About Briana

Briana began her nursing career at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD) in Lebanon, NH in 2013 as a Nurse Resident on the Pediatrics Unit and became the nurse educator for the unit in 2016. In 2018, she transitioned to the role of clinical nurse supervisor and has served as adjunct faculty for pediatric nursing clinical and senior immersion courses. During the fellowship, Briana gravitated toward systems and community-level healthcare, shifting into home health and hospice as Manager of Clinical Quality and Care Management at Visiting Nurse and Hospice (VNH) for New Hampshire and Vermont at Dartmouth Hitchcock Health. Briana earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing and Master of Science in nursing with a focus on evidence-based nursing from the University of New Hampshire in 2012 and 2013. She is also a graduate of the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and other Related Disabilities) program through the Geisel School of Medicine and the University of New Hampshire.

Briana’s J&J Nursing Innovation Fellow Journey

As a Fellow, Briana pioneered bringing the Clinical Nurse Leader role into the home health and hospice field, supporting the lateral integration of care for rural areas in VT and NH. As a CNL herself, she recognized that nurses with this certification were perfectly poised to break healthcare system silos, reach out into communities and prevent hospitalizations through coordinated community- and home-based healthcare. Briana’s work in preventative home health spans the 140 rural towns and communities in both Vermont and New Hampshire within Dartmouth Hitchcock’s service area. She hopes her program can serve as a model for other home health and hospice agencies across the country, as proof that the return on investment for such programs is high and with the hope that Medicare will soon begin reimbursing CNL services.

For Briana, the Fellowship has driven her to find her voice as a leader and purpose in driving change within home health and hospice, promoting value-based purchasing and coordinated care. Community-based services and social support services play an integral role in the success of programs like Brianna’s, so she hopes to use her project’s success to advocate for their continued growth. She plans to translate this work into direct advocacy for legislation expanding community and social support and providing more holistic care for patients.