meet your podcast co-hosts

Wanda Chukwu, DNP, MSN, MA, CNEcl, RN

Wanda is a go-getter and a believer in working hard to make your dreams come true. As a true born and raised Detroiter, she grew up with five older brothers and no sisters. She was a first-generation college student several times over, which changed the trajectory of her family’s legacy forever.

Wanda knew she wanted to be a nurse from the young age of 5. She started her career as a nursing assistant, which was very motivating. She then went on to obtain her associate degree at Minneapolis Community College, followed by earning her BA and MA degrees in Organizational Management from Spring Arbor University. She then finished her MSN degree through the University of Phoenix, and finally received her DNP from Capella University.

Wanda’s true passion is in community engagement, specifically by conducting health awareness classes for patients. Her career thus far has focused on health literacy to improve patient clinical outcomes. Some of her past experiences include working as a clinical director, a business owner, a nursing supervisor, a marketing director for a retail pharmacy, and a health care consultant. Her current role is being a program coordinator and nursing faculty member at a local community college. She absolutely loves nursing and has been in the health care field for over thirty years.

One of Wanda’s favorite quotes is, "When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower." - Alexander Den Heijer

Fun Facts About Wanda:

• She loves movies and enjoys watching a good time piece.
• She listens to music of all genres.
• She is not good at dancing, but she is not ashamed to get on the dance floor to enjoy herself.
• She is a member of the ANA-Michigan Nursing & Health Policy Committee.
  

Andrea Boyce, BSN, RN

Andrea’s path to a career in nursing was anything but typical. In fact, even though her mother told her as a teenager that she should be a nurse, she explored a few different career paths first. Though she earned a degree in textile and apparel studies and became a licensed esthetician, something just didn’t feel quite right. A few career aptitude and personality tests later, what her mother knew all along proved very much to be true: Andrea was destined to be a nurse. She eventually made her way to nursing school, and finally, that “fit like a glove” feeling became a reality.

Andrea is very passionate about nursing and has thrived since changing her career path. Though her journey into nursing was unconventional, she believes the experiences she’s had have given her an opportunity to explore interests she might not have. Ultimately, Andrea’s road to nursing gave her the insight and perspective she needed to commit to the profession with 100% conviction in herself. She can’t imagine being in any other profession, and she no longer feels like something is missing. And, like so many of us, now she can say, “Mom, you were right!”

Andrea believes nursing is a team sport. Or, if music is more your style, nursing is like one band, one sound. It’s also more than just a job, it’s a profession. There are so many facets to nursing in practice, in policy, and in personal ways. It can feel overwhelming at times, but it can also feel so rewarding.

“You, my fellow nurses, are not alone. With this podcast, we will bring topics and guests with perspectives you may or may not have considered. You will laugh, you will ponder, you will question, and ultimately, you will be entertained.”

Fun Facts About Andrea:

• She has earned five licensures and certifications.
• She has earned four educational degrees.
• She has explored three career paths.
• She is a member of the ANA-Michigan Legislative Committee.
  

Barbara Medvec, DNP, MSA, MSN, NEA-BC

Dr. Barbara R. Medvec, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and prior Senior Healthcare Executive and System Chief Nursing Executive. She has a history of success in leading and coaching teams for transformational organizational success in both large multi-hospital, ambulatory care practices, and moderate sized healthcare and nursing organizations. Dr. Medvec’s scholarship and practice focuses on nursing workforce, practice environments, innovation extended reality/virtual simulation, workforce wellness and vitality, strategic planning, and quality/safety improvements. She has served on a variety of national, state and local organizations and currently is the President-Elect for the ANA-Michigan nursing association. 

Bridget Leonard, DNP, MBA-HCM, RN, CRRN, NEA-BC

Dr. Bridget Leonard is an award-winning nursing leader with extensive experience in nursing leadership spanning various roles, showcasing her dedication to empowering individuals within the nursing field. From her humble beginnings as a CNA to her current roles as President of ANA-Michigan, Nursing Professor, and Life Skills Coach, she focuses on mentoring, professional development, and breaking barriers to help others achieve their aspirations. Her commitment to advancing nursing practice, recognition, and professional growth highlights her passion for motivating and engaging others, leaving a lasting impact through her advocacy and leadership in the nursing community. Dr. B constantly challenges everyone she meets to Be Powerful On Purpose.

