Fast Facts About Stroke Care for the Advanced Practice Nurse

Kathy J. Morrison, MSN, RN, SCRN, FAHA is a certified stroke nurse, a Fellow of the American Heart Association, and a recipient of the prestigious Pennsylvania State Nightingale Award for Clinical Nursing Excellence. As the stroke program manager for the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, she oversaw all aspects of stroke care, from prehospital through stroke clinic follow-up until her retirement in 2021. She played a pivotal role in Penn State Hershey Medical Center's attainment of The Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center certification and has mentored many stroke program coordinators through the process of attaining Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Center certification. Ms. Morrison also served on The Joint Commission Expert Panel for Stroke Center certification standards. Ms. Morrison's published works have appeared in nursing journals and neuroscience course curricula. Her books Fast Facts for Stroke Care Nursing 1st & 2nd editions, Stroke Certification Study Guide for Nurses and Stroke Nursing Certification Review have been well received in the nursing community, both as handy guides for stroke care nurses and as preparation tools for the SCRN® certification exam. Even in retirement, she remains active in leading SCRN® review courses, participating in community stroke awareness campaigns and facilitating a regional stroke survivor support group. She established the Stroke Coordinators of Pennsylvania (SCoPA) in 2010--a group of stroke coordinators whose collaborative work has resulted in significant improvements in stroke care and outcomes in community hospitals across central Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, a member of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, a board member of the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses and a board member of the Stroke Survivors Foundation. Diane McLaughlin, DNP, AGACNP-BC, CCRN, FCCM, FNCS is an acute care nurse practitioner at Baptist Medical Center/Lyerly Neurosurgery and Mayo Clinic Florida. She specializes in the field of neurocritical care and is a world expert and international speaker on topics such as stroke, advanced practice provider (APP) training and point-of-care ultrasound. She is active in healthcare, recent chair of the APP Resource Committee for the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and chair-elect for the Advanced Practice Nursing Professional Development Committee of the Nursing Section, as well as serving on Strategic Planning, Congress Program Planning and Ultrasound Committees. She was recently accepted into the American College of Critical Care Medicine as a Fellow of Critical Care Medicine, which is a designation honoring practitioners who have made outstanding contributions in critical care. Dr. McLaughlin is a member of the Neurocritical Care Society Guidelines and APP Leadership committees and serves as a Social Media Ambassador for the Neurocritical Care Journal. She was also inducted as a Fellow of Neurocritical Care in 2022. She is passionate about APP training and is a part-time lecturer at Case Western Reserve University. She spends much of her free time helping to advance the role of the critical care advanced practice provider at the bedside. She is knowledgeable in research and academia, with many publications, presentations, book chapters and Fast Facts about Neurocritical Care for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants. She is dedicated to the advancement of science and healing the sick.