Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders Track
Target Audience: Chief Nursing Officers, Nurse Leaders, Frontline Nurses, and Risk Managers
The KONL Nursing Track at the KHA Annual Convention provides nurse leaders with a comprehensive day of education focused on leadership, workforce well-being, operational excellence, and innovative models of care. Sessions address leadership during turbulent times, healthcare professional wellness and resilience, emotional intelligence development, and the strategic role of clinical leadership in patient flow and capacity management. The program also highlights evidence-based outcomes from the EmPATH behavioral health model, including operational lessons and system-level impact. Together, these sessions are designed to strengthen nursing leadership capacity, enhance organizational effectiveness, and support improved patient and workforce outcomes.
Day 1
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast Keynote: The Social Security and Medicare Financing Challenges
Charles Blahous
Please note: This session does not qualify for nursing continuing education credits.
Join former public trustee Charles Blahous as he shares the financial challenges facing Social Security and Medicare, and the necessity of legislated reforms to ensure that they continue to serve future Americans.
9:20 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.
Ena Williams, PhD, MBA, RN, CENP, FAAN, FADLN, FSIEN
Senior VP and Chief Nurse Executive
Yale New Haven Health
President of American Organization of Nurse Leadership
Explore the current nursing and environmental climate and how these challenges shape leadership in uncertain times. It reflects on how nurses have historically responded during periods of turbulence and highlights practical opportunities for nurses to amplify their voices to drive change, advocate for patients, and lead with impact today.
Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Describe the current nursing and environment climate.
- Discuss historical response of nursing in turbulent times.
- Discuss opportunities for using our voices during turbulent times.
10:20 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
Adam Booth, PhD, RN, NPD-BC
Nurse Researcher
UofL Health
The study, “Exploring Healthcare Professional Wellness: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Approach,” presents the findings from mixed-methods research using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) at UofL Health. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore overall levels of well-being among healthcare professionals in a multi-site healthcare system, to determine if there were any associations with demographic characteristics and qualitatively explore nurses’ perceptions and experiences of interventions that would impact well-being, burnout, and resilience in their professional work environment. Findings demonstrated that formal leadership, nurses, and technicians and technologists had the lowest well-being scores. Interviews revealed factors impacting well-being were more than just taking care of oneself but a result of experiences that prevented nurses from providing quality patient care.
Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Define well-being.
- Discuss the explanatory sequential mixed methods design linking quantitative and qualitative findings.
- Present next steps in a well-being research trajectory.
10:50 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Emotional Intelligence in BSN Students: Measuring the Effect of a Single Intervention
Tonya Anthony, PhD, MSN, RN, GB (NHC)
Assistant Profession, DNP Program
University of Kentucky College of Nursing
Traditional second year nursing students are often unprepared to manage their emotions during clinical experiences, in volatile care settings. EI is an essential ability to foster effective interpersonal and interprofessional communication within the stressful confines of patient care setting. Furthermore, research shows that universities need to invest in the emotional development of students during the first few years of college to facilitate healthy psychosocial identifies. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of single EI intervention on second-year students, in a baccalaureate nursing program.
Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Define emotional intelligence and its relevance to leadership development in nursing.
- Examine the impact of brief emotional intelligence intervention on a second-year nursing students’ readiness of leadership roles.
- Discuss the implications of early emotional intelligence development for leadership capacity, resilience, and professional identity formation in nursing students.
- Identify strategies for integrating emotional intelligence-focused leadership development in prelicensure nursing curricula.
11:20 a.m. – 11:45 p.m.
Sally Davenport, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
KHA Awards Luncheon
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
James C. Musser, Esq.
Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Relations
Kentucky Hospital Association
Please note: This session does not qualify for nursing continuing education credits.
Stay informed on the federal policy changes shaping healthcare today. This session reviews notable legislation and explores what it means for hospitals, leaders, and healthcare teams.
2:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
KHA Solutions Group Expo & Networking Break
2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Panel: Leading with Vision – The Critical Role of Clinical Leadership in Patient Flow, Capacity Management, and Strategic Growth
Moderator: Shelby Pollert
Director, Mixed Acuity
UofL Health – UofL Hospital
Panelists: Deanna Parker, MBA, MHA, BSN, RN
VP, Chief Nurse Executive
UofL Health – UofL & Jewish Hospital
Greg Moran, MBA, RN, NEA-BC
Clinical Executive
Teletracking
Dr. Mary Nan Mallory, MD, MBA
Attending Physician, Emergency Department
Medical Director, UofL Health Transfer Center
UofL Health
Karen Herron, BSN, RN
System Director, Transfer Center
UofL Health
Effective patient flow and capacity management are vital to both operational success and exceptional patient care. This panel brings together distinguished clinical leaders to discuss how visionary leadership can shape organizational culture, align teams with strategic goals, and drive sustainable growth.
Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Discuss how AI can optimize patient flow, capacity management challenges, and integrate innovation and technology.
- Discuss the role of clinical leadership in transforming capacity management from a daily operational task into a strategic advantage for long-term organizational success.
3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Beyond the ED: UK Healthcare EmPATH Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and Expansion from Kentucky to the Arctic
Erin Morris, MSN, RN, CEN
Director, Behavioral Health Services
UK Healthcare
Marc Woods, DNP, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
UK Healthcare-Eastern State Hospital
This presentation highlights the first-year impact of the EmPATH model, focusing on improvements in patient flow, reduced sitter use, shorter stays, fewer inpatient admissions, and stronger community follow-up. It also reviews key operational lessons learned, including effective staffing approaches, therapeutic environment design, patient-centered autonomy, and collaboration with community partners – along with the model’s positive effects on ED and inpatient capacity. This session further explores EmPATH’s growing influence in statewide behavioral health planning, particularly its role in expanding crisis stabilization options. Finally, it shares practical insights from adapting the EmPATH model to rural and frontier settings, using the real-word example implementation work in Kotzebue, Alaska.
Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Summarize first-year outcomes of the EmPATH model, including patient volume, sitter usage, length of stay, inpatient admission reduction, and community follow-up engagement.
- Analyze operational lessons learned during the first year of EmPATH implementation, including staffing models, environment design, patient autonomy, community partnerships, and impact on emergency department and inpatient capacity.
- Evaluate the evolving role of EmPATH in statewide behavioral health conversations for system-level planning for expanded crisis stabilization access.
- Apply key lessons from adapting the EmPATH model to rural and frontier settings, drawing from real-world experience supporting EmPATH planning and implementation in Kotzebue, Alaska, above the Arctic Circle.
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
ACHE Reception at KHA Solutions Group Expo
Continuing Education Credits
(Amplifying Our Voices for Impact: Leading Through Turbulent Times; Exploring Healthcare Professional Wellness: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Approach; and Emotional Intelligence in BSN Students: Measuring the Effect of a Single Intervention)
The Kentucky Hospital Association is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN). KBN approval of a continuing nursing education provider does not constitute endorsement of program content. This educational activity is offered for 2.4 contact hours, with offering number 5-0023-12-27-10, expiration date 12-31-27. No partial credit will be given. To receive credit, participants must sign in on the attendance roster with their name and license number, attend the full morning session, and complete the offering evaluation. Failure to complete any step in the process outlined above will result in non-issuance of CEU credit in accordance with KBN guidelines.
(Panel: Leading with Vision – The Critical Role of Clinical Leadership in Patient Flow, Capacity Management, and Strategic Growth; and Beyond the ED: UK Healthcare EmPATH Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and Expansion from Kentucky to the Arctic)
The Kentucky Hospital Association is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN). KBN approval of a continuing nursing education provider does not constitute endorsement of program content. This educational activity is offered for 2.1 contact hours, with offering number 5-0023-12-27-11, expiration date 12-31-27. No partial credit will be given. To receive credit, participants must sign in on the attendance roster with their name and license number, attend the full afternoon session, and complete the offering evaluation. Failure to complete any step in the process outlined above will result in non-issuance of CEU credit in accordance with KBN guidelines.