2022 Award Winner Spotlight: Mary Ann Mikulic Scholarship

The Mary Ann Mikulic Scholarship covers one full hybrid registration fee for a first-time attendee to ARN's Rehabilitation Nursing Conference. Those who applied this year for the scholarship were able to attend the conference both in-person in San Diego and online, for free, to earn continuing education credits and connect with their rehab nursing community. Congratulations to this year's winner, Michelle Hepburn, RN MSN! 

ARN connected with Hepburn on her experience after this year's 2022 Rehabilitation Nursing Conference, which took place on September 19-23. 

This being your first ARN Rehabilitation Nursing Conference, how did it go? 

I am grateful for the opportunity to attend the conference. There is a passion and longevity of rehab nurses that really was evident in all aspects of the conference. The lectures, networking, and support in this field is refreshing and ignited my enthusiasm and excitement as I have transitioned from the critical care and emergency trauma side of nursing (sending patients to rehab) to the "happier" side of nursing – rehab. The number of CRRN nurses was inspiring. 

What are you bringing back to your hospital that you learned? 

As a new leader in rehab nursing with a brand-new hospital under construction, this conference gave me additional foundational knowledge to support my future rehab nursing team and patients. The keynote from Kelsey (Tainsh) really solidified the role that my nurses will have in supporting patients on their new pathway. The importance of health policy and advocacy, staff and leadership self-efficacy, and learning about different modalities to improve patient outcomes were just a few of the many things learned. 

If you could encourage anyone to attend the conference, what would you say?

ARN is committed to the excellence and support of the best patient outcomes, commitment to health advocacy and policy through political involvement and has a legacy of rehab leaders that have a joy for their work. The ARN conference blends the best of all aspects of this organizations and validates the purpose and passion of its core membership. I am going to encourage my staff to become members and work towards getting them and myself on the pathway to certification.

About Michelle Hepburn

Michelle begins each day with a grateful heart and has over 25 years of progressive hospital administrative leadership experience with over 16 years of nursing clinical and leadership experience in emergency services, critical care and ambulatory care. She is the Chief Nursing Officer for the newly constructed Stockton Regional Rehabilitation Hospital with Ernest Health. 

Michelle is a member of Association of Rehabilitation Nurses, Emergency Nurses Association, American College of Healthcare Executives, and Association of California Nurse Leaders. She has an Associates in Applied Science in Nursing from Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing (2006). Lehman College, City University of New York advanced her nursing education where she holds a bachelor's in nursing (2009) and a master's in nursing with Family Nurse Practitioner concentration (2017). Her MBA from Capella University is on hold as she currently pursues her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Population Health with a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from University of San Francisco. 

Michelle is committed to the growth and well-being of the community. She is an advocate for our youth and has served as a mentor to nurses, high school and college students both in healthcare and business.