News and Events

Read the latest news and events at the Abramson Family Center of Nursing Excellence.

May 2024

Because of their groundbreaking qualitative research on the journeys of Black/African American women along the nursing career trajectory, Penn Medicine/HUP Nurses Larissa Morgan MSN, RN, NPD-BC, Andrea Blount MPH, BSN, RN, Felicia Morrison MSN, MBA, RN, Georgian (Gigi) Green MSN, CRNP, FNP-C, RN-BC, and Rebecca Trotta PhD, RN were invited by Dr. Katie Boston-Leary, Director of Nursing Programs at the American Nurses Association to attend the red carpet unveiling of the documentary, “Everybody’s Work: Healing What Hurts us All” on May 10th at the Howard Theatre in Washington DC.

We are honored to have our HUP Nurses represented at this event and our research “The Path for Women of Color to Ascend in Healthcare: Stakeholder Perspectives in Nursing” acknowledged as an important action toward the dismantling of structural racism.

Elizabeth “Beth” Bass, MSN, RN, CCRN, participant in the Practicum in Evidence, Synthesis presented her Systematic Review of Communication Interventions for Non-Vocal Patients at the SePA Annual Research Dinner. SePA is a local Chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Nurses Week 2024

HUP Nursing Stories were shared to Celebrate our staff during Nurses Week:

Dina Bammer, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CNOR, Director, Nursing Professional Development. HUP has supported my professional development in various ways throughout my career. From my first day of employment to current day, I am grateful as the opportunities are abundant and the culture and team truly support all to succeed in their ideas and goals for nursing excellence. The nurse residency program fostered my development as a new to practice nurse in the OR. HUP continues to support my development including nursing specialty certification, tuition reimbursement for my graduate degree and the opportunity to enhance my knowledge through councils, committees, and conferences.

The incredible energy, passion, expertise, and teamwork of HUP nursing to deliver excellent care and support our patients, families, community, and each other. We live our professional practice model everyday: we care, we lead, and we innovate- always striving to improve.

Raeshana Barr, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse 2, 14 Center. While working at HUP, I took advantage of tuition reimbursement to pursue nursing school while working as a CNA. I am proud that I had the opportunity to become a nurse with the support of my coworkers and manager. I originally received my diploma RN, and worked my way up to BSN as I went through my first year of being a nurse.

My Nursing Story: I was a CNA for 10 years before I transitioned to a Registered Nurse. I worked every weekend as I attended nursing school, determined to succeed. I also had the opportunity of working on the Covid unit during the pandemic and transferring from Rhoads 6 to the Pavilion, where I currently work as a Clinical Nurse II.

Dana Bower, BSN, RN, CCRN, Nursing Clinical Coordinator/Rapid Response Nurse. Opportunities at HUP are basically endless. It's an individual's choice to utilize them. At my fingertips has been a multitude of in-services, nursing national conferences that I have attended, and certifications. All of which is easily accessible as well as reimbursable.

My Nursing Story: I have been a HUP nurse since 1994. This was the 3rd hospital that I worked for as a young nurse, as I was hoping to find a place of employment that I would be proud of and honored to work for. I knew that could exist. 30 years later - I have never looked back and I am quite sure that I could not have made a better career decision. I have been provided with the knowledge, the experiences, the tools, and the support to do whatever I yearned for with my nursing career. HUP has gifted me with so much, and it has been my pleasure to also be loyal to this institution. I have worked alongside of the most amazing, strong, and powerful nurses that our region has. To sum it up, the nurses that I have had the honor to work alongside for the past 30 years of have also been an extended family of mine that I am so grateful for. I shall never take any of what HUP has given me professionally and personally for granted.

Megan Carr-Lettieri, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, CCRN, Senior Nurse Practitioner, Medical Critical Care, and Interdisciplinary Patient Safety Officer. Originally, I was fortunate to have been offered a Nurse Extern position at Pennsylvania Hospital. Following undergraduate graduation and with the merger of PAH with HUP in 1996, I moved to the MICU on Founders 9 and was inspired by mentors to pursue an advanced degree with the hope of becoming the first NP in the MICU.