Bethany C. Skillen, MPA, BSN, RN

Bethany Skillen is a registered nurse with experience in med/surg, post anesthesia, and community health nursing. She oversaw the Trinity Health Grand Rapids Geriatrics programs for 7 years, a highlight of which is a nurse practitioner led house calls program called THRIVE. She has a master’s degree in public administration and is passionate about advocacy and moving legislation forward in support of nurses and patients alike. Bethany is currently the Director of Operations for Trinity Health, Grand Rapids and Muskegon, covering inpatient hospitalists and intensivists, palliative care, pulmonary and geriatrics. In her spare time she enjoys being bad at watercolor and being good at laughing at herself.

Joshua Meringa, MPA, MHA, MBA, BSN, RN, NPD-BC

Josh Meringa has served on the Board of Directors for ANA-MI since 2021. Additionally, his ANA-MI involvement includes serving on the nursing and health policy committee for ANA-MI, and he currently chairs the bylaws committee. Meringa also served on the workgroup for ANA-MI that developed a COVID-19 training program for K-12 schools. Meringa serves on the WNA-CEAP Committee with the Wisconsin Nurses Association Continuing Education Approval Program, and is the Student Nurse online community manager for ANA. He previously served on the Michigan Board of Nursing, and as Chair from 2013-2020. Additionally, Meringa is adjunct faculty at Calvin University and Davenport University. 

Josh Meringa’s background is in adult medical/surgical and orthopedics nursing. He currently works as a nurse educator at Corewell Health West. He also serves as a local elected official in his hometown of Grandville, MI. Meringa holds a BSN from Calvin College, and master’s degrees in public administration, health administration, and business administration from Grand Valley State University. He is certified in Nursing Professional Development through ANCC. 

Jakara Ventour, BSN, RN

Kelly May, BSN, RN

Sue Renfer, BSN

Episode 4: The One About How To Build A Nurse

Maria L. Bobo, DNP, RN, WHNP-BC, CENP, NPD-BC

Dr. Maria L. Bobo is an innovative and transformational leader with over 28 years of experience in the nursing profession. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Grand Valley State University and her Master of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Wayne State University. She has also been a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner for over 23 years, board-certified in Executive Nursing Practice and Nursing Professional Development.

She is the Director of Nursing Professional Development & Education and Magnet Recognition Program at University of Michigan Health and a Clinical Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Nursing.

Dr. Bobo’s areas of expertise include women’s health, leadership, quality improvement and management, clinical program development, project management, interdisciplinary collaboration, patient experience/satisfaction, shared governance, nursing education and development, research, and evidence-based practice.

Dr. Bobo is passionate about significantly contributing to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Michigan Medicine and nationwide through presentations and publications. She is co-chairing Michigan Medicine’s Anti-Racism Oversight Committee and one of the DEI Leads for the University of Michigan Health Nursing Department.

She has received several awards recognizing her professional success, including Oakland University’s Nightingale Award Winner, Michigan Chronicle's Women of Excellence Inductee, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Leadership of the Year Award, Sigma Theta Tau-Rho Chapter Leadership Award, and Institute for Professional Nursing Leadership Award.

She has been a guest speaker at numerous nursing conferences on the local and national levels. Dr. Bobo is also actively involved in numerous professional and social organizations, such as the American Nurses Association, American Nurses Association-Michigan, National Black Nurses Association, American Organization of Nursing Leadership, Association of Nursing Professional Development, Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

She is a native Detroiter, and her passion is serving as a mentor to nursing leaders, staff nurses, and nursing students throughout the state of Michigan and across the country.

Nadine Wodwaski, DNP, MSN-ed, ACNS, RN

Nadine Wodwaski, DNP, MSN-ed, RN, ACNS is a registered nurse/clinical nurse specialist. She has had the pleasure of caring for clients in the community and acute care setting. She has practiced in emergency, maternal child, med/surg, and the cardiac catheterization lab.

As an advanced practice nurse, she strives to improve healthcare through evidence-based practice at the individual patient and systems levels.

Episode 5: The One About Accreditation

Lori Glenn, DNP, CNM, C-EFM, RN

Dr. Lori Glenn has served as the midwife member of the Michigan Board of Nursing since 2017, where she serves as the board vice chair, education committee chair, and member of the rules committee. She is active in disciplinary proceedings and contributes the APRN perspective to the board. Dr. Glenn completed the ICRS certificate program as a member of the inaugural cohort, along with the George Washington University Health Policy and Media Engagement program sponsored by NCSBN. She is a clinical associate professor and program director at the University of Detroit Mercy, working with students at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels since 2007. In that role, she led the proposal and launch of the first direct entry master’s in nursing program in Michigan, developed NCLEX success programs, and championed holistic admission processes to enhance the diversity of nursing students. Dr. Glenn has been a nurse midwife since 1993 and is currently practicing in the Triage Department of Labor and Delivery, with front line experience providing health care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keri Nunn-Ellison, EdD, MSN/Ed, RN, CNE

Dr. Keri Nunn-Ellison is the Senior Director of the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). Dr. Nunn-Ellison holds an associate in applied science degree in nursing, a bachelor of science in nursing, a master of science in nursing with an emphasis in nursing and health care education, and a doctor of education with a specialization in educational leadership and management. She has also been a Certified Nurse Educator since 2010.

