About Us

We are a group of volunteers dedicated to the mission, vision, and goals of AWHONN. Volunteers provide invaluable ideas, energy and support to AWHONN’s programs, projects and services to help us achieve our mission. Are you ready to volunteer? We're looking for volunteers passionate about their work and the advancement of their nurse colleagues. We've got positions open to fit your desires. Email us at [email protected] for more information. Specifically, we're looking for Chapter Leaders and Conference Committee Members.

Meet Your Elected Leaders

Elected leaders hold 3-year terms of office for a maximum of two terms. Our next election cycle will be held in 2022. If you're interested in learning more about either of these elected positions, please contact us at [email protected].

Michelle Hirschkorn, MSN, RNC-OB, CNS

Chair || [email protected]

2020 - 2023

Michelle is a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist supporting Women’s and Newborn Services at Legacy Health. She has 17 years of perinatal nursing experience and has cared for patients in both high risk urban and rural health care settings across the country. Her professional interests include evidence-based practice, quality improvement, health equity, maternal morbidity and mortality, obstetric hemorrhage, and staff resiliency. Outside of work Michelle enjoys spending time with her family and cooking!

Donna Talain, C-EFM, RNC-OB, BSN, MBA

Secretary / Treasurer || [email protected]

2017 - 2023

Donna’s obstetric experience spans multiple years. She began her nursing career as a Staff Nurse in Women’s Services at Legacy Emanuel Hospital working both in the Family Birth Center and Labor & Delivery. She then became a nurse at Legacy Medical Group -- Maternal-Fetal Medicine helping women with high-risk pregnancies navigate this joyous yet nerve-racking time of their lives. After a short stint in Clinical Informatics, she returned to her passion of patient care in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. She recently started a new adventure in Perinatology at Kaiser.

Meet the Rest of Your Leadership Team

Jen Atkisson, BSN, MSN, IBCLC, RN, RNC

Legislative Co-Coordinator

Bio coming soon...

Kathryn Dailey-Deaton

Legislative Co-Coordinator

Bio coming soon...

Megan Ludeña, MN, RNC-OB, NPD-BC

Membership Chair

Megan is a Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. She has been a nurse since 2005 and her direct care experience was most often as a Labor & Delivery nurse or Neonatal Resuscitation Specialist. She has a special interest in nursing education and has taught in both academic and clinical settings. Megan’s special interests outside of perinatal nursing include nursing workforce diversity, racial and ethnic healthcare disparities and transitions to practice.

Sara Mosher, RN, BSN, MHA

Conference Co-Chair

Sara has been a NICU nurse for 15 years in various roles. These include bedside nursing, NI/Peds charge nurse, clinical educator, Air Link Neonatal Flight nurse, and NICU manager. Sara also had the privilege of working as a NICU Family Support Specialist with the March of Dimes and served on their National Family Support Training Faculty. Sara's passion has always been to support families and improve the family experience in traumatic birth and NICU experiences. Currently Sara manages the Care Coordination/Nurse Navigation programs at St. Charles Health System and also runs her own business, Patient+Family Care, which offers education and support to both staff and families on the topics of Family Centered Care.

Randa Bates, MSN, RN

Conference Co-Chair

Randa has been a NICU nurse for 18 years in various roles. These include bedside nursing, charge nurse, perinatal and pediatric/neonatal flight nurse, Nurse manager (for NICU, Neonatal transport, Family Birthing, Pediatrics, and Lactation). Currently she is a Clinical Professional Practice Development Specialist working to ensure quality education and professional development for Women’s and Children’s Caregivers. This education and professional development often extends in the rural emergency departments. Randa has always had a passion for education, especially when it had significant impact the outcomes for women, neonatal, and pediatric patients. Randa earned her Masters of Nursing from Western Governors University and her Bachelors from Montana State University.

Deidre Miller, MSN-Ed, RNC-NIC

Evidence-Based Liaison - Neonatal

Bio coming soon...