With the generous tuition reimbursement benefit at the time, I was able to complete my degree while working full time. Since the position in the MICU was not yet established and I knew I needed to develop as an NP, I was fortunate to be mentored as a new to practice NP on the Lung Transplant team. With three years of professional growth, I was encouraged and supported to become as a presenter at local and national conferences as well as participate in research and academic publications (both nursing and medical journals). With this bolstered professional growth, in Spring 2003, I was able to gain the confidence to submit a plan for the development of the role of the first NP in the MICU that coincided with the establishment of the residency 80 work rule initiative. The tremendous support from my prior "home " unit leadership to come back into a novel role was, in large part, setting me up for future success. Having been a bedside RN, I was able to translate initiatives and patient care with an interdisciplinary mindset and longitudinal perspective that supported staff, patients, and families alike. Getting proficient with all bedside invasive procedural techniques allowed for the role to further expand and develop the Procedure Service when an esteemed colleague brought their vision from another institution. Additionally, after demonstrating impact in patient outcomes, we were able to expand our team with additional providers. To see our current model that has evolved into two APP MICUs co-managed with our wonderful Intensivist colleagues staffed 24/7 with nearly 40 APPs has honestly reflected the trust and support of administration and teams for whom we partner in our patients' care; not the least of which was during the COVID response and acquisition of HUP Cedar ICU needs. Lastly, I feel so fortunate to be one of four clinicians chosen to become an Interdisciplinary Patient Safety Officer (IPSO).

In this role, I can be a face-forward partner in Patient Safety and weave my clinical experience and multidisciplinary relationships into translatable initiatives to improve care for our patients and staff. May 14 will mark 30 years since I started in the health system, and I feel like my journey has been supported in so many ways that have allowed for personal, professional, and academic growth while also supporting my growing family's health care and future academic needs.

HUP Nursing's legacy of providing exceptional clinical care that is evidence-based, patient-centered, wholistic and compassionate has attracted some of my most esteemed colleagues. In my tenure, I think I am most proud of actualizing goals that continued my professional goals as well as impacted patient care and safety. This could not have happened without the support of so many individuals from ALL disciplines, regardless of whether they were in "official" leadership positions. Knowing that leadership at HUP respects the valuable contribution of nurses, and supports professional development in so many ways, makes me want to continue to contribute to the mission. I do feel proudest of the clinician I became because of COVID, when we were asked to stand up and serve as the ICU team at HUP Cedar for two years. The perspectives of the population that HUP Cedar serves, coupled with the amazing community of clinicians (many of whom were there for decades) truly redefined my practice. Ultimately, it solidified my desire to pursue a leadership position that could influence patient safety directly while also advocating for equity and shared resources among our campuses.

Reflecting on my career – soon to span three decades – brings to mind countless stories of the patients, families, and staff that have allowed me to grow and learn. One of my most impactful moments was in the ICU at HUP Cedar when I cared for a patient with recurrent respiratory failure requiring intubation and frequent admissions. By taking a different approach to their care, we identified the root cause of his complex health journey: health literacy. Coincidentally, my family has imbedded within it a resource of teachers. With their shared expertise, and in partnership with the incredible social worker, we were able to set up this patient for success and identified resources that would support their literacy. The ripple effect of this brief time investment has forever impacted how I react to those who are marginalized. `This humble reminder has taken me back to the quote I used in my very first essay for my application to Nursing school and what my family always taught me: "If not you, who? If not now when?"

Zachariah Jackson, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse 2, Rhoads 7. As a HUP nurse, I am proud to be a part of such a well-recognized and respected healthcare institution. I have been able to advance professionally in many ways with the support of HUP’s professional development programs, including becoming a preceptor and taking the formal preceptor course, becoming ACLS certified, and taking on the role of charge nurse.

There are many instances I can think of that make me proud to be a HUP nurse, but some of the most meaningful are when patients are admitted to my floor whether it be a hospital transfer, through the emergency department, or a scheduled procedure. One thing I hear often, and never get tired of hearing, is how happy they are to be at HUP. A common theme is always how caring and comforting the staff is on every level. Many times, they have experienced many other healthcare organizations and at the end of the day would rather be no place but inside of our walls. HUP is truly a special place and amazing healthcare institution.

Read more of our Nursing Week stories

April 2024

Danielle Pollock, MSN, RN, OCN, Nursing Research Fellow presented a peer-reviewed poster titled,“Identification of Factors Related to Falls in Neutropenic Hematologic Malignanacy Patients Undergoing Stem Cell Transplant or Induction Chemotherapy” at the 47th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Congress in Washington, DC.

Aliza Narva, JD, MSN, RN, HEC-C, Director of Ethics, presented “Empowering Nurse Leaders with Ethics Education & Professional Development” with Meghan Fitzpatrick, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Christina Salemo, DNP, RN, AGCNS-BC, at the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, April 2024.

