SuperSessions

• Monday Keynote
• Tuesday Special Entertainment
• Wednesday Opening Speaker
• Wednesday Keynote
• Distinguished Research Lecture

Monday Keynote

Kristine Peterson, RN, MS, CCRN, CCNS
AACN President

At last year’s NTI, AACN President Kristine Peterson announced her theme, Stand Tall. Since then, she has advanced the theme by writing about it in her AACN Bold Voices column and speaking at forums across the United States. Kristine will share insights and best practices she’s learned talking with nurses around the country during her presidential year. She brings to her role as AACN president vast experience in critical care and advanced practice nursing, management and education. She is a cardiac clinical nurse specialist at the Magnet-designated Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wisconsin.

Tuesday Special Entertainment

Second City Communications

The Second City specializes in sketch comedy and improvisation and has been delighting audiences for more than 50 years. Called "a comedy empire" by the New York Times, The Second City is improv-based comedy at its finest. These talented comedians will give us a healthy dose of laughter to start our day with sketches that address nursing, humanity, our everyday lives and the healthcare experience.

Wednesday Opening Speaker

Mary Stahl, RN, MSN, ACNS-BC, CCNS-CMC, CCRN
AACN President-Elect

Each year, AACN's president-elect sets the tone for the association's upcoming year with a theme that provides inspiration for our AACN community. In a highly anticipated moment, AACN President-elect Mary Stahl will unveil her new theme. Stahl brings to her role as AACN president-elect 30 years of critical care nursing experience. A cardiovascular clinical nurse specialist in the cardiology progressive care unit at Mid America Heart Institute, Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, Mo., she oversees heart failure management and cardiac transplantation nursing care.

Wednesday Keynote

Dr. Bertice Berry
A Year to Wellness and Other Weight Loss Secrets

We appreciate her so much last year — and she says the feeling is mutual — that we keep inviting her back. Sociologist and award-winning lecturer Bertice Berry, Ph.D., combines her skills as a sociologist and researcher with a gift to inspire and enlighten. She'll make you think. She'll make you laugh. The best-selling author of four novels and two humor books, Berry will return as our Master of Ceremonies. She'll also share what she’s learned on her journey to wellness documented in her new book, A Year to Wellness and Other Weight Loss Secrets, as Wednesday’s keynote speaker.

Distinguished Research Lecture

Monday, May 2 · 2:15-3:30PM
Supported by Philips Healthcare

Marjorie Funk, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN
As Healthcare Technology Advances: Benefits and Risks

Dr. Funk's research focuses on the technology used to care for critically ill patients with heart disease, emphasizing the clinical application of monitoring—how nurses use it and how patients benefit. The use of electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring is a thread throughout her research career. During this year's Distinguished Research Lecture, Funk will describe studies that examine the safe and appropriate use of technology, its equitable distribution and the human-machine interface.