of the most reputable sources of best evidence worldwide. A board-certified clinician, she also has a doctorate in evidence-based healthcare and has been working in this field since 1997. She is the author of over 60 Systematic Reviews, including 33 Cochrane Reviews. She has held numerous positions in Cochrane Groups, including the Iberoamerican and UK Cochrane Centres, where she provided training in systematic review production. Outside Cochrane, Soares-Weiser has held academic faculty positions in Brazil and Israel and established her own consultancy business providing evidence synthesis services to government agencies and not-for-profit organizations. As editor-in-chief, Soares-Weiser is responsible for ensuring that the Cochrane Library meets its strategic goals of supporting healthcare decision making by consistently publishing timely, high-priority, high-quality reviews and responding to the needs of its many users.

Kasey Boehmer, PhD, MPH, NBC-HWC, is an Assistant Professor of Health Services Research and faculty member in the Mayo Clinic Division of Health Care Delivery Research. She also serves as a health services researcher in the Knowledge and Evaluation Research (KER) Unit and the Late Stage Translational Research Core in the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences at Mayo Clinic. She directs the Minimally Disruptive Medicine Program of work at Mayo, and her primary research interests include patient-centered care and communication techniques to understand and support the capacity of patients with multiple chronic conditions and their caregivers. She has currently authored or co-authored over 20 publications on this topic, including a systematic review and thematic synthesis to develop a Theory of Patient Capacity. Furthermore, she has developed the ICAN Discussion Aid, a practical communication tool that supports the practice of MDM, to assist patients, their caregivers and their healthcare teams with discussions about how life and healthcare are working together. This Discussion Aid also supports a practice called “Capacity Coaching” developed by Boehmer and her collaborators.

Kevin P. Browne DNP, RN, CNS, CCRN, has been a nurse for 33 years. A member of the Executive Nursing Leadership Team at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) in New York City, Kevin is the VP, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer. Kevin is responsible for the integration of nursing practice, quality and education for 4000 + Registered Nurses across the enterprise as well as oversight of outpatient nursing operations.

Before this position Kevin was the Director, Critical Care and Pediatric Nursing Services at MSK, Nurse Leader Pre-Surgical Services MSK; Nurse Leader, Cardiac Surgical Services at Maimonides Medical Center (MMC); Cardiothoracic Clinical Nurse Specialist at MMC; Critical Care Educator at New York Hospital (NYH); and Staff Nurse, Cardiothoracic Surgical Recovery NYH.

Kevin achieved a BS with a major in Nursing from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center School of Nursing in 1987, an MS in Nursing from Columbia University School of Nursing in 1992 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from St. Peter’s University in December 2018. Kevin’s doctoral work focused on a new phenomenon known as Practice Drift. He is an expert in evidence-based practice methods, cultivating a spirit of inquiry internationally. He is a Fellow in the New York Academy of Medicine. He holds dual licensure in New York and New Jersey. He is also licensed as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in New York. Kevin is certified by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Lynn Gallagher-Ford, PhD, RN, NE-BC, DPFNAP, FAAN, is the chief operating officer and clinical core director of the Fuld Institute for EBP. Gallagher-Ford's clinical background in maternal-child health and nursing administration spans 30 years. She served in a variety of roles ranging from bedside clinician to chief nursing officer, in which she gained extensive experience and expertise in teaching and implementing evidence-based practice in real-world clinical settings. Gallagher-Ford is currently active as a consultant, facilitator and keynote presenter at national and international conferences and education programs.

Gallagher-Ford co-edited the book Implementing the EBP Competencies in Healthcare: A Practical Guide for Improving Quality, Safety & Outcomes. Her publications include co-authorship of multiple studies that have had a dramatic impact on the current body of knowledge about evidence-based practice and influenced strategic imperatives to address new challenges. She also contributed as a lead author in the American Journal of Nursing EBP Series, which received the Sigma Theta Tau Publication Award for 2011.

She serves as assistant editor of Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing and is the editor of the column “Implementing and Sustaining EBP in Real-World Healthcare Settings,” which features best evidence-based strategies and innovative ideas on how to promote and sustain evidence-based practices and cultures in clinical organizations.

Gallagher-Ford’s research is focused on the science behind evidence-based practice, with particular focus on the influence of nurse leaders and contextual issues. She was inducted into the National Academies of Practice and the Nursing Academy as a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow in 2013 and the American Academy of Nursing as a fellow in 2017.

Maureen Smith, MEd, has a long history of collaboration with the healthcare system subsequent to a rare disease diagnosis in childhood. She is an enthusiastic patient partner in a number of research studies, including the systematic review of decision coaching and a project on supporting Canadians making emergent health decisions, led by Dr. Dawn Stacey. Smith is the Chair of the Cochrane Consumer Network Executive and Chair of the Ontario Strategy for Patient Oriented Research’s Patient Partner Working Group. 

Michael Ackerman, DNS, RN, is currently the director of the Master in Healthcare Innovation Program and professor of clinical nursing at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. He also maintains a clinical practice as an acute care nurse practitioner volunteering at St Joseph’s Neighborhood in Rochester, New York. He is the owner of Ackerman Consulting.

