NADONA/LTC Online: We Understand

Robin Arnicar RN, CDONA, FACDONA
President
rarnicar@comcast.net

Robin Arnicar is an active Director of Nursing for Erickson Living’s Renaissance Gardens @ Riderwood Village, a CCRC in Silver Spring, MD. She has been in LTC nursing for 25 years and a Director of Nursing for the past 15 years. Robin is an active member of the Maryland chapter of NADONA and has served in many roles including Corresponding Secretary, President and most recently as VP.

Robin has served as a member of the National NADONA Board of Trustees as Corresponding Secretary and Vice President. She continues to serve as a mentor to NADONA members throughout the country, as well preparing DON’s to take the NADONA Certification examination.

Robin is a member of Maryland’s steering committee for the Local Area Network for Excellence (LANE) of the Advancing Excellence in Nursing Homes Campaign. She also serves as a member of the editorial advisory board for AMDA’s publication, Caring for the Ages and is a contributing writer for the publication as well. Robin presents both locally and nationally on topics related to long term care Leadership and various clinical topics. She has worked with the American Medical Director’s Association in updating Clinical Practice Guidelines including dehydration, pressure ulcers and Medication Management. She recently served on Pioneer Network’s Food and Dining Clinical Standards Task Force that developed the new Dining Practice Standards.

She was honored in 2007 as the NADONA Nursing Administrator of the Year for both the Northeast region and was the Overall National recipient.

She serves on many other committees and has numerous activities geared toward the advancement of excellence and leadership in LTC. In her spare time she works as a consultant in LTC litigation.

Aysha Kuhlor RN, BA, CDONA
Vice President
ama_sml@yahoo.com

Aysha Kuhlor is an active Director of Nursing/Clinical Services at Saint Mary Home, part of The Mercy Community, in West Hartford, CT. Saint Mary Home is a 256-bed long term care facility that includes a secure Alzheimer’s/Dementia unit, long- and short-term rehabilitation services, an Adult Day Care Center, and residential care for individuals transitioning from homelessness.

Ms. Kuhlor has served in various leadership roles in long term care for more than 10 years. She is President of the Connecticut Chapter of NADONA and is on the Education and Legislative committees of the National Board of NADONA. Aysha also is active with various advisory Boards at the State and National level and has presented on various clinical topics at both National and State events. She participates on the American Association of Consultants Board in planning Senior Symposium events.

Aysha is the recipient of NADONA’s 2009 Nurse Administrator of the year award for the Eastern Region. She was honored with the 2007 Quality of Excellence Award from Catholic Health East. In October 2011, she was invited to present on the topic of “Preparing for ‘Never’ Events in Long Term Care” at the LeadingAge Conference held in Washington, D.C. Aysha is very passionate about nursing and her mission is to promote quality care for seniors and to recognize and advance her dedicated colleagues.

Aysha is married to Francis Kuhlor; they have two beautiful daughters, Denisha and Vanessa.

Neal Larson RN-BC, CDONA, FACDONA
Treasurer
nlarson4@midco.net

Neal Larson currently serves Bethany Retirement Living as Senior Executive – Medicare & Contracted Services in Fargo, ND. Mr. Larson has served in various nursing administration roles at Bethany over the past 23 years. He is the currently Vice-President of the North Dakota Chapter of NADONA, and also serves on the Bylaws and Scholarship Committees of NADONA/LTC. Neal has served NADONA of ND as president, corresponding secretary and has previously served two terms on the NADONA/LTC board.

Neal was the recipient of the North Dakota Nurse Administrator of the year award and Nurse Administrator of the Year award for the Northwest Region in 2002. He has served as Treasurer of the North Dakota Nurse Leadership Council

Neal is married to Kalynn Larson and they live in Moorhead, MN. They have two adult children, Katie and Charlie and two grandchildren, Brianna and Carter.

Bonnie Cruz RN, M. Ed.
Corresponding Secretary
Cruzbdon@aol.com

Bonnie is a Professional Nurse who has worked in the medical field for over 30 years. She holds a BSN degree in nursing from Texas Tech University and a Masters degree in Educational Administration from the University of Hawaii.

Bonnie has worked as an Oncology nurse, college nursing instructor and surgical nurse. The last 17 years have been working as a Director of Nursing in a 120 bed skilled nursing facility. Her facility has had more than 11 deficient-free annual surveys.

For the past 5 years, Bonnie represents Florida as the FADONA President while offering state-of-the-art Annual Conventions. As a member of NADONA she has served on three National Committees that include: NADONA Executive search committee, NADONA by-laws committee and NADONA nominating committee. Bonnie states that most recently she has had the privilege of serving on the NADONA Board as Corresponding Secretary.

