NICHE announces leadership team ahead of 25th Annual Conference

NICHE, now in its 25th year, brings together a team of nurse leaders to manage the next phase of its evolving core mission to meet the nursing/social needs for exemplary nursing care for older adults.

Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) program based at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers) has recruited two influential nurse leaders to join recently appointed Executive Director Mattia Gilmartin PhD, RN to guide the NICHE program in its next phase of development. Joining Dr. Gilmartin on the NICHE senior leadership team are: Inna Popil  DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CCM as Associate Director for the Continuing Care  Program; and Catherine O’Neill D’Amico PhD, RN, NEA-BC as Director of Programs and Operations.

“The 25-year mission of NICHE has always been to educate nurses to provide exemplary nursing care for older-adults,” said Dr. Gilmartin.  “NICHE strives to position and empower nurses as leaders in the settings in which they work to improve the quality of care delivered to older adults.” 

In 2016, NICHE began to adopt its highly successful nursing practice development and clinical leadership model for use in Long Term Care settings.  With the support of The John A. Hartford Foundation, the NICHE Program is, for the first time, expanding its scope of engagement to include nurses who work in nursing homes, assisted living, and other long-term care facilities.

“Staying true to our core mission, we are taking the lessons learned over a quarter of a century of evidence-based education, training, and mentorship to the next level,” said Dr. Gilmartin.  “With this senior nursing leadership team in place, we are ready to chart the future of the NICHE program.”

The new team will be welcoming nearly 1,000 healthcare professionals from more than 300 NICHE member and non-member hospitals located around the world to NICHE’s  25th Anniversary Annual Conference, meeting this year in Austin, TX, April 19-22, 2017.  The conference theme celebrates “25 years of Geriatric Nursing Care Excellence – Honoring our Legacy and Transforming the Future.”

 The senior nurse leaders bring over 60 years of collective leadership in the fields of gerontological nursing, nursing education, administration and management.   Dr. Popil, director for the Continuing Care Program, is responsible for developing the NICHE program to address the unique nursing practice and client care needs for Long Term and continuing care settings.  She will also serve as the NICHE program ambassador to promote the new program in the continuing care sector.  

Dr. O’Neill D’Amico, director of Programs and Operations will be responsible for translating organizational strategy into operational strategy, leading faculty for the acute care program, and contributing to the research and program evaluation portfolio.

The NICHE program, based at NYU Meyers, was founded in 1992 and supported with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies.  Today, the NICHE program is comprised of 680 active member institutions located in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, and Singapore. 

About the Leaders:

• Mattia Gilmartin, PhD, RN: At NYU Meyers, Dr. Gilmartin was appointed as the Executive Director for the NICHE program in September 2016. Prior to joining NYU Meyers, Dr. Gilmartin managed an interdisciplinary research group at INSEAD, a leading international business school in France, and designed and implemented a three-semester specialty track for the Clinical Nurse Leader master’s degree program at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing.
• Inna Popil  DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CCM appointed Associate Director for Continuing Care Program:  Dr. Popil is an RN with over 20 years of clinical, academic, and leadership experience in health care. Prior to joining NICHE, Dr. Popil most recently worked for the NY Mount Sinai Health System as a clinical program director for the New York–Reducing Avoidable Hospitalizations project (NY-RAH).  The project, part of an initiative of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) services, has successfully reduced avoidable hospitalizations among a network of 29 long-term care nursing facilities in the New York metropolitan region.
• Catherine O’Neill D’Amico PhD, RN, NEA-BC, appointed Director of Programs and Operations:  Dr. D’Amico brings to NICHE more than 30 years’ experience in nursing education and administration in the New York City metropolitan area and Las Vegas.  Prior to coming to NICHE, served as the associate dean for the Heilbrunn School of Nursing, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus; the director of  Undergraduate Programs, at Hunter College – Bellevue School of Nursing and as the director of several associate degree programs.  She has been the assistant director of nursing for education and research and managed the medical outpatient clinics in a major academic medical center.  Dr. D’Amico is a 2007 graduate of the NYU Meyers doctoral program with clinical expertise in gerontological nursing.