Dr. Nunn-Ellison is dedicated to quality teaching and learning and has focused her career on course-, program-, and college-level outcomes assessment; her curriculum vitae includes professional faculty development presentations and publications on these topics. She participated on the ACEN Standards review team contributing to the 2017 Standards and Criteria and co-chaired the team contributing to 2023 Standard 4 Curriculum and Standard 5 Outcomes. Prior to joining the ACEN in 2016, she championed quality assessment practices in multiple roles at Sinclair Community College including faculty, Associate Program Administrator for Nursing, Divisional Assessment Coordinator for Health Sciences, and chair of the college-wide Assessment Committee. She served two terms on the Education Advisory Board for the Ohio Board of Nursing and was an active volunteer for the ACEN as a peer evaluator with experience as a team chair and participation on the Evaluation Review Panel.

Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN
Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
Duke University School of Nursing
Immediate Past President- American Nurses Association (ANA)

Dr. Ernest J. Grant is the Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at the Duke University School of Nursing. He is also the immediate past president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the nation’s largest nurse’s organization representing the interests of the nation’s 4.3 million registered nurses. He is the first man to be elected to the office of president of the American Nurses Association in its 127 years of existence.

A distinguished leader, Dr. Grant has more than 30 years of nursing experience and is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert. He also serves as adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings. For the past four years in a row, Dr. Grant has been recognized by Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of 50 Influential Clinical Executives in Healthcare and as one of 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. He has been nationally recognized for his work addressing racism, equity, and inclusion within the nursing profession. Modern Healthcare named him as one of 2023 Top Diversity Leaders.

In 2002, President George W. Bush presented Grant with a Nurse of the Year Award for his work treating burn victims from the World Trade Center site. He was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2011. Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Episode 7: The One About Nursing Deans

Lisa Kane Low, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN
Professor
Associate Dean for Professional Graduate Studies
Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences

Dr. Kane Low focuses her research on advancing evidence based care practices during childbirth that promote optimal outcomes for childbearing women and their families. She conducts clinical research aimed at answering significant questions about the ways in which women can best be cared for during the process of normal birth particularly during second stage labor to prevent pelvic floor injury. Currently, Dr. Low is involved in a number of NIH-funded and internally grant supported studies focusing on the process of care during childbirth including: Clinical and Non-Clinical Factors Influencing the use of Electronic Fetal Monitoring, the SCOR Sex and Gender Factors Affecting Women’s Pelvic Floor Health During Childbirth directed by Dr. John De Lancey, Promoting Optimal Outcomes to Prevent Prolapse with Dr. Dee Fenner, Defining Events during Second Stage Labor and a prevention and treatment series of projects focused on incontinence in childbearing women and older age women. She had worked with a model program called Doulas Care to provide volunteer Doulas for low income women and has conducted studies in Honduras aimed at the prevention of post partum hemorrhage. She also has extensive experience working with multi-stakeholder groups to develop and implement model practice and national guidelines focused on the provision of maternity care. She also works as a certified nurse midwife at the University of Michigan Health System.

While Dr. Kane Low has extensive teaching experience across the nurse midwifery education curriculum, her primary teaching responsibility is the course entitled Care of Childbearing Women whose subject matter compliments her own research and clinical expertise. She has also taught an International Women’s Health course in the Doctoral program and provides research mentoring for doctoral and master’s students in the School of Nursing. In addition to training future nurses, Dr. Low teaches Perspectives in Women’s Health in the U-M Women’s Studies Department, and works with almost 400 undergraduates every year, showcasing the value of a nursing and feminist perspective in addressing women’s health issues for non-nursing students. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Kane Low enjoys the opportunity to work with students through non-traditional service learning mechanisms to foster their interests in Midwifery, Women’s Health and Maternal Child Health both domestically and abroad and works with graduate midwifery and medical students during their clinical experiences at the University of Michigan Women’s Hospital Birth Center where she practices as a certified nurse midwife.