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“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had this deep set longing to make people feel better, to be able to bring relief …. “

A full house Nov. 14 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Charlottesville, Virginia — as a very engaged group of about 330 nurses and others attended the UVA Health University Medical Center Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO)’s 2024 Nursing Summit.

Harnessing the Power

The event’s purpose: to promote awareness of how nurses — across all practice areas and levels — can influence the legacy of nursing that will inspire them, their colleagues, and future nurses to harness their power and create their own legacy.

Danita Massie, MSN, RN, CNL, 2024 NPGO President-Elect and clinician in the Cardiac Transition Unit, delivered opening and closing remarks. “Every time we care for our patients and work alongside our colleagues, we have the opportunity to choose what kind of legacy or long-lasting impact we want to leave,” she declared. “And we can do this not only in our personal lives — but also in our professional lives — as a nurse in our individual practice areas, and as a collective UVA Health nursing team. It’s the accumulation of the small, everyday decisions we make that lay our foundation to create a legacy to Inspire!” 

Massie also led ice breaker and networking activities, and served as event emcee.

2024 NPGO President Amy Jordan, BSN, RN, PMGT-BC, presented a Year-End Review and introduced the 2025 NPGO officers.

Associate Chief Nursing Officers Veronica Brill, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, and Karin Skeen, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, also addressed the audience.

Rethinking the Rules

Keynote presenters Dan Weberg, PhD, MHI, RN, FAAN, (above left) Executive Director, Nursing Workforce Development and Innovation, Kaiser Permanente, unveiled “Nursing’s Blockbuster Moment: Build the Profession of the Future” and Renee Thompson, DNP, RN, FAAN, CSP, (above right) CEO and Founder, Healthy Workforce Institute, shared “Cultivating Cultures of Caring: Re-engaging Today’s Nursing Workforce.”

Min Lee, MBA, MHA, (left) Chief Operating Officer, UVA Health University Medical Center, shared her journey to becoming a healthcare leader, including what drives her mission and the key lessons she’s learned along the way. She also challenged attendees to rethink the rules by asking questions such as, “How do we develop the infrastructure to empower our teams and strengthen our leadership skills?”

Chief Nursing Officer Kathy Baker, PhD, RN, NE-BC, FAAN, (right) who earlier this month was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing, rallied the audience: “In 2019, UVA’s men’s basketball team won the NCAA National Championship. What we learned from that team is that legacy is created not by the fact that sometimes you get knocked down but that you get up and keep going. Healthcare has been through some tough times but nursing is courageously rising and creating a legacy of nursing excellence at UVA Health.”

Safe. Heard. Accepted.

Attendees also watched an inspirational video, featuring University Medical Center nurses who serve in departments ranging from Surgical Trauma ICU to Patient Care Services to Perianesthesia and more — sharing what inspired them to become a nurse, the legacy of nurses they look up to, and the nursing legacy they hope to build.

“Our profession has the power to inspire, to motivate, and of course, to influence others,” says Beatrix Croswell, BSN, RN, CGRN, OPSC Pre-Op.

“I want my patients not so much to remember me — but to be able to recall how I made them feel: safe, heard, fully accepted,” says Ashley Steele, RN, 5 West, (pictured on left, in center) who earlier this year, shared with Connect, her own story of nearly losing her life, and how becoming a UVA Health patient inspired her to become a UVA Health nurse. 

Watch the video, which also features David Anguiano, BSN, RN, CCRN, CEN; Halima Walker, MSN, RN, CCRN, NEA-BC; and two familial pairs: Cloe Morris, RN, CNRN, and her son Nathan Morris, RN; and Paula Schenck, BSN, RN, CAPA, and her daughter Davey Schenck, RN:

Cultivating Healthy Communities

Laura Kerfoot, Director of Foundation, Corporate and Government Relations, Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Virginia, thanked the audience for making the organization the focus of this year’s summit’s service project. Attendees donated sports equipment including basketballs, dodgeballs, pedometers, jump ropes, and cones to promote healthful youth activities.

There’s still time to buy items directly from the organization’s Amazon Wishlist and send your donations directly to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Virginia. (Use the shipping address provided by Amazon, mark it as a gift, and sign the gift note as a UVA Health UMC NPGO Nursing Summit attendee.)

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