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BCEN Learn Live May 2024 Speaker Information

Meet our amazing lineup of speakers for BCEN Learn Live Chicago, May 5-7, 2024!


Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ivan Joseph

Finding Your North Star

Ivan is an internationally renowned speaker, bestselling author, award-winning performance coach, in-demand consultant, prominent educator and accomplished leader. Ivan also contributes regularly to publications like University Affairs, The Huffington Post and The Globe and Mail. His TEDx talk, “The Skill of Self-Confidence,” has over 28 million views and was named by Forbes as one of the 10 Best TED Talks for Graduates on the Meaning of Life. Dr. Joseph has served as Vice President and Director at four North American universities after completing his PhD in Psychology. During his 25-year career in academia, Ivan lead cultural transformation, inspired people to believe in themselves and created cohesive teams. He has also shared his remarkable story as an immigrant who has excelled and led a shift to inclusivity wherever he has gone.

While serving as a professor and coach at Graceland University, Ivan developed the soccer program from the ground up, leading both the men’s and women’s teams to #1 national rankings. He also guided the men’s team to the first national championship in Graceland’s history—in just five years. For this accomplishment, he was chosen as National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Coach of the Year. Ivan spent a decade as Director of Athletics at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, where he helped lead his department—and the university—to national prominence. Among his many accomplishments at TMU Ivan spearheaded the landmark $100M renovation of the historic Maple Leaf Gardens, created a culture of belonging, spirit and pride across the university’s diverse urban campus, and inspired student-athletes to break records in their athletic, academic, and outreach accomplishments. Under his leadership, TMU teams won the first provincial and national championships in the university’s history.

Ivan is also regularly called on to support national team programs. Most recently, he was asked to serve as Head Coach for the Women’s National Soccer Team in his native Guyana. In 2017, he was the high-performance coach for the Canadian men’s basketball team that won the country’s first ever FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.



Alice Benjamin, MSN, ACNS-BC, FNP-C, CCRN, CEN, CV-BC

Empowering Emergency Nurses in Media

“Nurse Alice” Benjamin, affectionately known as America’s favorite nurse is a board-certified family nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, author, speaker, podcast host and TV medical correspondent for NBC. She uses her clinical expertise as an emergency room nurse practitioner to care for people from bedside to boardroom to broadcast.


Kimberley Benzick, BSN, RN, CBRN

AC/DC: It’s Not Just A Band…

Kimberley Benzick is a Professional Development Practitioner for Parkland Health. With a background in many aspects of Critical Care, she enjoys simplifying learning to make difficult or complex conditions seem simple to all.


Joseph Blansfield, MS, NP, TCRN

Fact or Fiction: Are These Cutting-Edge Medical Innovations Too Good to Be True?

Joe has spent a career spanning 5 decades in trauma and emergency care in roles of increasing responsibility from staff, charge, manager, educator, CNS, nurse practitioner and trauma program manager. Additionally, he has served in the Army Nurse Corps as the Chief Nurse/Dep.Cmdr. of a Combat Support Hospital in Iraq.


Teri Campbell, MSN, RN, CEN, CFRN, PHRN, FASTN, FAEN

Annie! Annie! Are You OK? The Science Behind the Resuscitation

Teri Campbell is a flight nurse at the University of Chicago. She has clinical experience and has lectured regionally, nationally, and internationally on high-risk OB, pediatric, critical care, emergency, trauma, cardiac, and transport topics.


Scott DeBoer, MSN, RN, CPEN, CFRN (R), CEN (R), EMT-P

Pediatric Pitfalls Pre-Conference
Surviving Neonatal Resuscitation, aka. NRP for EMS/ER

Scott DeBoer is a dynamic seminar leader with over 30 years of emergency, critical care, & flight nursing experience. After 25 years of playing flight nurse at the University of Chicago, Scott is currently the primary seminar leader for Pedi-Ed-Trics, a company dedicated to teaching better ways to care for kids and a paramedic at Universal Studios Orlando.


Kristie Gallagher, DNP, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN, EMT-P, FAEN

PERT Alert in the ED

Kristie Gallagher is an Educator for the ED service line at ProMedica Health System. Having worked in the emergency setting for over 25 years, Kristie enjoys sharing clinical-based knowledge with emergency providers in a variety of ED settings.


Debbie Harrell, MSN, RN, NE-BC

Hot Topics: Managing Burns of All Depths and Sizes

Debbie Harrell is the Director of Professional Relations at Shriners Children’s Ohio. Having worked in burn care for more than 30 years, Debbie uses her experience to educate all levels of health care professionals on burn management on the state, regional, national and international level.


Shawntay Harris, DNP, MBA, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, NE-BC, TCRN, CPEN, CEN, CFRN, CTRN, FAEN

Passing the Baton: Ensuring Smooth Leadership Transitions

Shawntay Harris is President and CEO of a healthcare education corporation. Having an extensive background in emergency, trauma, and leadership, Shawntay has trained over 240,000 nurses in education suited explicitly for nurses from the bedside to senior leadership.


Harriet Hawkins, RN, CCRN-K, CPN, CPEN, FAEN

Humanitarian Medical Missions: What They Are and What They Are Not

Harriet Hawkins is a Nursing Professional Development Specialist with the Education department at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She has been a nurse for 55 years and has been on multiple humanitarian medical trips to over 7 countries.


