As a nurse executive and academic Dr. Maxworthy has worked in multiple settings. She spent the first part of her career as a critical care nurse in a busy open heart and trauma unit. After twenty years she moved into the world of quality, patient safety and risk. Her last clinical position was that of VP of Quality and Risk. In 2008, after completing her DNP, she started a small consulting firm, WithMax Inc., which provides high quality services for those needing support with quality improvement initiatives, healthcare simulation and medical writing assistance. Currently in a full-time tenure earning position at the University of San Francisco where she teaches in the DNP/ELDNP programs. Her areas of interest/teaching include leadership, quality, patient safety and project management. Dr. Maxworthy is the past Chair of the Healthcare Leadership and Innovations Department and is currently the Director of the BSN to DNP and Healthcare Simulation Certificate programs.

Having been a member of Sigma Theta Tau International for many years, she currently serves as Vice President for the Board of Directors. She just completed four years as Region One Coordinator (2013-2017). During 2009-2013 she was the Chair of the Fellows committee (2009-11) and the Foundation Board Chair from 2011-2013.

Over the past decade she has become very engaged in the world of healthcare simulation. In 2013, she built the simulation center at Holy Names University. She currently serves on the Society for Simulation for Healthcare (SSH) Board of Directors in the role of Secretary. She is the former Chair of Accreditation and a surveyor for the Society. In 2014, she, along with colleagues completed editing the only SSH endorsed textbook entitled “Defining Excellence in Healthcare Simulation”. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Society in 2017 as part of the inaugural cohort. Dr. Maxworthy has also published books on OPPE, FPPE and another one on Simulation Basics along with multiple articles and book chapters.

Dr. KT Waxman is a nurse leader with over 30 years of experience in health care and corporate settings. She is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of San Francisco, and is the Director of the Executive Leader DNP program. She is the Director of the California Simulation Alliance (CSA) at HealthImpact. An internationally known speaker and author, Waxman is also a past president of the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL) and past board member, serving as Treasurer, for the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). She is active in numerous committees for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) and serves on the Finance Committee for the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL).

Dr. Waxman’s work has been published extensively and can be found in the Journal for Simulation in Healthcare, Clinical Simulation for Nursing, Journal of Nursing Education, Nurse Leader and Creative Nursing journals, among others. She has authored 3 books on Finance and Budgeting, and just completed the second edition of “Financial and Business Skills for the DNP”, published by Springer. Her book, “Healthcare Simulation Program Builder” through HCPro was released last year. She has authored several chapters in simulation textbooks.

Dr. Waxman received her DNP from the University of San Francisco, with an emphasis on health systems leadership and a concentration in clinical simulation. She holds certifications as Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), Certification in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP), Certification as a Simulation Healthcare Educator (CHSE) and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (FSSH). KT was recently elected as President-elect in the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and her term begins in January 2018.

Dr. Mary Lynne Knighten is a board certified nurse executive with more than 30 years of progressive management experience in leading patient care operations, developing staff, building clinical programs, improving patient satisfaction and quality outcomes, mitigating cost inefficiencies, controlling budgets, ensuring regulatory compliance, educating, conducting research, and negotiating contracts for major medical centers and teaching hospitals.

Dr. Knighten is a recognized expert, international speaker, and published author in the area of leadership, palliative care, patient-and family-centered care, and patient/family engagement.

Dr. Knighten graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2012 from the University of San Francisco’s Executive Leadership program. Her expertise in patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) has resulted in sustainable PFCC practices, policies, and programs, including creating Patient Family Faculty roles for interprofessional education, engaging Patient Family Advisor roles to partner with organizational leaders for co-design, and sustaining robust Patient Family Advisory Council activity.

Dr. Knighten has published in the areas of grant writing with the target audience Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students and practitioners, patient- and family-centered care leadership, health ministries. This includes:

Knighten, M.L. (2017). Health Care Grant Writing in Acute, Ambulatory and Community Care. In K.T. Waxman (Ed), Financial and Business Management for the Doctor of Nursing Practice
Knighten, M.L & Quaye, B. (2014). Patient and Family Centered Leadership. In L. Rubino, S. Esparza, & Y.R. Chassiakos, (Eds), New Leadership for Today’s Health Care Professional: Concepts and Cases.
Knighten, M.L. (2013). Health Care Grant Writing in Acute and Ambulatory Care. In K.T. Waxman (Ed) Financial and Business Management for the Doctor of Nursing Practice.
In addition, Dr. Knighten has written a series of Care Notes™ focused on mental health, advance care planning, and patient/family engagement and designed to educate patients and families.

Dr. Knighten currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at Azusa Pacific University, and Consultant at California State University, Northridge in the Department of Health Sciences, Health Administration Program. She has served as mentor and committee member for DNP students at five universities.