Leading with Purpose: Session 8 | Age-Friendly Health Systems is a Careforce Strategy (October 2024)

JoAnne Reifsnyder is a seasoned nurse executive with more than 35 years of experience in clinical practice, administration, consulting, education and research. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychosocial oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and holds a PhD in nursing from the University of Maryland, a Master’s Degree in nursing from Thomas Jefferson University, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from George Washington University.

Taylor McMahon, RN, CNDLTC, serves as the Director of Nursing at The Willows Presbyterian Senior Care Network in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, while also pursuing further education at Chatham University. McMahon’s love of geriatrics nursing began when she started her career at Presbyterian Senior Care Network in 2014. Engaged in the Pennsylvania-based "Revisiting the Teaching Nursing Home" initiative, currently in Phase II as the Pennsylvania Teaching Nursing Home Collaborative (PA TNHC). Through the PA TNHC, The Willows is actively involved in implementing Age-Friendly Health Systems. As part of a broader organizational strategy, they are working to extend the AFHS approach beyond their facility, fostering its adoption in other areas within the Presbyterian Senior Care Network. The Willows is partnering with the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing to establish a “teaching” environment where students, academics, and healthcare workers collaborate to improve care for residents and foster nursing careers in nursing homes and geriatrics. She is passionate about engaging student nurses in post-acute care and has led guest lectures at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, focusing on neurocognitive disorders. She supported the nursing home team in quality improvement efforts to decrease hospital readmissions in the development and implementation of COPD/CHF clinical pathways, risk assessment tools, and education. Currently, she is participating in the American Delirium Society’s Borten Nursing Fellowship and recently completed the American Hospital Association Next Generation Leadership Fellowship with a project focus on embedding the Age-Friendly Framework in the affordable housing sector and aid in personal and professional development to better serve her team and residents.