Learning Center

Alison Rich Mason serves as the system director, professional practice, providing oversight and leadership for nursing practice for CommonSpirit Health, Patient Care Services. In her current role, she provides facilitation and oversight in the management of clinical practice. Alison is also the system lead for CommonSpirit’s Nursing Professional Practice Council. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and has presented at national and international conferences on evidence-based practice and clinical informatics. Her interview with Health Leaders on strategies for implementation of an online knowledge resource across a large health system was published in 2017. She holds bachelor’s degrees in art and nursing, and a master’s of science degree in healthcare informatics from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Amanda Saba is a researcher at the Nursing School of Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and at the Hospital Sírio-Libanês, holds a Master’s in Medical Science from the USP Medicine School, and became a specialist in cardiology from the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo. She has 8 years of experience in vascular access, having worked in a public hospital, Hospital das Clínicas, and a private one, Hospital Sírio-Libanês—the largest and the best hospitals in Latin America, respectively. She also has experience in critical care, costs, and teaching, and is a member of the Nursing Economic Dimension Management Group at the School of Nursing at USP."

Dr. Amanda Ullman is the inaugural professor and chair in pediatric nursing, conjoint between the University of Queensland and Children's Health Queensland, and a 2021-2022 Fulbright Future Scholar. She believes that children should be able to receive medical treatment in hospitals without harm, and her research focuses on improving the most common invasive procedure in pediatrics—the insertion of an intravenous (IV) catheter. This research has changed practice, reducing infection and pain and promoting efficient health care for children internationally, and has received considerable investments by the National Health and Medical Research Council as well as highly-competitive awards, more than 130 research articles, and two mHealth apps. In February 2022, according to ExpertScape, Dr. Ullman ranks as the top global expert in central venous catheters.

Dr. Andrew Bulmer is a professor of pathophysiology and is the colead of the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) group at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. Professor Bulmer specializes in understanding the acute and chronic effects of various stressors on the heart, arteries, and veins. In his work with the AVATAR group, Dr. Bulmer is describing the effects of cannulation and catheter use on venous physiology and injury and uses ultrasound, haematology, and blood biochemistry to characterize the body's response. With this information, Dr. Bulmer's group is developing new ways to prevent injury and blood clots in order to prolong catheter patency and improve patient outcomes.

Barb Nickel, APRN-CNS, CCRN, CRNI®, is a Clinical Nurse Specialist, specializing in critical care and vascular access.  Her role includes staff development, quality improvement, and clinical consultation. She has presented nationally and published on infusion therapy. She was chair of the 2024 INS Standards of Practice Committee and is chair of the newly forming 2027 Standards of Practice Committee.

Dr. Christy Smith received her BSN and MSN from East Tennessee State University (ETSU). She worked as an oncology and pediatric intensive care nurse before working as the pediatric provider for the Johnson City Downtown Clinic with ETSU. Dr. Smith worked as a nurse practitioner in outpatient radiology, then transitioned to nursing education, where she taught nursing for several years while pursuing her PhD in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Smith most recently served as the director of professional development for Renuven Health Partners. She brings a wealth of nursing knowledge and experience to Versafusion, providing oversight of nursing services and direct patient care.

Chrysta Maiers is a clinical integration consultant with B. Braun Medical. She began her career in the medical field 20 years ago as an army combat medic where an overseas deployment motivated her to pursue an RN degree. After spending 3 years at University of California San Diego’s surgical ICU she transitioned to the Cardiac Cath Lab at Palomar Medical Center, where she quickly climbed the ranks to nursing supervisor over vascular access, endoscopy, cardiac cath lab, and interventional radiology. In 2015, Chrysta transitioned to clinical consulting at a major medical device company, where she supported health care organizations through their transition to new infusion systems. In this role, she also served as the western region field trainer, working to standardize education across the organization as well as supporting new clinical consultants and training new contract educators. She has been employed by B. Braun since 2020 and currently works to support organizations on their journey to EMR-Smart Pump Interoperability, guiding workflow discussions, providing clinical decision support, supporting integration go-lives, and tracking ongoing success."

Dr. Denice Gibson is a clinical nurse specialist for the HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Cancer Transplant Institute, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She has been a clinical nurse specialist for more than 30 years, supporting bone marrow transplantation, leukemia, cellular therapy, and an oncology service line. Dr. Gibson works within the 3 spheres of influence: patient care, the profession, and the community. She is active in the Oncology Nursing Society as the State Healthcare Policy Liaison and with the Arizona Nurses Association Public Policy Committee.

Jocelyn Hill is a clinical nurse specialist in Providence Health Care, Vancouver, British Columbia. She has been working as an advanced practice nurse for 30 years with expertise in IV therapy, vascular access, and oncology. She is involved in policy development and implementing best practice clinical guidelines in relation to vascular access and infusion therapy at local, national, and international levels. Jocelyn holds certifications, and has published work and presented education sessions in Canada and internationally. She is chair of the Vancouver Canadian Vascular Access Association (CVAA) Chapter and Association for Vascular Access (AVA) Network, and has served as president for the AVA in 2021 and as president for the Canadian Vascular Access Association from 2012-2014.

