WV Organization for Nursing Leadership - WVONL

02/06/2026

WVONL is happy to announce its 2026 Spring Conference Event "Care, Lead, Inspire" at Flatwoods Conference Center in Flatwoods, WV on April 24, 2026. Register here:

Join the West Virginia Organization for Nursing Leadership for the 2026 Spring Conference on April 24, 2026, in Flatwoods, West Virginia.

02/06/2026

WVONL wants to help you remember and support National Wear Red Day to support women’s heart health and research. Please celebrate and support women’s heart health by holding your own event, contribute to heart research, educate the women in your lives and community about heart health and early signs of a cardiac event. The American Heart Association has great resources to support this wear red initiative. Pictured: Jennifer Nestor, WVONL President; Christine Daniels, WVONL President Elect; and Lya Stroupe, WVONL Past President ♥️

https://newsroom.heart.org/news/4-ways-you-can-support-womens-heart-health-on-national-wear-red-day-2026 #:~:text=Wear%20red%20on%20National%20Wear%20Red%20Day%2C%20Friday%2C%20February%206,go%20red”%20on%20February%206.

11/17/2025

Our 2025 conference was capped off with a very inspirational (& hands-on!) presentation on Breakthrough Leadership by world-renowned motivational speaker Brian Biro. Check out the video to see some of our West Virginia nursing leaders breaking through barriers by creating a new vision. 👀 See anyone you know in the clip? Tag them in the comments!

11/14/2025

Our final Ignite Session speakers were from West Virginia University School of Nursing: Rebecca Smeltzer DNP, MBA, RN and Stacy Huber, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE. Drs. Smeltzer and Huber shared how they used the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Core Competencies as a framework for developing nurse leader curriculum. We are grateful to WVU School of Nursing for preparing experienced nurses to assume strategical roles within complex healthcare systems.

11/14/2025

Our third Ignite Session speaker was Elisha Miller, Associate Nurse Manager at Memorial Health System. Elisha shared about the awesome work she's led at Sistersville General Hospital on Age-Friendly Health System. Well done, Elisha!

11/14/2025

Our second Ignite Session speaker was Mary Friel Fanning, DNP, RN, NEABC. Dr. Fanning is the Chief Nursing Officer at West Virginia University Hospitals. She created a new program called "CNO for a Day," where nurses in her organization apply and are selected to spend the day seeing what it's really like to be a CNO. Though the program is still in early stages, several "CNO for a Day" alum have already grown within nursing leadership, advancing formally to new roles. Nicely done, Mary!

11/14/2025

During our Ignite Sessions, we heard from four different nurse leaders about impactful work they've led. First, Leslie Perine, System Director of Nursing Professional Practice and Education at WVU Medicine presented about her work on Transition to Practice for new RNs with a graduate bridge program. Way to go, Leslie!

11/14/2025

Friday morning's opening session was on the topic of Advocacy and Legislation. We heard from Jim Kaufman, CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association; Julie Huron, BSH, LNHA, CEO of the West Virginia Nurses Association; Lya Cartwright-Stroupe DNP, NEA-BC, NPD-BC, FAAN, President-Elect of the West Virginia Nurses Association; and Jodi Biller DNP, APRN, FNP-BC Vice President Board of Directors for the West Virginia Nurses Association and Chairman Committee for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

11/13/2025

Marshall University is offering Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Training, supported by a grant from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for nurses. Please review the information below, which details the training details-- including the $3,000 stipend nurses can be paid by participating! Share with any nurse that might be interested & reach out to Keeley Bowman, DNP, RN, SANE-A, Program Director for more information or questions.

11/13/2025

The afternoon session was kicked off with a great panel session on American Organization for Nursing Leadership Nurse Leader Core Competency Model moderated by WVONL President-Elect Christine Daniels, MBA, MSN, RN, NE-BC, with panelists Krystal Atkinson, DNP, RN, CNOR & Susan Russell MSN RN from Vandalia and Jennifer Riley MSN, RN, NE-BC from WVU Medicine.

11/13/2025

Thank you to Sue Painter, Executive Director of the WV RN Board, for the update on all-things-nursing in the state! We are also very appreciative to three of the WV RN Board of Director Members for attending and participating in our annual conference.

11/13/2025

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Katie Boston-Leary, delivered a great message this morning. Take a look at the words she shared on this slide-- what do you think?