Learning Center

Barb Nickel is a clinical nurse specialist at a health care center in Nebraska. She is responsible for staff development, competency assessment, and process improvement to optimize outcomes in multiple areas of clinical practice, including critical care, infusion therapy, sepsis, and new graduate transition to practice. Barb has presented nationally on infusion-related topics, is a coauthor of the 2021 Infusion Nurses Society Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice, is the chair of the INS Standard of Practice Committee for the 2024, 9th edition of the Standards, and has authored several publications on infusion therapy in the critical care setting. She also serves as faculty in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, in areas of critical care and chronic illness.

Michelle DeVries has been involved in infection prevention and hospital epidemiology for 30 years, spanning community, university, and federal health care facilities as well as postacute care settings. She is passionate about raising awareness around vascular access device complications and devotes her time to education on this topic with an emphasis on data collection and analysis. She was a reviewer for the 2016 and 2021 INS Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice and is now serving on the committee as an author for the 2024 Standards. She is a senior adjunct research fellow with the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR), a past director-at-large with Vascular Access Certification Corporation (VACC), and the president of the Association for Vascular Access (AVA) for 2024.

Lisa Gorski has worked for over 35 years as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS)/educator for Wheaton Franciscan Home Health and Hospice, now Ascension at Home. Lisa is the author of more than 70 book chapters and journal articles and is the author of several books. She has served as the INS president from 2007-2008 and as the chair of the INS Standards of Practice Committee from 2009 to 2021, and is the cochair for the 2024 Standards. She is also the leader of the INS Vesicant Task Force. She speaks nationally and internationally on standards development, home health care, and infusion therapy/vascular access.

Samantha Keogh is a joint professor of acute and critical care nursing with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Australia. Samantha is also a senior researcher with QUT’s Centre for Healthcare Transformation and the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR). Her clinical background is in intensive care (adult and pediatric), so she understands the importance of vascular access to deliver essential medication, fluids, and blood products, as well as to facilitate vital monitoring and sampling. Samantha is a fellow of the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) plus a member of several other specialty-based colleges, societies, and networks, including the Australasian Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Trials Network (ANMCTN), a network developed to support, mentor, and accelerate growth in nursing and midwifery clinical trials capability and capacity across Australia.

Tricia Kleidon is a nurse practitioner in pediatric vascular assessment and management at Queensland Children’s Hospital and a research fellow at the University of Queensland. She is part of a dynamic clinical and research team that prides itself on achieving positive outcomes for patients and minimizing vascular-access related complications.  She is currently enrolled in a PhD program of research entitled “Techniques and Technologies to Improve PIVC First-Time Insertion Success and Reduce Complications and Failure.”