Stroke Conference Education Sessions
AANN's Advances in Stroke Care Conference will inspire you to optimize patient care through exposure to innovative research and leading evidence-based practice in stroke nursing. Our conference is an environment built to meet your needs whether you are new to the field or a seasoned professional. This is an opportunity to meet your colleagues from around the country and foster relationships. All times are in the Central time zone (CDT).
Monday, July 28
Pre-Conference Sessions
8:00 am – 4:30 pm CDT (7 CE contact hours)
SCRN Review Course
8:00 am – 4:30 pm CDT (7 CE contact hours)
Session: (001)
Michelle Dedeo, DNP RN ARNP-CNS ACCNS-AG CCRN SCRN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Professional Development
This session requires an additional fee to attend. This session will not be recorded.
The SCRN Review Course will provide a comprehensive review for nurses preparing for the SCRN® exam as well as for nurses interested in updating, enhancing, and increasing their knowledge base in stroke patient care settings.
Stroke Coordinator Boot Camp
8:00 am – 4:30 pm CDT (7 CE contact hours)
Session: (002)
Erin Conahan, MSN RN ACNS-BC CNRN SCRN PHRN
Claranne Mathiesen, MSN RN CNRN SCRN FAHA
Michelle Hill, ACNS-BC RN CCRN CNRN SCRN
Ann Leonhardt-Caprio, DNP FAHA SCRN
Jeanie Luciano, MSN RN CNRN SCRN CRNP FAHA
Level: Intermediate
Track: Program Management
This session requires an additional fee to attend. This session will not be recorded and will be available in-person only.
Calling all new and experienced recruits! This pre-con is designed to provide education specific to the role of the stroke coordinator. Sessions will focus on the evolving role of the stroke coordinator, tactics for successful program and meeting management, integration of data and research, and hot topics in stroke care and certification. Collaborate with colleagues from across the country to improve stroke care and leverage the coordinator role to lead successful stroke teams.
3D Stroke Anatomy and Assessment
8:00 am – 12:30 pm CDT (4 CE contact hours)
Session: (003)
Linda Littlejohns, MSN RN SCRN CNRN FAAN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Anatomy
This session requires an additional fee to attend. This session will not be recorded and will be available in-person only.
A solid knowledge of vascular anatomy in 3D is the foundation for assessment and management of stroke patients. This session will demonstrate blood vessels and anatomical structures in the brain and brain stem using Anatomage 3D software, color-coded vessels, and case studies. Patient care, and the ability to assess and teach patients as they move from a stroke diagnosis to recovery expectations and rehab needs, will be enhanced as we travel through the brain in a dimension not available in a text book.
Tuesday, July 29
AANN/ABNN/AMWF Update & Keynote Speaker: Some Miracles Wear Scrubs and Comfy Shoes
8:00 – 9:15 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Deven Matthews
Not all miracles come with fanfare and bright lights – some wear scrubs and comfy shoes. In this session, stroke survivor Deven Matthews shares his journey of recovery through the lens of some of the incredible nurses who helped him heal - physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Through personal stories, humor, and gratitude, this talk honors the quiet heroism of those in the medical field and the life-changing impact of compassionate care.
Kids Have Strokes, Too? Establishing and Maintaining a Multidisciplinary Pediatric Stroke Protocol
10:00 – 11:00 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (100)
Breanna Bunting, BSN RN CNRN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Program Management
Pharmacology hours: 0.1
This presentation will highlight the development and implementation of a multidisciplinary stroke protocol at a pediatric facility. It aims to demonstrate how a coordinated approach between healthcare providers is vital within the pediatric setting, as stroke can be difficult to recognize in children. By sharing strategies for effective protocol integration and outcomes of such a protocol, the session will provide attendees with practical tools to enhance pediatric stroke care within their own clinical settings.
Drop It Like It’s Hot: Partnering with Teleneurology to Decrease Treatment Times
Session: (101)
Danielle Nielsen, BSN RN PCCN SCRN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Clinical
Reducing door to needle and door to transfer times significantly improves patient outcomes. When treating acute stroke patients, time is brain. The shorter the door to treatment time, the faster patients can receive thrombolytic therapy. Telemedicine has been a crucial part of our process. Implementing the change to consult teleneurology at the same time as the stroke alert has greatly enhanced patient care and improved outcomes.
Time is Brain in ICH, Too
11:10 am – 12:10 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (102)
Nina A. Cruz, MSN APRN FNP-BC SCRN
Ashley Bolling, DNP APRN AGPCNP-BC SCRN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Quality
The implementation of an ICH Alert (Intracranial Hemorrhage) protocol at our CSC has significantly improved the rapid identification and management of hemorrhagic strokes. By streamlining multidisciplinary coordination, expediting results, optimizing bloodpressure control, standardizing anticoagulation reversal, and identifying more neurosurgical or neuroendovascular candidates, we have enhanced patient outcomes and guidelines adherence. This session will provide nurses with valuable insights into protocol development, key quality metrics, and real-world impact on stroke care. Attendees will learn actionable strategies to improve efficiency, reduce treatment delays, and elevate patient outcomes in hemorrhagic stroke management, reinforcing their critical role in acute stroke care and quality initiatives.