Dr. Leonard Mermel is Professor of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Adjunct Clinical Professor, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy; and Medical Director, Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control at the Lifespan Hospital System. He was 2005 Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) president, 2014 SHEA Mentor Scholar Award recipient, 2016 recipient of the Milton W. Hamolsky Outstanding Physician Award from the Rhode Island Hospital Medical Staff Association, 2021 SHEA Senior Scholarship Award recipient, and 2021 Rhode Island American College of Physician Milton Hamolsky Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. He was a past recipient of the Ralph A. Kinsella, Sr. Memorial Tribute Award from St. Louis University Hospitals, SHEA Young Investigator Award, Brown Medical School Department of Medicine Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, Brown Medical School Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Brown Medical School Certificate of Recognition for Exemplary Teaching. On June 15, 2016, his birthday, a resolution was passed by the Rhode Island House of Representatives observing that day as Dr. Leonard Alan Mermel Day in Rhode Island. Dr. Mermel has coauthored US guidelines on prevention and management of intravascular catheter infections as well as over 350 articles, textbook chapters, and abstracts. His research focus has been on the prevention of health care-associated infections.

Lisa Gorski has worked for over 35 years as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS)/educator for Wheaton Franciscan Home Health and Hospice, now Ascension at Home. Lisa is the author of more than 70 book chapters and journal articles and is the author of several books. She has served as the INS president from 2007-2008 and as the chair of the INS Standards of Practice Committee from 2009 to 2021, and is the cochair for the 2024 Standards. She is also the leader of the INS Vesicant Task Force. She speaks nationally and internationally on standards development, home health care, and infusion therapy/vascular access.

Lynn Hadaway has 50 years of experience in infusion nursing. Her clinical experience comes from infusion therapy teams in multiple acute care settings. She is president of Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc., an education and consulting company started in 1996. She holds two national certifications—infusion nursing from the Infusion Nurses Certification Corporation and nursing professional development from the American Nurses Credentialing Corporations—as well as a master’s in education from the University of Georgia. She has authored more than 75 published articles and 8 textbook chapters on infusion therapy and vascular access and was the clinical editor for Infusion Therapy Made Incredibly Easy. She served on the Infusion Nurses Society Standards of Practice committees to revise the 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021 Standards of Practice, and served on the committees to revise the 2014 and 2022 Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Compendium (SHEA) CLABSI chapter and the 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) CLABSI Implementation Guide.

Nancy Moureau, PhD, RN, CRNI®, CPUI™, VA-BC, has been the owner of PICC Excellence, Inc., an education service provider for infusion therapy and vascular access device insertion and care for more than 30 years. Dr. Moureau's clinical experience spans pediatric, neonatal, ICU PICC/IV Team, and home infusion patient care. As the CEO of PICC Excellence, her current responsibilities include education development, research, speaking worldwide, legal case review, manufacturer consulting, and clinical practice with insertion and supervision of peripheral and central vascular access. PICC Excellence has developed more than 80 online educational courses and pathways to promote insertion competency and the application of evidence-based practices. PICC Certification™ CPUI™, Certified PICC Ultrasound Inserter, and now Neonatal PICC CNPI credentialing programs were established to validate education, knowledge, and competency for PICC inserters. As Co-Chair of the 2015 WOCOVA CVC Taskforce, Nancy facilitated the completion and publication of an evidence-based publication on minimal CVC training requirements. Nancy is an author of over 100 publications, a recipient of the Reader’s Choice Award for publications, and the Herbst Award for lifetime contributions to the specialty of vascular access. Nancy most recently released a systematic approach for the UGPIV Mastery Learning process, an ultrasound-guided peripheral insertion training toolbox, that has received the very first Seal of Approval from INS. Nancy welcomes your questions through her email, nancy@piccexcellence.com or through the PICC Excellence website, www.piccexcellence.com.

Dr. Rebecca (Becca) Bartles is the executive director of infectious disease management and prevention for Providence. She has practiced infection prevention for the last 18 years in a variety of health care settings and has numerous publications focused on infection prevention staffing and endoscope safety. She received both her BS in public health, health education and her MPH in epidemiology from East Tennessee State University, and completed her Doctorate in Public Health in 2021 with a dissertation topic of assessing efficacy of an evidence-based Clostridiodes difficile screening tool using electronic medical record data. Dr. Bartles also teaches courses at the University of Providence for a master’s in infection prevention degree program that she founded in 2016. She has been CIC certified since 2008 and is an Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) fellow. Most notably, Dr. Bartles is the mother of four beautiful daughters, ages 8 to 24.

Dr. Sara Keller is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and an adjunct faculty in the Armstrong Institute of Patient Safety and Quality at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She serves as the medical director of the Johns Hopkins outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) Program and of the Johns Hopkins Osler Medical Residency Program Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Pathway. Her research focuses on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in the home and community settings, and is funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality."

Tricia Kleidon is a nurse practitioner in pediatric vascular assessment and management at Queensland Children’s Hospital and a research fellow at the University of Queensland. She is part of a dynamic clinical and research team that prides itself on achieving positive outcomes for patients and minimizing vascular-access related complications.  She is currently enrolled in a PhD program of research entitled “Techniques and Technologies to Improve PIVC First-Time Insertion Success and Reduce Complications and Failure.”