Ever wonder what it's really like to be at the AMSN Annual Convention or simply looking for powerful insights from this year's event? Join Laura, Maritess, Neil and special guest co-hosts AMSN President Marisa Streelman and Alissa Brown as they share their own personal stories and insights LIVE from the 2024 AMSN Annual Convention in Toronto. SPECIAL GUESTS Dr. Marisa Streelman, DNP, RN, CMSRN, NE-BC began her career in Chicago as a staff nurse in oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She progressed into leadership positions, such as charge RN, and clinical coordinator, and then changed specialties as the unit manager of a medicine unit. Her life moved out West to Denver, where she managed a cardiology and progressive care unit at University of Colorado Hospital before returning back to Chicago where she served as medical center unit director at Rush University Medical Center. She currently is a staff specialist with the nursing leadership team at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Streelman was a founding member for the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses - Chicago Chapter, and she has been involved with the AMSN Volunteer Committees. She was elected to treasurer for the Board of Directors for AMSN in 2015 and continues to serve on the board. She recently earned her doctorate in nursing practice in transformational leadership systems from Rush University. Alissa Brown, MSN, RN, CMSRN, NPD-BC is a clinical nurse educator from the University of Utah Health. She has been working in the health care industry for almost 12 years, and started her nursing career as a med-surg bedside nurse on an Ortho, Trauma, and Surgical Specialty Unit. It was through that experience in the med-surg unit where she discovered a passion for education, and pursued a master’s degree. She is a lifelong learner, and loves to teach. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, she's not all work, and definitely enjoys play! She loves to travel, and tries to plan as many vacations each year as she can with family and friends. Alissa loves to read, listen to podcasts, and geek out to documentaries and crime shows on the weekends. She's a total fair weather fan when it comes to Utes Football, but will cheer in all the right places, or get mad when her husband tells her to during a game. MEET OUR CO-HOSTS Samantha Bayne, MSN, RN, CMSRN, NPD-BC is a nursing professional development practitioner in the inland northwest specializing in medical-surgical nursing. The first four years of her practice were spent bedside on a busy ortho/neuro unit where she found her passion for newly graduated RNs, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional governance. Sam is an unwavering advocate for medical-surgical nursing as a specialty and enjoys helping nurses prepare for specialty certification. Laura Johnson, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CMSRN has been a nurse since 2008 with a background in Med/Surg and Oncology. She is a native Texan currently working in the Dallas area. She has held many positions throughout her career from bedside nurse to management/leadership to education. Laura obtained her MSN in nursing education in 2018 and is currently pursuing her DNP. She has worked both as a bedside educator and a nursing professional development practitioner for both new and experienced staff. She enjoys working with the nurse residency program as a specialist in palliative care/end of life nursing and mentorship. She is currently an NPD practitioner for oncology and bone marrow transplant units. Neil H. Johnson, RN, BSN, CMSRN, epitomizes a profound familial commitment to the nursing profession, marking the third generation in his family to tread this esteemed path. Following the footsteps of his father, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, and cousin, all distinguished nurses, Neil transitioned to nursing as a second career after a brief tenure as an elementary school teacher. Currently on the verge of completing his MSN in nurse education, he aspires to seamlessly integrate his dual passions. Apart from his unwavering dedication to nursing, Neil actively seeks serenity in nature alongside his canine companions. In his professional capacity, he fulfills the role of a med-surg nurse at the Moses Cone Health System in North Carolina. Eric Torres, ADN, RN, CMSRN is a California native that has always dreamed of seeing the World, and when that didn’t work out, he set his sights on nursing. Eric is beyond excited to be joining the AMSN podcast and having a chance to share his stories and experiences of being a bedside medical-surgical nurse. Maritess M. Quinto, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, CMSRN is a clinical educator currently leading a team of educators who is passionately helping healthcare colleagues, especially newly graduate nurses. She was born and raised in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States with her family in Florida. Her family of seven (three ...