One Suite, One Provider, One Team: Building a Shared Suite Thrombectomy Program from the Ground Up
11:10 am – 12:10 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (103)
Amanda Werner, BSN RN MEDSURG-BC SCRN ASC-BC
Level: Expert
Track: Program Management
The primary purpose of this content is to share lessons learned and a real life example of HOW to expand your hospital's treatment options for stroke. There are so many recommendations that you SHOULD have thrombectomy but very few resources or examples of how to do so. This is coming from a smaller, community based hospital and highlights how to navigate the struggles specific to a shared suite model.
Knowledge Is Power: Optimizing the Patient Education Experience to Improve Stroke Literacy
1:20 – 2:20 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (104)
Christine Dawson, MSN RN CNRN
Megan Lowman, MSN RN CEN
Edward Monroe, MSN RN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Other
The purpose of this content is to provide neuroscience nursing professionals with innovative strategies for educating patients and nurses on stroke literacy. This presentation will introduce a new resource designed to enhance stroke education during hospitalization, addressing the Joint Commission's requirements for certified stroke hospitals. By bridging the stroke literacy gap, this session aims to empower nurses to deliver effective, patient-centered education, ultimately improving patient outcomes and care compliance. Attendees will gain valuable insights into navigating the complexities of stroke education and fostering a deeper understanding among stroke survivors and their families.
Journey to Implementing Pupillometer Integration in Electronic Medical Records for Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients in a Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit
1:20 – 2:20 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (105)
Lisa Smith, BSN RN CCRN
Anjali Perera, BSN RN CCRN
Level: Beginner
Track: Clinical
The purpose of this study is to explore integration of automated quantitative pupillometry (QP) upload for acute stroke. A secondary aim is to examine how we can leverage implementation, science, research methods and interventions to improve patient care while reducing documentation burden.
Help Me Help You: Supporting the Stroke Program Coordinator
2:30 – 3:30 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (106)
Joy Sessa, PhD RN CCRN SCRN
Ashley Bolling, DNP APRN AGPCNP-BC SCRN
Level: Expert
Track: Program Management
Optimization of stroke care plays a critical role in post-stroke outcomes. The stroke coordinator role includes leadership of stroke care teams, education of staff, patients, and emergency personnel, and stroke care quality improvement initiatives. The current study aimed to characterize stroke coordinator responsibilities, organizational expectations, and resource availability through a statewide hospital survey. Further, we examine training of stroke coordinators, and current job satisfaction. By exploring these factors, we seek to better understand the stroke coordinator role and explore opportunities to better support stroke coordinators in fully executing their roles.
Time is Brain: Implementing a Competitive, Interactive Approach to Enhance Stroke Education and Nurse Engagement
2:30 – 3:30 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (107)
Dawnielle C. Feucht, BSN RN-BC SCRN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Clinical
The "Time is Brain" challenge enhances stroke education by fostering active engagement among nurses, physicians, and advanced practice providers through a structured, competition-driven approach. By integrating interactive learning, real-time progress tracking, and interdisciplinary collaboration, this initiative strengths knowledge retention, improves stroke recognition, and reinforces time-sensitive interventions. This approach to content delivery promotes teamwork, accountability, and a culture of continuous learning, which influences positive patient outcomes. This model offers neuroscience nursing and stroke teams a sustainable, adaptable strategy to overcome educational disengagement; as well as ensure all providers remain proficient in delivering high-quality, evidence-based stroke care.
Four Layers of Recovery: A Comprehensive Stroke Discharge Transitions Program
4:00 – 5:00 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (108)
Jamie Baker, BSN RN CEN
Shari Gallegos, BSN RN CEN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Quality
This presentation will highlight a successful, layered stroke discharge transitions program that blends clinical follow-up with peer support, offering a replicable model for improving patient outcomes. By showcasing how early outreach, survivor-led support, and community-based groups reduce readmissions and enhance recovery, neuroscience nurses will gain actionable strategies to implement in their own practice. The program empowers stroke survivors while lightening the clinical load, demonstrating how collaborative care leads to more holistic healing. Attendees will leave inspired to champion similar initiatives, strengthening the role of neuroscience nursing in long-term stroke recovery.
Structuring Success: An Inpatient Neuromedicine APP Model for Academic Stroke Centers
4:00 – 5:00 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (109)
Christina Cruickshank, MS RN FNP-C
Level: Intermediate
Track: Program Management
Discover how advanced practice providers (APPs) are transforming stroke care in a high-volume Comprehensive Stroke Center. This session explores the creation of a Neuromedicine APP service line, providing dedicated inpatient neurology and neurosurgery coverage. Gain insights into the challenges, successes, and lessons learned in optimizing patient care, improving stroke metric compliance, and enhancing patient education. Whether you're looking to expand APP roles or refine stroke care strategies, this session will offer practical takeaways and inspiration for elevating neuroscience nursing practice.
