Healthcare harmony: Nurturing resilience for our nursing community, students, and providers
Tuesday, May 7,
Noon–1 p.m.
Virtual panel event
Introduction by Sergio Esteban, School of Nursing National Council member
In honor of National Nurses Week, join us for this engaging virtual panel discussion to gain tips to preserve your own personal wellness, prevent burnout in nursing, and learn how the University of Rochester School of Nursing amplifies these principles across the larger Rochester community to ensure everyone can experience health harmony.
Following the presentation there will be time for Q&A. Please consider submitting questions in advance as part of your registration.
About this event: The Conversation with the Dean event series, supported by University of Rochester School of Nursing dean Lisa Kitko, welcomes special guest speakers as well as faculty or staff experts from the School of Nursing to discuss the most pressing issues facing nursing education and the nursing profession today.
Speaker biographies
Susan Blaakman ’93N, ’96N (MS), ’11N (PhD), ’00N (PMC), P’22
Susan Blaakman is a professor of clinical nursing and has been a member of the University of Rochester School of Nursing faculty since 1999. She has taught and advised inter-professional students at all academic levels and has been the specialty director of the family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program since completing her doctorate in health practice research in 2011.
A nationally certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, Blaakman specializes in serving vulnerable populations within diverse settings, including psychiatric emergency, mobile crisis, disaster mental health, behavioral health home care, juvenile justice, and tobacco dependence and eating disorders recovery. She also serves as a project nurse, intervention coordinator, and mentor in general pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Blaakman earned a bachelor's degree from the Honors College at SUNY Oswego and bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the University of Rochester School of Nursing.
In addition to co-authoring several publications, Blaakman is a past recipient of the Rochester Academy of Medicine Nursing Award for her collaborative clinical research. She is a founding member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association’s Motivational Interviewing Task Force and was formerly co-chair of the APNA Tobacco Dependence Council. Blaakman was a co-founder of the School of Nursing’s Wellness Task Force and she currently co-directs the wellness goal in the School’s strategic plan.
Lisa Norsen ’77N, ’83N (MS), ’07N (PhD), ’92N (PMC)
Lisa Norsen is a professor of clinical nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and serves as chief wellness officer for the UR Medicine Center for Employee Wellness. Throughout her career, Norsen has distinguished herself as a leader in nursing innovation, furthering the role of nurses as clinicians, researchers, and educators.
As one of the nation’s first nurse practitioners to practice in an acute care setting, her work in cardiac surgery is regarded as an early model of advanced practice. In more than a decade as associate director for inpatient nursing services, Norsen oversaw the expansion of the nurse’s role at the URMC, making it an essential component of the interdisciplinary team. Throughout her career, she has developed programs highlighting the pivotal role that nurses play in the health and wellness of individuals and communities. In 2012, Norsen helped to establish the Center for Employee Wellness, where she now serves as chief wellness officer. Norsen received her Ph.D., M.S.N., and B.S.N. from the University of Rochester.
Becki Vincent (CPAN)
Becki Vincent is the Assistant Director of
Perianesthesia Nursing at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She
has a passion for wellbeing and has been the leadership co-chair of the Strong
Memorial Hospital Strategic Nursing Wellness Council since its inception in
2020. An undergraduate alumni of SON, she returned to earn her Masters in
Leadership in Healthcare Systems and plans to graduate in May.
Lydia Rotondo DNP, RN, CNS, FNAP
Named as the University of Rochester School of Nursing’s associate dean in 2015 and director of the school’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program in 2014, Lydia Rotondo, DNP, RN, CNS, FNAP leads the educational mission of the School. Her vision as the associate dean for education and student affairs has been to develop a learning organization that fosters collaboration and creativity to design novel educational approaches in active learning environments to prepare graduates for the complexity of 21st-century healthcare.
Rotondo is a national contributor to advancing DNP education and a member of AACN’s Essentials Implementation Faculty Toolkit workgroup. She has published and presented on DNP scholarship, competency-based education, and integration of technology in nursing education. She was selected as a 2018 AACN Leadership for Academic Nursing Fellow and 2020 Fellow in the National Academies of Practice.
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