3-3:30pm – Check-In & Networking

3:30-5pm – Panel 1: Sustainable Strategies to Support Resiliency and Professional Well-being for Healthcare Professionals

5-5:30pm – Dinner & Networking

5:30-7pm – Panel 2: RN & Clinical Staff Retention & Turnover

A special thanks to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth for hosting this event!!

Panel 1: Sustainable Strategies to Support Resiliency and Professional Well-being for Healthcare Professionals

Adverse patient events have been attributed to healthcare staff who have experienced difficulty sleeping, reduced job satisfaction, impaired behavior and anxiety. These attributes contribute to more serious consequences such as burnout, depression, post-traumatic disorder and suicidal ideation. The suicide rate for physicians is higher than that for any other profession, in part because of the stress of medical school, risk for malpractice, sleep deprivation and challenges with work/life balance. Healthcare leaders often struggle with finding long-term solutions to address an important but personal issue for their staff and organization. During this panel, participants will learn sustainable strategies and approaches that will address well-being and resiliency for healthcare professionals in today’s healthcare environment. Even when leaders recognize this as a problem, they are often presented with confusing information or get-better-quick solutions that bring no lasting change and can sometimes increase cynicism among employees. During this panel, participants will learn the importance of sustaining well-being for healthcare professionals in today’s health care environment.

Panel 1 Panelists:

Christi Nguyen DNP, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC; ACNO of Nurse Excellence; UT Southwestern Medical Center (Moderator)

Elaine Beardsley MN ACCNS-P CPEN; Clinical Resiliency Specialist Program Manager; Children’s Health

Dr. Thomas Glenn Ledbetter; Chief Medical Officer; Baylor Scott & White Health DFW Central Region and BSWH Waxahachie

Glenda Mutinda, PhD, MFT; Director of Interprofessional Well-Being; JPS Health Network

Mihir Patel, MD, MBA, FACP, CPE; Chief Medical Officer, Monarch Region; Sound Physicians

Panel 2: RN & Clinical Staff Retention & Turnover

With an aging population, baby boomers retiring, millennials taking over the work force, and reimbursements being more tied to patient satisfaction and administrative duties, it is no surprise that turnover is at an all-time high. It is imperative for hospitals and health care systems to understand the impact of turnover as well as how to increase retention through engagement, professional development and mentorship.

Panel 2 Panelists:

Traci Lawler-Shortt, DNP; Client Services Vice President/Clinical Operations Specialist/ Lead Nurse Practitioner; SCP Health (Moderator)

Katie Bata Heeter; Senior VP; HR Strategic Business Services; Baylor Scott & White Health

Shonna Bracco, DNP; Chief Nursing Officer, Texas Health Resources

Kelly Martin; Vice President of Human Resources; Texas Health Resources

Panel 1 Speakers’ Bios:

Dr. Christi Nguyen has been a nurse for 27 years and nurse leader for 17 years. She recently joined UT Southwestern Medical Center as the Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Nursing Excellence. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor with the University of Texas at Arlington’s MSN Nursing Administration Online Program and Student Advisor in the DNP Program. She earned both her Bachelor and Masters of Science in Nursing and Healthcare Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1994 and 2004, respectively. She completed her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Texas Christian University in 2016. Dr. Nguyen is certified as a Nurse Executive, Advanced and a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE).

Dr. Nguyen has worked in multiple areas of nursing, including oncology, home health, hospice, case management and as a wound, ostomy and continence nurse.

Dr. Nguyen is a member of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, Texas Organization for Nursing Leaders, North Central Organization for Nursing Leadership, and ACHE. She is currently the President of the North Central Organization for Nursing Leadership and a Board member with Texas Organization for Nursing Leadership and the DFW Great 100 Nurses.

She was recognized as a DFW Great 100 Nurse in 2013, Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital’s “Excellence in Nursing – Transformational Leadership” in 2015, D Magazine’s “Excellence in Nursing Awards – Nurses in Leadership Roles” in 2016 and 2019, and a JPS Excellence Award Winner in 2021.

Elaine Beardsley is committed to support health care staff to be their best while doing the difficult work they do. She is in the role of Clinical Resilience Specialist at Children’s Health in Dallas. Her background is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and spent many years at Seattle Children’s in the Emergency Department. She is in her third year of an Industrial and Organizational Psychology PhD program with her research interests being organizational factors that mediate emotional labor within critical care. The focus of her work at Children’s Health is twofold: help individuals connect to their own resilience factors thereby processing stress to support replenishment, and identifying and mitigating system factors that promote cumulative stress. Elaine has done many presentations locally and nationally. In her spare time, she loves being with her family and pets and spending time outdoors.

Thomas Ledbetter, MD currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Waxahachie, Texas; Sr VP CMO DFW Central Region, and is a board certified internist, practicing medicine for more than 35 years in Waxahachie. During his work as an internist, he recognized the growing divide between the practice of medicine and patient care. As a result he began redesigning how his office operated in an effort to remove inefficiency in hopes to preserve face time a physician had with their patients. In 2014, he was appointed Chief of Clinical Efficiency for Health Texas Provider Network, an affiliate of Baylor Scott & White. In 2015, Dr. Ledbetter co-authored an editorial for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings titled, “The Engaged Physician,” highlighting the growing epidemic of physician burnout. He recognized that a systematic approach was needed to improve the health and wellness of physicians, advance practice providers, and front line nurses. Since 2018, he has chaired the Baylor Scott & White’s Wellbeing in Medicine workgroup which is a multi-disciplinary leadership team of physicians, advance practice providers, clinical psychologist, pastoral care, and front nurses focusing on culture, workflow efficiency, and resiliency.