Alexandra Johnson, Esq.

Human Trafficking and Healthcare

Alexandra Johnson is a supervising attorney with the Individual Rights and Social Justice practice group of Legal Aid Society in Chicago, Illinois. Having spent the better half of a decade in her field, Alexandra works as a legal advocate for victims and survivors of human trafficking while also educating stakeholders and community members on the topic.


Ryan Klavohn, BS, Paramedic

From The Scene to ED: Bridging the Gap in Prehospital and ED Communications

Ryan Klavohn is the Manager of EMS at Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL., and also a Lieutenant for the Bolingbrook Fire Department. Having worked in both the prehospital and hospital arena, Ryan uses his experiences to foster relationships between EMS and ED providers.


Angela Leonardo, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN

Sexual Assaults Within the Department of Defense

Angela Leonardo is a Captain in the United States Air Force at Mike O’Callaghan Medical Center, Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, NV. She is a critical care flight nurse and a ground surgical team nurse. Furthermore, Captain Leonardo is a subject matter Expert for Sexual Assaults within the Department of Defense.


Caroline Levin, BSN, RN, CEN, CFRN, CCRN, PHRN

Change of Plans: Expecting and Treating the Unexpected

Caroline Levin is a flight nurse and Education Coordinator for STAT MedEvac, in Pittsburgh PA. Coming from a diverse background in trauma, emergency, and critical care, Caroline brings a unique expertise to the bedside and aims to share her love of nursing and continuing education to the future of transport nursing.


Andrew Mahoney, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, SANE-A, AFN-BC

Nonfatal Strangulation

Andy Mahoney is a forensic nurse; he created a free-standing forensic nursing clinic at New Orleans Family Justice Center. He has become a recognized expert in forensic nursing, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and nonfatal strangulation.


Kelly McElligott, AM, LCSW

Understanding the Psychosocial Needs of the Burn Patient

Kelly has been a social worker for 25 years, the majority of that time working with patients who have experienced a burn injury. Kelly currently works as the Outreach Coordinator at Loyola Medical Center’s Burn Center providing burn survivors support programming as well as serves on the Board of Directors of Camp I Am Me, a local organization providing supportive programming to those affected by burn injuries.


Annemarie O’Connor, MSN, APN, FNP-BC, CBRN

Burn: Priorities and Pitfalls

Annemarie O’Connor is an Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner in the Burn and Complex Wound Center at UChicago Medicine. Her experience includes over 35 years of nursing within the burn community from bedside care, clinical administration, and advanced practice. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles and abstracts on burn related matters.


Korrine Potter, MSN, RN, CEN, TNS

Creating an ED Transition Program: Expanding Onboarding Practices for the Novice ED Nurse

Korrine Potter is the Clinical Nurse Educator for two community hospital emergency departments in the Chicago western suburbs. Her emergency nurse experience and academic clinical instructor experience has provided her the knowledge and skills to foster continual professional growth and development amongst current and new nurses and technicians.


Arthur Sanford, MD, FACS

Don’t Be Afraid of Treating Extensive Burns

Arthur Sanford is a burn surgeon with over 25 years of experience. His focus is on the education of burn care providers and promoting clinical excellence through developing optimal care practices of patients with a variety of burn injuries.


Tom Scaletta, MD, MAAEM

The Intersection of AI and Value-Based Care in Emergency Medicine

Tom Scaletta is a former programmer who became a physician, and is board certified in emergency medicine and clinical informatics. Tom is an ED Medical Director for a Chicago-area healthcare system, and CEO of Auscura, a company that applies smart technology to value-based care.


Deborah Spann, MSN, RN-BC, CEN, FAEN

It’s Your License, Love It or Lose It

Deborah Spann is the Education Coordinator for the Louisiana Emergency Response Network. With a passion for the profession of Nursing and a love of education, Deborah uses tools acquired over the years to support nurses in pursuit of improved outcomes in the world of trauma and time sensitive illness.


Rebecca Steinmann, MS, APRN, CPEN, CEN, TCRN, CCRN, CCNS, FAEN

Deception: Factitious Disorders

Rebecca is an AHA instructor at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Having spent 47 years at the stretcher-side, Rebecca has used her experiences to present at regional, national, and international conferences and write on a variety of emergency/critical care topics.


Ellen Turnbull, MSN, CEN

Behavior Health Emergencies: Creating a New Care Model to Reduce Length of Stay in the ED

Ellen Turnbull is the Service Line Director of Emergency Services for Edward Elmhurst Health. Her background in Critical Care and Emergency Nursing have helped her develop workflows that enhance the care of the emergency department patient and improve outcomes.


Sarah Wells, MSN, RN, CEN , CNL

The Internet Never Forgets! How to Use Social Media as a Nurse

Sarah K. Wells is a nurse educator and advocate with a mission to foster safe and supportive culture throughout healthcare. Sarah is a former emergency nurse and currently supports the nursing community with her company, New Thing Nurse, and through work with nursing professional organizations.


Jannie White, BSN, RN, CFRN

Pediatric Emergency Simulation Mastery: Navigating Critical Moments in the ED and Transport Environments

Jannie White has over 25 years of clinical and nursing professional development experience in flight nursing, emergency nursing and pediatric critical care. Having developed the simulation program for the flight team, Jannie has now expanded to innovative simulation modalities working the Virtual Reality simulation world.