Agenda
The Agenda for the October 7, 2025 presentation follows. A downloadable PDF version is also provided.
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18th New England Regional Caring Science Consortium Conference (11th Virtual)
(Formerly named the Massachusetts Regional Caring Science Consortium)
Caring Moments in Action, Part 2:
Healing Compassionate Transpersonal Presence in Practice Settings
Date: Tuesday October 7, 2025
Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm ET
Sponsored and supported by the:
New England Regional Caring Science Consortium; Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Endicott College, Beverly, MA; Northeastern University, and University of NH
Purpose: This program will focus on the healing impact of caring moments’ transpersonal presence on the workplace, patient/student care, and relationships exemplified by a variety of caring science projects instituted in several practice settings. Sharing examples of such projects helps other systems to increase caring practices.
Program Objectives/Subjectives:
As a result of this educational activity, participants will be able to:
- Utilize a healing self-affirmation and centering micro-practice.
- Describe caritas presence and how it affects nurse-patient and staff caring- healing relationships.
- Describe two caring practices that promote compassionate caring moments in care for self and others.
- Describe the role of compassionate presence and self-care in preventing medication errors.
- Describe how the Caritas Processes influence transpersonal relationships to create a healing care environment.
Program Content:
11:00 – 11:05 am Welcome and Orientation (Danielle Leone-Sheehan, PhD, RN, Caritas Coach®)
11:05 – 11:15 am A Caring Moment Centering Activity (A. Lynne Wagner, EdD, MSN, RN, FACCE, HMCT, Caritas Coach®; Co-Founder of the NERCSC)
11:15 am – 12:00 pm Panel of Caritas Nurses: Caring Science Projects that create Healing Compassionate Transpersonal Presence in Practice Settings (moderated by, Cathleen Colleran, DNP, RN, CNE)
- The “Caritas Board”: Sustaining Nurse As Environment By Building Caring Nurse/Patient Relationships: Allison Dean, MSN, MBA, RN, OCN, NPD-BC, Caritas Coach®; Advanced Practice Manager, The Miriam Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island.
- Compassionate Human Service to Self and Others: Embracing the Caring Science: Sandra Mohsan, RNC, BSN, PHN, TNP, Caritas Coach®; Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento California.
- Cultivation Of Caritas Literacy In Undergraduate BSN Students Around Medication Administration: Ludy Llasus, PhD, RN, APRN, NP-C, WCSI Caritas Coach® & Leader; Associate Professor, Nevada School of Nursing.
- Keeping it Real Caritas: Valeria “Kay” Jarrell, MLT, ASCP, BSW, BSN, ACM,-RN, Caritas Coach®; Case Manager at Carilion Roanoke Memorial, Virginia.
12:00 –12:25 pm Discussion /Conversation with Panelists—(moderated by Christine McNulty-Buckley, DNP, MBA, RN, CPHQ, NE‑BC, Certified MBSR & Koru Mindfulness Teacher, Caritas Coach®)
12:25 – 12:30 pm Closing Comments & Program Evaluations Process (Danielle Leone-Sheehan, PhD, RN, Caritas Coach®)
Please note that there is NO conflict of interest or commercial support disclosed by planners, speakers, or content reviewers, in relation to this educational activity.
Dear Participants: The New England Regional Caring Science Consortium (formerly the Massachusetts Regional Caring Science Consortium) has grown from spontaneous informal small group meetings in 2013 to far-reaching in-person and virtual programs. The programs offer a forum for exploring and sustaining caring-healing practices and outcomes for nurses, other health-care practitioners, and students in clinical/patient care, leadership/ administration, and education settings. The NERCSC exists only through the dedicated NERCSC Executive Leadership Team’s volunteer collaborative work, the gracious and generous support of hosting institutions in Massachusetts and other New England states, and our speakers who also volunteer their time. We are filled with gratitude for all who contribute to the success of the NERCSC and, of course, for the growing number of nurses, students, and other health care practitioners who attend and help enrich ongoing programs and conversations. Please visit the NERCSC website (NERCSC.org) to learn more about our history, leadership team, our hosting and supporting organizations, our speakers, as well as other caring science learning opportunities and resources. It takes a community to advance Caritas practices.
The NERCSC Executive Leadership Team welcomes all with loving care and is honored to present this Program:
- A. Lynne Wagner, EdD, MSN, RN, FACCE, HMCT, Caritas Coach®, Professor Emerita, Fitchburg State University; WCSI Faculty Associate; Nurse-Educator Consultant in caring practices and mentoring programs; Co-Founder of the NERCSC (formerly the MRCSC).
- Danielle Leone-Sheehan, PhD, RN, Caritas Coach®, Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; Clinical Nurse, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
- Christine McNulty-Buckley, DNP, MBA, RN, CPHQ, NEA‑BC, Certified MBSR & Koru Mindfulness Teacher, Caritas Coach®; Associate Professor, Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Endicott College, Beverly, MA.
- Cathleen Colleran, DNP, MSN, RN, Caritas Coach®, Director of DNP Program, University of New Hampshire.
Special thanks and gratitude to our four panelists today for their dedication to be Caritas Coach change-makers and for their generous sharing. Much gratitude to: Dr. Amy Smith, Dean, Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Endicott College, Beverly, MA, who graciously supported the Contact Hour application; Northeastern University, Dr. Danielle Leone-Sheehan, who provided the Zoom Meeting platform; and local partnerships, which are critical in sustaining the Consortium mission and vision.
Thanks also to all who attended and participated today in meaningful caring dialogue that has the capacity to change how we care for ourselves and attend to the caring-healing and teaching-learning of others.
