About the Center

Director

Liz Stokes is the Director of the American Nurses Association Center for Ethics and Human Rights and demonstrates expertise in writing public policy on ethical issues including medical marijuana, assisted death, intellectual disabilities, and women's reproductive health.

She completed her Bachelors of Science in Nursing at the University of Virginia and worked several years as a critical care nurse focusing on end-of-life care issues. Liz received her Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond and worked as a Discipline Consultant for the District of Columbia Board of Nursing interpreting and conferring professional ethical provisions in nursing. Her expertise and leadership is also demonstrated through various charitable roles in the health and legal communities.

She is a member of the Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity and currently serves on the board of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Nurse Affinity Group. Her areas of expertise include bioethics, nursing ethics and substance use disorder in nursing. She is an international speaker on the Code of Ethics for Nurses is published in the Journal of Nursing Regulation and the Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Liz also serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry.

She is an active volunteer with the District of Columbia Bar Association and has received national recognition for her pro bono efforts. Liz's sphere of influence as a nurse-attorney combined with her education in bioethics enables a unique contribution to nursing ethics, law and policy.

Senior Policy & Ethics Advisor

Kara Curry, MA, RN, HEC-C is a Senior Policy and Ethics Advisor at the American Nurses Association Center for Ethics and Human Rights.  She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish at High Point University. She also graduated from Duke University after completing the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.  Her clinical practice experience includes surgical oncology, forensic nursing, perioperative nursing, and travel medicine.  After spending years at the bedside, her participation as an inaugural member of a hospital-wide nurse ethics committee led to her interests in healthcare ethics.  This interest led her to pursue graduate studies in bioethics and completing her Master of Arts in Bioethics from Loyola University Chicago.  She has served as a pediatric clinical ethicist in Washington, DC developing a true passion for the ethical complexities and challenges experienced in the field of pediatrics. She is published in the American Journal of Bioethics and the American Academy of Pediatrics Journal, Hospital Pediatrics. Her ethical interests are in ethics education within the nursing profession, pediatric ethics, as well as exploring intersectionality and the role it plays in the health outcomes of black women.

Term of Appointment 2023 - 2026

Dr. Wocial has been a registered nurse since 1985. Her clinical background is neonatal intensive care, including 10 years as a neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist. She has conducted research focused on family decision making in the NICU around withdrawing or withholding treatment. Her current research focuses on moral distress of professional caregivers, with a particular interest on clinicians who practice in the in-patient setting. She is currently the senior clinical ethicist at Medstar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington DC. She is the former nurse ethicist and program leader in Nursing Ethics for the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics (FCME) at Indiana University Health) in Indianapolis, Indiana and remains a senior affiliate faculty member with FCME. She chairs the ethics consultation service sub-committee and is an active member of the ethics consultation service at MWHC.

Dr. Wocial is a certified Healthcare Ethics Consultant and serves on the Commission for Healthcare Clinical Ethics Consultation Certification. She was the project director for the Woltman Inter-professional Communication Project with the Indiana University School of Nursing where she was an adjunct assistant professor and taught applied ethics to undergraduate nursing students. She will be joining the Georgetown University School of Nursing as an adjunct faculty member in 2023, teaching ethics to graduate students. She is a senior associate faculty for Vital Talk. She led the “IMPACT” program at Indiana University Health. IMPACT is a communication skills training program specifically designed to help direct care nurses develop skills in conversations around palliative and end-of-life care.

Dr. Wocial has expertise in ethics and in difficult communication that takes place in the ICU setting, particularly around surrogate decision making. She has been a part of the ethics advisory board’s ethics education subcommittee since 2019. All of her nursing degrees (BS, MS, PhD) are from the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.

Term of Appointment 2025-2028

Dr. Jennifer L. Bartlett, an Associate Dean and Associate Professor at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University, has served on the EAB since 2019. She chaired their Ethics Education Subcommittee (2019-2023) and led the development of a faculty toolkit with the National League for Nursing. Dr. Bartlett completed a two-year ethics consultation training program at Bon Secours Virginia. She presents on nursing ethics locally, nationally, and internationally and served as a planning committee member for the National Nursing Ethics Conference (NNEC) for almost ten years. Dr Bartlett served as the lead Co-Chair on the 2025 Code of Ethics for Nurses, collaborating with almost 50 thought leaders to revise the Code.

Dr. Bartlett is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator with extensive experience in simulation. Dr. Bartlett is also the third author of the 9th/10th/pending 11th editions of the textbook, Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Care.

Term of Appointment 2025-2028

Kathy Forte teaches at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, where she coordinates courses related to health assessment, palliative care, and ethics. She is also a member of the ethics committee and serves as an ethics consultant at Emory University Hospital. Her research focuses on identifying ways to foster moral resilience in nursing practice.

Kathy received her BSN from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Oncology Nursing from Columbia University, a PNP Certification from Emory and a Doctorate in research ethics and clinical bioethics from Loyola University Chicago. With over 17 years of clinical experience in oncology nursing, Kathy has worked at leading institutions like Johns Hopkins, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. At CHOA she also served on the Bioethics Committee, the Research Oversight Committee, and the IRB. She has held leadership roles in national organizations, including POG, COG, and APOHN, and recently served on the writing team for the 2025 revision of the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses.

Term of Appointment 2025-2026

Dr. Susan Fowler is a nurse scientist with a focus on psychosocial concepts and nursing perspectives. Her clinical focus has centered in the neurosciences, critical care, and rehabilitation. She has served in a variety of research related roles in community and government healthcare settings. Dr. Fowler teaches research, evidence-based practice, and health policy at all levels of education (BSN to PhD). She is a leader in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion activities with the Florida Nurses Association.