Amanda Kistler RN, CDONA, FACDONA
Recording Secretary
akistler_rn@yahoo.com

Amanda Kistler currently works at Salemtowne as the Director of Nursing. Salemtowne is a CCRC - Continuing Care Retirement Community located in Winston-Salem, NC. Salemtowne has 176 Independent Living Cottages and Apartments, an Assisted Living Area for 44 residents and a 84 bed Skilled Nursing Facility.

She has been an RN for 29 years and has spent the last 22 of those years working in the area of Long Term Care. She has worked in various positions as SDC, ADON, DON, and Nurse Consultant. She also worked as a Nursing Assistant in LTC prior to ever going to Nursing School, so she can truly say..."I'm not asking you to do anything I havn't done myself or am not willing to do myself."

She has been an active member of NADONA for 10 + years and been active with her local chapter, NCDONA. Amanda currently serves as President of that chapter and is active in the planning process for their annual conference. She was chosen as the Nurse Administrator for the Southeastern United States through NADONA this past year. She supports the mission and goals of NADONA and looks forward to serving you and on the National Board of Directors.

She has 2 children, a son Caleb who is a senior in college and a daughter, Mallory who lives with her husband, Jack who serves in the US Marines.

Laura Fain RN, CDONA, FACDONA
Advisor to the Board, Past President, Founding Member
lfainathome@aol.com

Laura Fain has always wanted to be a nurse. She began training at seventeen and has worked as a nurse continuously with the exception of two maternity leaves. She began as a candy striper in high school and has been working in the medical profession since graduation from Nursing School. Leadership roles have come easily to Laura, beginning in the Operating room, and then again as a DON throughout her 25-year career in Long Term Care.

Laura believes in NADONA/LTC with all of her heart. She is a Founding member and has found NADONA's evolution a fascinating experience filled with precious memories and incredible people.

Sherrie Dornberger RN, CDONA, FACDONA
Executive Director, Immediate Past President
sherrie@nadona.org

Having served NADONA/LTC in many roles and capacities for the past 24+ years, Sherrie Dornberger is currently Executive Director of NADONA/LTC. She is also the proud mother of Lauren who is attending medical school at DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Sherrie's passion is Long Term Care. She began her LTC career at the age of 18 as a Nurses Aide while attending school for her RN. She worked up through the ranks and has been involved in the long term care profession for over 30 years. Sherrie also serves as a consultant to Long Term Care facilities. She is a certified DON, was honored as a Fellow and holds her Geriatric Diabetic Certification through NADONA. She has been honored as DON of the Year for both NADONA and NJADONA.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the Red Cross. Sherrie is an avid Longaberger Basket collector, enjoys cross stitching, watching NASCAR and enjoys traveling with her husband, Mike.

Jan Ward
Membership Coordinator
jan@nadona.org

Jan Ward joined NADONA in 2005 as an assistant in the national office to help support the staff of NADONA in day-to-day functions. As Membership Coordinator, she is working to build membership and form new chapters throughout the United States. She also helps coordinate NADONA’s national conferences. Jan has a background as an administrator in the general office of a local retail business.

Through the years, Jan has acted as team leader for the Nurture Network, an affiliation of Tri-County Vineyard Community Church as a volunteer to provide meals and necessities to the homeless and also provide everyday needs to families such as food, blankets, trips to doctors, etc. From time to time, she has been a facilitator for bible study groups.

Jan is married to Darrell and they have been together for 17 years. Jan has two American Eskimo dogs, Cotton and Candy and as Jan will tell you, they are her children. Jan is an avid gardener and provides enough vegetables to friends and family to supply them for a summer. Jan enjoys reading and educating herself. She has recently educated herself on Microsoft Office.

Jan bowls on a league during the winter months with her husband and enjoys hosting the family picnics and pool parties throughout the summer and loves spending time with her 29 nieces and nephews.

Cheryl Hecker
Membership Coordinator
cheryl@nadona.org

Cheryl Hecker comes to NADONA with a diversified administrative background in IT, Marketing (retail) and Human Resources. She holds a certification as an administrative professional with the International Association of Administrative Professionals and is an active member of her IAAP chapter here in Cincinnati, volunteering at local functions such as the ATP tournaments held annually. Cheryl also serves on the Board of Directors as Secretary for Bridge of Hope, an organization designed to assist single mothers with a new lifestyle of career and home life, providing mentors assigned to each family for one year, helping them to become independently functional in society without the dependence of welfare. Cheryl and her girls help serve the homeless community on some week-ends through her church community.

Cheryl has three daughters: Natalie, Emily and Andrea; and two grandchildren, Anne-Marie and Austin. Natalie is attending college locally through a University of Cincinnati satellite school; Emily is attending Ball State University in Indiana; and Andrea is in her junior year in high school and is attending veterinary technical sciences program.