This virtual town hall event will provide information on the current context of professional well-being within health care and feature several regional experts focusing on supporting organizational well-being within their health care systems. Panelists from various large hospital systems will share strategies and lessons learned from implementing employee well-being initiatives at the organizational level. Participants will have the opportunity to submit live questions for the moderated panel as they learn ways to support well-being for health care professionals.
Speakers:
Juliann Sebastian, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean of and a professor within the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Nursing. She previously served as dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and earlier as assistant dean for advanced practice nursing and professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. Dr. Sebastian earned her bachelor’s and master of science degrees in nursing from the University of Kentucky, College of Nursing and her doctorate in business administration from the University of Kentucky College of Business and Economics. Dr. Sebastian's areas of expertise are organization of care delivery systems, community-based care for underserved populations, and health policy. She has worked extensively in the area of health professions well-being, including service as the inaugural chair of the University of Nebraska Medical Center Wellbeing Coordinating Council, beginning in 2015 and now serving as co-chair of that group. Her works have been published widely, including journal papers, book chapters, and three books.
Steven Wengel, MD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the first-ever assistant vice chancellor for campus wellness for UNMC and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Dr. Wengel is from Omaha and has been a practicing psychiatrist since 1991, specializing in geriatric psychiatry. He treats patients with a broad range of psychiatric conditions, including dementia, depression, and anxiety disorders. He is currently the director of the UNMC Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, and he previously served as the chair of the UNMC Department of Psychiatry, from 2004 to 2018. Dr. Wengel has a longstanding interest in the role of non-medication interventions for reducing stress and anxiety. He has employed meditation techniques in his personal, clinical, and academic practices for many years, and has worked with the University of Nebraska to create innovative academic and clinical programs in stress reduction. In his current role as the wellness champion for UNMC, he oversees academic programs reaching out to faculty and trainees in all disciplines. His goal is to reduce stress and burnout in health care students and staff, as well as to reach out to other populations across the state and region.
Aria Fiat, PhD, is a pediatric and school psychologist devoted to promoting equitable, accessible, and culturally responsive mental health care. She is currently completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she will soon begin her tenure as an assistant professor of pediatrics. Dr. Fiat completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Munroe Meyer Institute, providing psychological services through Omaha Children's, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Omaha Public Schools. Dr. Fiat’s work as a clinician, researcher, educator, speaker, and advocate focuses on enhancing the capacity of systems to promote behavioral health and wellness, with an emphasis on supporting the educators and caregivers who help children thrive. She has co-authored over a dozen peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings and delivered multiple keynote addresses on related topics. Dr. Fiat is the creator of The Seven C’s: A Toolkit for Caregivers Coping in a Crisis. She is also a co-developer and researcher of the Adult Resilience Curriculum (ARC). In collaboration with the Mid-America MHTTC, Dr. Fiat is striving to increase availability of the ARC to school districts throughout Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.
James Glenn is the associate administrator and business strategist at Truman Medical Centers Behavioral Health. He joined TMC Behavioral Health in June 2016, after serving as a housing consultant for the previous three years. Prior to TMCBH, Glenn was the founder and former executive director of Kim Wilson Housing and the senior vice president of Housing and Community Services at the Mental Health Association of the Heartland. In addition to his role at TMCBH, Glenn is a senior fellow with the Cookingham Institute of Urban Affairs, and he is the founder, principal, and lead consultant of Glenn & Company, LLC, a consulting, coaching, and capacity-building organization that helps to create social enterprise endeavors and synergistic opportunities among businesses and nonprofits. Glenn also serves as the co-director of the Mid-America Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), a partnership with the University of Missouri-Kansas City's School of Nursing serving Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.