Wednesday, July 30
Dysphagia - A Hard Pill to Swallow: Integrating Care with Speech Language Pathologist to Lessen the Gulp
8:00 – 9:00 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (200)
Dawnielle C. Feucht, BSN RN-BC SCRN
Monica Sohn, MA CCC-SLP
Level: Intermediate
Track: Clinical
The purpose of this presentation is to dispel common misconceptions about dysphagia and highlight a collaborative partnership between a stroke coordinator and a speech language pathologist (SLP). This partnership focuses on educating bedside nurses to enhance their understanding of dysphagia screening and management, ultimately supporting a comprehensive approach to improving patient outcomes.
Drive-Through Stroke Care: Decreasing Door-in-Door-out Times In A Rural Hospital
8:00 – 9:00 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (201)
Tiffany M. Maldonado, BSN RN CMSRN SCRN
Level: Beginner
Track: Program Management
The purpose of this content was to evaluate the impact of integrating local EMS into the acute stroke team process to reduce door-in-door-out times in a rural acute stroke ready hospital. The dubbed "drive-through stroke care" model showed a significant reduction in interfacility transfer times, highlighting the value of EMS involvement and collaborative care delivery.
The Struggle is Real... Practical Strategies to Improve Stroke Care, Education, and Documentation
9:10 – 10:10 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (202)
Amanda Werner, BSN RN MEDSURG-BC SCRN ASC-BC
Level: Intermediate
Track: Program Management
Purpose: A regional team of Stroke Coordinators (SC) covering four hospitals, two freestanding emergency departments, and a service area spanning Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska have delivered education and designed documentation tools for the ~900 nursing staff, ~2000 prehospital staff, and affiliated hospitals across the service area. Areas of focus include NIHSS certification, EMS/prehospital collaboration, posterior stroke screening, ED alert criteria, thrombolytic/thrombectomy care expectations, and general stroke care understanding.
Impact of Stroke Hotline Cards Provided to Family by Emergency Responders for Patient Information Prior to Arrival on Door to Needle Times
9:10 – 10:10 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (203)
Kendra Stastny Kent, MS RN CCRN CNRN SCRN TCRN MSRN
Kimisha Lutas, MSN RN CNRN SCRN
Jolie L. Cannata, MSN APRN FNP-BC CNRN SCRN
Level: Expert
Track: Clinical
Stroke hotline cards are an underutilized resource in stroke centers. When provided by EMS and used by family members, it is a useful communication tool which proves valuable in decreasing DTN times during the hyperacute phase of stroke alerts. Benefits of the stroke hotline card include faster decision making for thrombolytic therapy, streamlined communication within the stroke team, and improved efficacy in the stroke alert process.
Connected Recovery: Transforming Post-Acute Stroke Survivor Support
10:40 – 11:40 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (204)
Christine Dawson, MSN RN CNRN
Billie Reese, BSN RN
Kimberly Klamut, MSN RN CCNS
Kimberly Lee, BSN RN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Community Education
This presentation will highlight the critical role of outpatient stroke support groups in aligning with the 2024 updated stroke prevention guidelines by the AHA/ASA. By addressing risk factors, promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors, tackling social determinants of health, providing mental health support, and encouraging community engagement, these groups will significantly enhance stroke prevention and recovery. All neuroscience nurses will gain insights for implementing outpatient support group strategies that foster holistic recovery, making a profound impact on stroke survivors. Whether you hope to start a new group from scratch or revitalize an old one, this presentation will provide the tools for success!
Silos Are for Grains, Not Brains: Improving Thrombectomy Door-to-Device Times by Addressing Interdepartmental Communication
10:40 – 11:40 am CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (205)
Mary Stern, BSN RN CNRN
Karolina Lethueur de Jacquant, BSN RN CCRN-CMC
Level: Intermediate
Track: Quality
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the importance and influence of interdisciplinary communication, and also to show how nurses can positively drive sustainable change.
A Compendium of Stroke Risk Factors: The 2024 Guideline for the Primary Prevention of Stroke
11:50 am – 12:50 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (206)
Dr. Mary Amatangelo, DNP RN ACNP-BC CCRN CNRN SCRN FAHA FNCS
Level: Intermediate
Track: Clinical
Pharmacology Hours: 0.5
The 2024 Guideline for the Primary Prevention of Stroke replaces the 2014 Guideline for the Primary Prevention of Stroke. This updated guideline is a up-to-date resource for clinicians to use, to guide various prevention strategies for individuals with no history of stroke.
Optimizing EMS-Hospital Collaboration: Providing Meaningful Feedback
11:50 am – 12:50 pm CDT (1 CE contact hour)
Session: (207)
Lauren Macko, MSN APRN ACCNS-AG CCRN SCRN
Level: Intermediate
Track: Program Management
This presentation will provide learners with knowledge regarding the impact of EMS teams on the care of our stroke patients. The focus will be on stroke triage and destination protocols and methods to providing valuable feedback to EMS teams.