Ackerman has held just about every position a nurse could hold in academia and clinical practice from candy stripper 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 innovation work has led to many disruptions in clinical practice and health system change. He has been recognized for his contributions with various fellowships including: Fellow in Critical Care Medicine, Fellow in the National Academy of Practice, Fellow in American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Ackerman completed his BSN from Niagara University, his MSN and DNS from The State University of New York at Buffalo, a post-master’s certificate as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from the University of Rochester and is currently enrolled in a Design Thinking certificate program at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Missy Creed, MA, MLIS, is a librarian at the Library for Health Information (LHI), a department of The Ohio State University Health Sciences Library. Creed received a Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University and a Master of Arts in Applied Behavioral Science from Wright State University. She has earned a level two of the Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) through the Medical Library Association. As a librarian in the LHI, Creed provides free, reliable, easy to read and easy to understand health information on any health topic to patients, their families, staff of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the community. Creed serves on the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare’s Community Core Advisory Board.

Molly McNett, PhD, RN, CNRN, FNCS, FAAN, is professor of clinical nursing at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and assistant director of the Implementation Science Core, Fuld Institute for EBP. McNett’s research centers on care of critically ill patients after neurological injury. In her work, she has led funded, multi-site, national trials and routinely participates in international trials with diverse research teams. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals, has authored several evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and presents nationally on research and evidence-based care for patients after devastating neurological injuries. 

Penelope F. Gorsuch, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, USAF Col (ret), is assistant professor of clinical practice, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, and assistant director of the Clinical Core, Fuld Institute for EBP. Gorsuch is a retired colonel from the United States Air Force (USAF) with over 28 years of service in numerous clinical and leadership positions. She has also served as the associate director of Patient Care Services/nurse executive for the Dayton Veteran’s Administration (VA) Medical Center in Ohio. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has recognized Gorsuch as a content expert in evidence-based practice (EBP) and she has earned the designation of Evidence-based Practice Certificate Holder from the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification. From 2014-2017, she was adjunct faculty for Wright State University College of Nursing and served on their Academic and Strategic Planning Board. In 2018, Gorsuch achieved Fellow status by attaining her FACHE credential through the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Nurse Executive Track Director and Grayce Sills Endowed Professor in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, College of Nursing, and Implementation Science Core Director, Helene Fuld Heath Trust National Institute for Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare, all at The Ohio State University. A board (ANCC) certified adult psychiatric mental health clinical nurse specialist, licensed APRN-CNS in Ohio and behavioral researcher, Tucker focuses on behavioral interventions to promote health and wellness, prevent disease, and reduce stress and risks among families, particularly among working mothers and children. Her interventions include environmental strategies, cognitive behavioral interventions, and motivational interviewing, which she teaches, studies and practices.

In addition to being recognized as an expert in health and wellness interventions and strategies, Tucker is a known leader in evidence-based practice (EBP), implementation science, and quality improvement. She served as director of research, EBP and quality for two Magnet-designated, large hospitals in academic medical centers (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Mayo Clinic) for 15 years prior to joining OSU in 2017. Research and EBP outcomes were recognized by the Magnet surveyors as exemplary for both hospitals. Dr. Tucker led her team at the University of Iowa (UI) Hospitals and Clinics in the writing of a successful competitive application for the prestigious Magnet Prize, which was awarded in 2014 for their legacy work in EBP. In partnership with the UI College of Nursing, they were also awarded recognitions for collaborative partnerships by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2014 and the Midwest Nursing Research Society in 2017.

Tucker developed and published the Evidence-Based Practice Self-Efficacy Scale in 2009, and since tracking its use beginning in 2013, the scale has been requested over 1340 times coming from 40 countries. She is co-author of two books on EBP, one published in 2008 titled Evidence-based nursing care guidelines: Medical-surgical interventions (St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier) and one published in 2018 titled Evidence-based practice in action: Comprehensive strategies, tools and tips from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (Indianapolis: Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing). She has written multiple papers and chapters on EBP and implementation aimed to advance safe, high quality clinical nursing care.

Tucker earned her BSN from the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, Minnesota, a MSN from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, and her PhD in Nursing from Rush University in Chicago. She is an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program (2007 Cohort) and was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2014 and as a fellow to the National Academies of Practice in 2019. In addition, T5:06 PMucker has been on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Nursing Research Society since 2015, currently serving as treasurer, and is the Chair of the Health Behavior Expert Panel of the American Academy of Nursing. She is the associate editor of Worldviews in Evidence-based Nursing, a member of the Advisory Board for Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare 4th Edition (Melynk & Fineout-Overholt), and appointed member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of School Nursing. She regularly reviews conference abstracts, grants, and manuscripts for several interdisciplinary and nursing journals.

Timiya Nolan is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and Nurse Scientist at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Nolan studies issues in self-management and  prevention of chronic conditions (i.e., breast cancer and cardiovascular disease). Her community-based research program is looking at ways to improve quality of life and health among individuals from underrepresented, underserved populations through the development, implementation and dissemination of targeted interventions. Nolan’s work has been supported by the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen and others. She earned a BSN, MSN, and PhD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, and completed postdoctoral training at The Ohio State University College of Nursing.