PRE-Conference Nursing Leadership in Health Policy Reform Across Rural Appalachia with WVNA Policy Roundtable

Name: PRE-Conference Nursing Leadership in Health Policy Reform Across Rural Appalachia with WVNA Policy Roundtable
Start: 2026-02-22T14:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-02-22T15:30:00-05:00
Location: Embassy Suites by Hilton Charleston

Embassy Suites by Hilton Charleston
300 Court Street
Charleston, WV 25301

Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 2:00pm ET - 3:30pm ET

Pre-Conference

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Topic

Driving rural health improvement through innovative policy and evidence-informed advocacy

Credits Offered

This event offers 1.5 CE credits to attendees.
Accreditation Info: The West Virginia University School of Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Additional Information

Session Description:

This session prepares nursing professionals to engage in policy analysis, advocacy, and leadership that address the structural and social determinants of health impacting rural Appalachian populations in West Virginia. Grounded in the region’s distinct sociopolitical context, the presentation emphasizes the nurse’s role in developing equitable health policy across institutional, state, and federal domains.

By engaging with justice-oriented leadership frameworks and community-level policy strategies, participants will enhance their ability to translate nursing knowledge into effective, contextually responsive policy action. The session emphasizes evidence-informed advocacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and reflexive leadership as key approaches to advancing health equity and social justice within West Virginia’s rural healthcare landscape.

Session Objectives:

Critically examine how socioeconomic and structural determinants of health interact to shape health inequities, and apply this understanding to evidence-informed nursing contributions in policy design and legislative reform.
Formulate strategies for reflexive nursing leadership that integrate principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and intersectionality to advance justice-oriented nursing engagement in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of health policy.
Evaluate approaches for community and intersectoral collaboration that strengthen nursing advocacy capacity and influence policy decisions addressing the social and structural determinants of health.

Speakers

Luke Velickoff MSN, AGACNP-BC

Luke Velickoff, MSN, AGACNP-BC, is a nurse practitioner and educator dedicated to advancing nursing through education, research, and advocacy. A graduate of West Virginia University and Duke University, Luke’s clinical and scholarly work focuses on improving acute care for transgender and gender-diverse patients, with an emphasis on nurse-led, affirming models of care in rural Appalachian communities. Luke has been actively engaged in health policy and professional advocacy, including service on the WVNA Executive Board, where they founded and led the organization’s first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee. Their work reflects a strong commitment to health equity, social justice, and research-driven innovation in nursing.

Donte Newsom DNP, APRN, FNP-BC

WVNA President, Dr.

Donte Newsom, DNP, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner working in interventional radiology at Allegany Imaging, PC, and UPMC Western Maryland. He is also an adjunct instructor for the family nurse practitioner program at Simmons University. Dr. Newsom earned a BSN, MSN, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice all from West Virginia University. A leader in human and civil rights in West Virginia, Dr. Newsom pursued his Doctor of Nursing Practice with the goal of opening pathways to improve nursing and health care practice. Newsom aspires to influence practice change and shape how care is delivered in the future. Donte currently serves as a board member with Fairness West Virginia, the statewide human/civil rights organization devoted to equal rights for all LGBTQ+ West Virginians. He also serves as a medical officer for Mountaineer Boys State, a board member for The Connecting Link, and on the WVNA Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEI). Donte is a Fairmont, West Virginia, native and spent most of his life in north central WV. He currently lives in Mineral County.