Kara Johnson, DNP, RNC-OB, CNS

Evidence-Based Liaison - Women's Health

Kara has over twenty years of experience as a staff nurse, charge nurse, and clinical educator for high-risk labor and delivery, antepartum, and postpartum. Currently she is a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist and Regional Program Manager Clinical Standardization-Perinatal at Providence Health and Services. Kara earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), a Master of Nursing, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Washington in Seattle. Her focus is to support clinical teams with current practice, quality, and research so that they can provide evidence-based care to families throughout their pregnancy and entire birth experience.

Donna Talain, C-EFM, RNC-OB, BSN, MBA

Communications Director

Donna’s obstetric experience spans multiple years. She began her nursing career as a Staff Nurse in Women’s Services at Legacy Emanuel Hospital working both in the Family Birth Center and Labor & Delivery. She then became a nurse at Legacy Medical Group -- Maternal-Fetal Medicine helping women with high-risk pregnancies navigate this joyous yet nerve-racking time of their lives. After a short stint in Clinical Informatics, she returned to her passion of patient care in Maternal-Fetal Medicine. She recently started a new adventure in Perinatology at Kaiser.

Rosemary Clark, RN-BSN, RNC-OB

Social Media Director

Rosey grew up in Oregon, graduated from OHSU School of Nursing- Portland campus in 2013 and fell into labor and delivery nursing. She has been practicing L&D nursing for over 7 years, and has recently trained to be a resuscitation nurse for newborns. This has given her a great respect for every aspect of a person's birth experience. She has a wonderful husband and two wild fur-babies at home.

Meet Your Chapter Leadership Team

Debbie Castile, MN, RNC-OB, CNS, NE

Chapter Liaison

Deb is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with 20 plus years experience in High Risk Obstetric care. Deb's passion is on patient safety and quality of care. She offers NRP and Fetal Monitoring education but finds her most rewards with direct patient care. Deb is an independent perinatal nurse consultant and she holds a Resource Nurse position in Labor and Delivery at OHSU.

Mary Hanson, MSN, RNC-OB

Portland Metro

Mary is an Associate Nurse Manager in Labor and Delivery at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. Her nursing career started as a postpartum nurse in 1994 and the year following she became a labor and delivery nurse. She has experience in low and high risk antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum care as well as Level II nursery. In 2017, she took on her current role at Kaiser Sunnyside. She is passionate about caring for the long term antepartum patients and their unique needs.

Jennifer Jamieson, MSN, RNC-OB, C-ONQS, C-EFM

Portland Metro

Jennifer is a Nursing Education and Practice Specialist at Legacy Health with 20 years of experience in perinatal nursing. She is passionate about providing care throughout the Women's Health continuum. Her professional interests include education, documentation, and quality improvement. In her personal life, Jennifer enjoys knitting, cooking, and gardening.

Randa Bates, MSN, RN

Central Oregon

Randa has been a NICU nurse for 18 years in various roles. These include bedside nursing, charge nurse, perinatal and pediatric/neonatal flight nurse, Nurse manager (for NICU, Neonatal transport, Family Birthing, Pediatrics, and Lactation). Currently she is a Clinical Professional Practice Development Specialist working to ensure quality education and professional development for Women’s and Children’s Caregivers. This education and professional development often extends in the rural emergency departments. Randa has always had a passion for education, especially when it had significant impact the outcomes for women, neonatal, and pediatric patients. Randa earned her Masters of Nursing from Western Governors University and her Bachelors from Montana State University.

Meet Your Conference Committee

Our annual Fall Conference is put on by an amazing group of people who volunteer their time to ensure all of you benefit from our premiere event. If you have questions about the Fall Conference or would like to learn more about volunteering, please contact us at [email protected].

Name	Role
Sara Mosher	Conference Co-Chair
Randa Bates	Conference Co-Chair
Michelle Hirschkorn	Moderator
Donna Talain	Communications
Jennifer Jamieson	Registration
Rebecca Johnson	Vendor Coordinator
Rosemary Clark	Audio/Visual Coordinator
Megan Ludeña	Membership Table
Deb Castile	AWHONN Store & EWEB
Mary Hanson	Photographer and Diaper Drive Coordinator