Viola Sowka Shifrin, RN was a graduate of the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing, Class of 1925. She was a lifetime member of the Bellevue Alumni Association and died September 14, 1996. A very generous donation from her estate to the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing has made possible both the creation of a new advanced practice nursing laboratory in 2003 and an annual speaker series on palliative nursing care held in the fall semester for 17 years. Our sincere appreciation goes to Loren and Shelley Ross and Charles and Barbara Kardok for making this lecture series possible.

2019 Speaker: Jay Horton, PhD, FNP-BC
Evidence-Based Communication Strategies in Palliative Care

2018 Speaker: Elizabeth Schack, GNP-BC, ACHPN, CNS
#PalliativeCare #Champions: What does it mean to be a Palliative Care Nurse Champion?

2017 Speakers: Elvira Parravicini, MD and Frances T. McCarthy, MS, RNC-NIC, CPLC
Perinatal and neonatal comfort care: Healing when there is no cure

2016 Speaker: Susan J. Loeb, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN
Enhancing end-of-life care for prisoners through partnering with the prison community

2015 Speaker: Amy J. Berman, BS, RN
Nurses leading the value proposition in health care through palliative care

2014 Speaker: Vidette Todaro-Franceschi, PhD, RN, FT
Facing death, compassion fatigue and burnout: A primer for carers

2013 Speaker: Marianne Matzo, PhD, GNP-BC, FPCN, FAAN
Dark passion: Sexual health in late stage disease

2012 Speaker: Betty Ferrell, RN, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN
Improving the quality of spiritual care

2011 Speaker: Polly Mazanec, PhD, ACNP, AOCN, FPCN
Distance caregiving at end of life

2010 Speaker: Joan Arnold, PhD, RN
Reconceptualizing parental grief as a lifelong process

2009 Speaker: Patrick J. Coyne, RN, MSN, APRN, ACHPN, FAAN
Palliative care: Tricks of the trade

2008 Speaker: Pam Malloy RN, MN, OCN
Witnessing moral distress: Opportunities for professional and personal growth

2007 Speaker: Deborah Witt Sherman, PhD, APRN, ANP, PCM, BC, FAAN
Care of the dying: Healing versus curing

2006 Speaker: Judith Schwarz, RN, PhD
Ethical conflicts in end-of-life care: Can clear moral lines be drawn?

2005 Speaker: Nancy Moules, RN, PhD
Grief as an invitation to sacred conversations: Walking backward with the bereaved

2004 Speaker: Pamela Hinds, RN, PhD, CS
Making end-of-life decisions: Pre-adolescents, adolescents, parents and health care providers

2003 Speaker: Nessa Coyle, PhD, NP, FAAN
The nature of suffering in advanced disease across the lifespan