Breakout Sessions
Morning Sessions - 10:45 a.m.
Breakout with Dr. Dan Weberg
Dan Weberg, PhD, MHI, RN, FAAN
Kaiser Permanente
Ohio State University College of Nursing
This breakout session will explore how nurses can navigate challenges, uncertainty, and rapid change, especially as technology and AI continue to evolve in healthcare. We’ll look at how learning from failure, recognizing everyday workarounds, and taking thoughtful risks can spark new ways of thinking. Participants will consider what it means to remain adaptable in a shifting environment and how emerging technologies might influence future practice. Designed to be provocative and interactive, the session will evolve based on the insights and experiences participants bring.
Anchoring Nursing Care in Human Connection: Navigating an Ever-Evolving Future
Susan Peek, Patient Relations Specialist
Emplify Health by Gundersen
This session highlights the vital role of the patient-nurse relationship as a steady anchor in the rapidly evolving healthcare environment. It explores how to uphold the core values of compassionate, patient-centered care while embracing and adapting to ongoing changes in nursing practice. Emphasis will be placed on key practices for maintaining strong therapeutic relationships amid technological advancements, evolving care models, and shifting patient needs.
Research Corner
(offered in-person only)
Featuring Selected
Poster Presentors
Facilitated by a NROTG Committee Member
This year, the Research Corner will feature a refreshed, more interactive format. Select poster presenters will offer a brief 5-minute overview of their project, followed by a short Q&A. Participants will rotate through poster stations in small groups, creating opportunities for meaningful discussion, direct engagement with presenters, and deeper exploration of each project. This new structure is designed to highlight the work of our presenters while fostering conversation, connection, and shared learning across all participants.
Afternoon Sessions - 2:00 p.m.
Navigating the Transition to Nursing Practice: A Fishbowl Conversation
Cameron Kiersch DNP, RN
Associate Professor, College of Nursing & Health, Viterbo University
This interactive fishbowl-style breakout session brings together earlycareer nurses to discuss the transition from nursing education to professional practice. Through rotating conversations, panelists will share their experiences with growth, challenges, team dynamics, and navigating clinical hierarchies. Attendees will observe and participate in discussions that surface practical insights on resilience, communication, and self-advocacy. The session invites both new and experienced nurses to reflect on the cultural and organizational factors that shape early professional experiences and to consider strategies that promote belonging, safety, and effective support for novice nurses.
Nursing, Ethics and Critical Thinking in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Era
Thomas D. Harter, PhD
Serina Johnson DNP, RN
Emplify Health by Gundersen
Explore how generative and conversational AI are beginning to shape the patient stories nurses and clinicians hear every day. This interactive breakout session brings together nursing and bioethics perspectives to examine emerging opportunities, risks, and ethical considerations in the AI era. Through brief teaching points and real-world scenarios, participants will reflect on how clinical judgment, communication, and critical thinking evolve as patients increasingly tur to AI for information, support, and guidance. Join us as we navigate this changing landscape together.
Research Corner
(offered in-person only)
Featuring Selected
Poster Presentors
Facilitated by a NROTG Committee Member
This year, the Research Corner will feature a refreshed, more interactive format. Select poster presenters will offer a brief 5-minute overview of their project, followed by a short Q&A. Participants will rotate through poster stations in small groups, creating opportunities for meaningful discussion, direct engagement with presenters, and deeper exploration of each project. This new structure is designed to highlight the work of our presenters while fostering conversation, connection, and shared learning across all participants.