Dr. Ledbetter earned his doctorate in medicine from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, graduating with honors. He did his internal medicine internship and residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Ledbetter is a fellow of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a graduate of University of Texas Dallas with a Masters in Medical Management.

His clinical interests have centered chronic disease management, leveraging nutrition, exercise and cognitive therapy to improve outcomes.

Glenda Mutinda, PhD, serves as the Director of Interprofessional Well-being at JPS Health Network. Dr. Mutinda received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Iowa in Psychology and African American Studies, a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, and holds a doctoral degree in Medical Family Therapy from East Caroline University. She also completed advanced fellowship training in integrated behavioral medicine and residency education at Saint Mary’s Family Medicine Residency Program. Her current position at JPS allows her direct access to the residents/fellows, oversight of all well-being initiatives, and she holds an integral position in the organization’s overarching Caring for the Caregiver task force. Her interests include well-being of medical trainees and healthcare workers, diversity and health equity, and integrated behavioral medicine.

Panel 2 Speakers’ Bios:

Traci Shortt, a native of Fort Worth, TX brings 21 years of experience in nursing, advanced practice nursing, project management, contract management, and change facilitation to her role with SCP-Health. In her Client Services Vice President role, Traci facilitates engagement with stakeholders to optimize contracts financially, operationally, and culturally. As a Clinical Operations Specialist and Nurse Practitioner she is responsible for special projects, evaluation of contracts, operational assessment and clinical practice. In this role, she ensures clients receive facility specific analysis of their processes, staffing models, and practice guidelines. She works to ensure efficiency, efficacy, and safety in the delivery of patient care.

She completed a doctoral project on Waveform Capnography Use in Moderate Sedation and IV Analgesia. She has worked with ANCC in developing a national emergency nurse practitioner board certification and is active in nurse practitioner lobbying and legislation. Another area of expertise is the prehospital and transport environments. She has taught classes nationally and internationally on this topic and is working on an infrastructure project currently in Nigeria. Traci was recognized as one of Baylor Health Care Systems top directors for clinical and operational performance. Traci also has worked with the U.S. Army in developing and delivering a critical care field medicine course for their Special Forces medical personnel, which was utilized in Iraq, and Afghanistan resulting in decreased field mortality numbers.

She formerly served as a Director of Emergency and Critical Care Services at Baylor Health System. While there, she was able to develop Left Without Treatment Plans, Door to Provider Time reduction plans, Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia Practice Protocols and Central Line and Sepsis bundles in their clinical transformation, Traci received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice Degree from Chatham University. She also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Brenau University in Gainesville, GA and an undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University. Traci is certified as an Adult and Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner clinically and also as a Six Sigma Blackbelt operationally. Traci is based out of the Houston, TX office.

Katie Bata Heeter is Vice President of Strategic Business Services at Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit health system in Texas. The integrated delivery network includes 49,000 employees, 52 hospitals, 7,500 affiliated physicians, more than 1,100 access points, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and one of the national’s largest accountable care organizations, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance.

In her role, Bata Heeter oversees implementation of HR programs that support system leaders in advancing the mission of Baylor Scott & White Health.

Prior to her current role, Bata Heeter served in multiple human resources leadership roles including vice president and regional executive director at Advocate Aurora Health and its predecessor, Advocate Health Care. She also previously served as vice president and chief human resource director at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital.

Bata Heeter received her bachelor’s degree in business from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in business management from North Illinois University.

Dr. Shonna Bracco has been a Registered Nurse since 1996. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Texas Christian University and is board certified as a Nurse Executive Advanced. Dr. Bracco currently serves as the Chief Nursing Officer for Texas Health Arlington Memorial since September 2019. She is passionate about creating healthy work environments for healthcare workers to include reducing incivility, workplace violence and improving self-care and kindness in healthcare. Dr. Bracco serves the community by being a board member for Arlington Chamber Women’s Alliance, Texas Christian University Nursing Professional Advisory Board, and Texas Health Surgery Center Arlington board.

Kelly Martin, Vice President of Human Resources Operations, is a 20-year veteran of Texas Health Resources. She spent six years as the Entity Human Resources Officer at Texas Health Plano. During her tenure there, she’s focused on increased employee retention as well as top decile employee engagement results.

Prior to that she worked as a Human Resources Manager and served in several employee relations roles where she worked closely with employees and others in Human Resources. Kelly’s also been involved with various system projects, such as the design and deployment of the employee Grievance Program.

She is certified in Mediation and Managing Workplace conflict as well as a certified professional in Human Resources.

Kelly has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Texas.

Outside of work she enjoys spending her time with her husband of 19 years, Mark, and their 13-year-old son, Brady. Their entire family are huge baseball fans and split their time between watching her son play select baseball and cheering on the Texas Rangers.

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ACHE of North Texas will adhere to CDC COVID-19 guidelines for in-person gatherings. Monitoring the CDC’s COVID-19 By County risk level tracking, ACHENTX events/meetings will observe the following guidelines. (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html)