Term of Appointment 2023-2026

Nelda Godfrey, PhD, ACNS-BC, FAAN, ANEF serves as Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and is Chair, Department of Family, Community and Health Systems at the University of Kansas School of Nursing. She has a long history of involvement with ethics, including serving for more than 10 years as a public member of two health system ethics committees. She has taught ethics courses in nursing and in liberal studies, and helped create a liberal arts capstone course entitled “Birth by any Means:  The Ethics of Reproductive Technologies.” 

Dr. Godfrey and colleague Nancy Crigger co-authored the book, “The Making of Nurse Professionals: A Transformational, Ethical Perspective” as a response to the Carnegie Foundation study on Preparing the Professions. Since that time, Dr. Godfrey and her colleagues have been building new knowledge in the nursing discipline with their work on professional identity formation. They are expanding the view within nursing to include formation as an important education, practice, and policy consideration.

A frequent contributor to American Nurse Today, Dr. Godfrey has written widely on ethics, nursing leadership, professional identity, and innovative organizational approaches to nursing education. Her BSN and PhD are from the University of Missouri and her MSN is from the University of Kansas. She is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult-Gerontological Nursing.

Term of Appointment 2025-2026 (alternate member)

Dr. Liam C. Hein is an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina (USC) and Director of Faculty Fellow and Pipeline Programs. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, serving on the Fellow Selection Committee. Dr. Hein was on the writing team for the 2025 Code of Ethics for Nurses. He is a former board member of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality and of OutCare Health. Dr. Hein is the Chair-elect of the USC Faculty Senate.

Dr. Hein's scholarship focuses on improving LGBTQ health equity through education, advocacy, and health policy. He is currently interested in transgender elders' resilience amidst current legislative restrictions. He completed a post-doc in Health Disparities in Underserved Populations at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is a senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity (GWU/Oxford) and is a fellow in the 2024/2025 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program.

Term of Appointment 2025-2028

Shika Kalevor earned her Master of Bioethics degree from Harvard Medical School and BSN with a Spanish Minor from Seattle University. She currently works as a clinical ethicist at Children's Minnesota.

Shika has a clinical background in NICU nursing. She pursued further bioethics training through a fellowship in pediatric bioethics at Children's Mercy Kansas City. She is interested in exploring the intersection of bioethics and health equity with a focus on racial bias in medicine. She hopes to champion everyday ethics to make ethics accessible to all clinicians as an integrated part of care and practice. She has authored journal articles about everyday ethics, equity, and ethics consultations within fetal health centers.

Shika is a certified healthcare ethics consultant. She serves on the board for the Nursing Ethics Affinity Group at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and serves on the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics Admissions Committee.

Term of Appointment 2025-2028

David Keepnews, JD, PhD, RN, FAAN, is executive director of the Washington State Nurses Association. He has devoted more than three decades to advancing the nursing profession in roles as a policy analyst, advocate, educator, author, editor, and union leader. He has backgrounds in nursing, public health, law, and health policy. He has held professional staff positions in nursing and health care organizations and also served in leadership positions in state and national nursing organizations. A former long-time nurse educator, he worked as a staff nurse in mental health settings and as a regional staff attorney for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has published and spoken widely on nursing and health policy issues. He serves as a vice president of both the Washington State Labor Council and AFT, a national union representing professionals in education, health care, and public service.

Term of Appointment 2025-2028

Fidel Lim is a Clinical Associate Professor at New York University Meyers College of Nursing. He has worked as a critical care nurse for 18 years and concurrently, since 1996, has been a nursing faculty member. In 2023 he was selected to be part of the American Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Nurses 2025 Re'Vision Expert Panel. This 18-month long commitment is charged to revise the Nursing Code of Ethics. Dr. Lim Fidel has published over 250 articles on an array of topics, including clinical practice, nursing education, LGBTQ+ health, reflective practice, preceptorship, men in nursing, and humanities. He has been designated as Nurse Influencer by the ANA American Nurse Journal. In 2021, Fidel was one of four nurses featured in the ANA-sponsored documentary film "American Nurse Heroes," a network television event celebrating the Year of the Nurse. Dr. Lim is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Term of Appointment 2025-2026 (alternate member)

Jessica Rong, MSN, RN, CCRN, HEC-C, has been a registered nurse since 2004. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Baylor University before starting her career in critical care. While working in critical care her passion for the promotion of quality end-of-life care began. Most of her nursing practice was in medical ICU where she first moved into an education role as a unit-based educator. After leaving bedside nursing, she continued her love of teaching and worked in clinical education at various facilities.

Jessica went on to complete a Master's in Nursing Education from Texas Woman's University and is currently completing a PhD in Nursing Ethics at Duquesne University with a focus in transplantation and donor ethics. Jessica currently works as a clinical ethicist at Parkland Health in Dallas, TX.

Term of Appointment 2025-2026

Dr. Laura B. Webster (she/they) serves the Northwest Region as the Vice President of Ethics at Common Spirit Health. Laura provides organizational and operational ethics support across the care continuum from the patients and staff at the bedside to the leaders who support them. Laura attended the University of Washington (UW) to earn a BSN and a MA in Bioethics and Humanities, then completed a Doctorate in Bioethics at Loyola University Chicago. Laura is Affiliate Faculty in the UW School of Medicine Department of Bioethics and Humanities, an active member of the ANA, ASBH, and ACHE. Laura served as a Task Force member for ASBH's 3rd Edition of the Core Competencies, sits on the Disaster Clinical Advisory Committee, and acts as a bioethics subject matter expert. Laura's commitment to access to healthcare in our communities includes decades of volunteering as a registered nurse both locally and internally.