Contact Hours: 1.5 Nursing Contact Hours have been applied for with the New England League for Nurse Educators (NELNE), an approved provider of continuing nursing education.
For attendees to receive certificate of contact hours, both attendance at the entire program and submission of an evaluation form at the end of the program are required.
NEXT NERCSC PROGRAM: NERCSC will offer the next virtual program Spring 2026. Topic to be announced. Watch for date and program focus and title on NERCSC website and email announcements.
Please visit the New England Regional Caring Science Consortium (NERCSC) website (nercsc.org) for information on its history, mission and vision, and past/future programs, as well as other caring resources. For more information about Dr. Jean Watson and Watson Caring Science Institute learning opportunities, visit watsoncaringscience.org . The International Association for Human Caring (humancaring.org) is another excellent resource for learning more about many caring theorists and programs.
Downloadable version of agenda
Handouts
Bio Sketches of the Speakers
Allison Dean, MSN, MBA, RN, OCN, NPD-BC
Allison is an Advanced Practice Manager at The Miriam Hospital and a certified Caritas Coach. A second-career nurse, she started her nursing career in 2013 as a Staff Nurse on the hematology/oncology unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her journey into nursing was influenced by diverse professional experiences, including engineering, business leadership, and eight years as a Spa Director, where she developed a strong appreciation for the mind-body-spirit connection.
Dean holds an MSN in Nursing Education from Framingham State University, a BSN from Regis College, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University. She completed the Caritas Coach Education Program in 2016, based on Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, and applies its principles to both patient care and nursing education. As a Caritas Coach, she believes that nurses should model wellness, support others’ well-being, and create caring-healing practices at the bedside. She aims to live these principles and integrate them into her teaching and leadership.
Her professional background includes inpatient hematology/oncology, medical-surgical telemetry, orthopedic care, and outpatient oncology navigation. An advocate for simulation-based education, she actively participates in the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL), incorporating its standards into her work. Dean is committed to developing the next generation of nurses by fostering professionalism, clinical competency, and confidence in practice—while demonstrating and teaching Caritas-based self-care as the foundation of compassionate nursing.
Sandra Marie Mohsan CRN, BSN, PHN, TNP, Caritas Coach, Caring Words LLC
Sandra holds a Bachelorette of Science in Nursing, Certified Public Health Nurse, Telehealth and Quality Management Certified, member of The Nursing Way, Watson Caring Institute, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and American Red Cross volunteer.
She worked as a nurse for 41 years in various specialties and retired after 22 years as a Telehealth Advice Charge Nurse at Northern Kaiser Permanente. In 2015, Sandra adopted Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, which shaped her positive and supportive approach as a charge nurse. Before retiring, she introduced Caritas to Kaiser Permanente’s three Call Centers—Sacramento, San Jose, and Vallejo—and helped connect them with hospital staff. They continue to train new coaches and promote awareness through web news, meetings, and onboarding for new hires.
Sandra currently dedicates her efforts to self-care, mentorship, storytelling, poetry, and writing. Her debut publication, Caregiver’s Poetic Journal: Begin Healing from Grief and Loss through Journaling, details how engaging in journaling facilitated her journey through the loss of her husband. She applied her pediatric expertise by writing compassionate stories about childhood illness and injuries, helping children manage their fears and incorporating Watson’s 10 Caritas
Processes. Examples include Bonnie’s Bright & Bodacious Braces and her newest publication, Molly and the Rooster with the Cough-A-Doodle Doo
Ludy Llasus, PhD, RN, APRN, NP-C, WCSI Caritas Coach & Leader
Dr. Ludy Llasus is a tenured Associate Professor at Nevada State University School of Nursing in Henderson, Nevada. She earned her PhD in Nursing from University of Nevada Las Vegas. She holds national certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Llasus has 32 years of experience in nursing, including 23 years in nursing education and 23 years as a family nurse practitioner. She has been a major force in the establishment of the nursing curriculum and programmatic infrastructure at Nevada State. She played a significant role in establishing the structure of simulation education and received recognition by the Nevada Board of Regents for her outstanding contribution in the development of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Clinical Simulation Center of Las Vegas.
She has served as Interim Dean, Associate Dean and Pre-Licensure Director for the School of Nursing and was instrumental in facilitating the growth for both the RN to BSN and pre-licensure programs. Dr. Llasus is a Watson Caring Science Institute Caritas Coach® and Caritas Leader®. She provides leadership in the integration of Caring Science in the BSN curriculum at Nevada State. Her soul’s work is nursing education and remains committed in educating future nurses who are expected to lead and advance the nursing profession.
Valeria Kay Jarrell , MLT, ASCP, BSW, BSN, ACM-RN
Kay works at Carilion Roanoke Memorial as a nurse case manager, on a medical-surgical unit, which involves coordination of complex care discharges for SUD; high-risk patients , experiencing unhoused, medical-psychiatric problems; and immigrant and chronically ill populations. Ms Jarrell started her career as a medical lab technician working in a variety of settings. Along the way she went back to school and earned her bachelors and social work degree, fostering emotionally challenged teenagers. While preparing to be an RN, she discovered Dr. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. Ms Jarrell became committed to practicing nursing by this theory. Then by the random happenings of the universe, she met Dr. Watson and was invited to participate in the Caritas Coach program, graduating in 2017. Caring Science continues to influence Ms. Jarrell’s daily nursing practice, impacting the energetic field in all the units in which she practices. She also works as an End of Life Doula.