March 2024

Erin Marturano MBE, MSN, RN, HEC-C, Ethics Manager presented a peer reviewed poster titled “Supporting Nurse Leaders with Ethics Education & Leadership Development” at the National Nursing Ethics Conference in California, March 2024. Additional poster authors include Aliza Narva, JD, MSN, RN, HEC-C, Meghan Fitzpatrick, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Christina Salemo, DNP, RN, AGCNS-BC, poster presentation at the National Nursing Ethics Conference, March 2024.

HUP Ethics Manager Erin Marturano MSN, MBE, RN, HEC-C has been appointed as a co-chair for the National Nursing Ethics Conference (NNEC) after having served on the planning committee since 2020. The annual conference aims to promote ethics education, reflection and dialogue, and to support those at the frontlines of care.

Grand Rounds Presentations – 2024

September 2024 – “Clinician Distress Trajectories When Caring for Seriously Ill Hospitalized Patients: A Mixed-Methods Study” presented by Anessa M. Foxwell, PhD, MBE, APRN, ACHPN, FPCN, Post Doctoral Fellow, Penn Nursing, Nurse Practitioner, Medical Oncology

August 2024 – “The Path for Women of Color to Ascend in Healthcare: Stakeholder Perspectives in Nursing” presented by Larissa Morgan MSN, RN, NPD-BC; Georgian Green MSN, CRNP, FNP-C, RN-BC; Andrea Blount MPH, BSN, RN; Felicia Morrison MSN, MBA, RN; Rebecca Trotta PhD, RN

June 2024 – “Employee Voice Expression and Organizational Recognition: Strategies to Improve Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Increase Nurse Retention” presented by Robyn Hilliard, EdD, MSN, CMSRN, NEA-BC

April 2024 – “Survival and Functional Status Outcomes After Heart Transplantation with Organs from Donors Who Overdosed” presented by Jennifer Siebert PhD, RN CCRN

March 2024 – “Identification of Factors Related to Falls in Neutropenic Hematologic Malignancy Patients” presented by Danielle Pollock BSN, RN, OCN

January 2024 – “Creating Poster Presentations for Scholarly Dissemination” presented by Rebecca Trotta, PhD, RN.

Grand Rounds Presentations – 2023

February 2023 – “Using Delphi Methodology to Build Consensus in Emerging Research” presented by Rebecca Trotta PhD, RN; Rachel Senker BSN, RN; Julia Valenziano MSN, RN, CCRN

April 2023 – “Magnet4Europe Project and U.S. Clinician Wellbeing Study: Bringing Magnet Principles to Europe” presented by Jessie Reich PhD, RN, ANP-BC; Florence Vanek MSN, RN, NE-BC; Melissa Stanton MSN, MPH, RN, NPDS-BC

July 2023 – “Nurse-Driven Protocols for Antibiotic Initiation in Febrile Neutropenia” presented by Rian Mills BSN, RN, OCN; Cristina Colella BSN, RN; Samantha Schad MSN, RN, OCN, WTA-C

September 2023 – “Oncology Patients' Satisfaction and Quality of Life: A Comparison of Three Care Delivery Models” presented by Lindsey Zinck, PhD, RN, OCN, NEA-BC

October 2023 – “Evaluating Novel Healthcare Approaches to Nurturing and Caring for Hospitalized Elders (ENHANCE) Trial” presented by Rebecca Trotta PhD, RN

December 2023 – A systematic Review of Communication Interventions for Non-Vocal Patients presented by Elizabeth Bass MSN, RN, CCRN.

2022

Clinical Nurse Specialist of the Year Award- Katie Hopkins

The purpose of the award is to recognize a National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) member for outstanding professional achievement as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in the three spheres of CNS influence. The award acknowledges a nurse who demonstrates CNS competencies and exemplary practice in patient care, nursing and health care delivery systems. The NACNS is a membership organization devoted to advancing the unique expertise and values the clinical nurse specialist brings to delivering high-quality, evidence-based, patient-centered care and to reducing the cost of health care delivery. NACNS has more than 2,000 members and represents the more than 70,000 clinical nurse specialists working in hospitals and health systems, clinics and ambulatory settings and colleges and universities today.

Read Press Release

Grand Rounds Presentations – 2022

April 2022 – “Trauma Patient Transitions: An Exploratory Study of Organizational Variables and Provider Behavior” presented by Jason Saucier PhD RN CRNP

June 2022 – “Seeking Common Ground in Ambulatory Infusion: A Grounded Theory” presented by Kristen Maloney PhD, RN, AOCNS

August 2022 – “Celebrating Nurse Led Research at HUP” presented by Rebecca Trotta PhD, RN