Meet Pittsburgh Chapter Leadership
Stephanie Kress, BSN, RN, CMSRN
President
Stephanie’s nursing career has spanned 25 years after obtaining her BSN at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She began in medical cardiology at a university-based medical center and after 7 years, transferred into a clinician position for the thoracic surgery department where she became medical/surgical certified. Since 2006, she has worked as a critical care float RN at a large community hospital. Stephanie has been in independent practice as an LNC since 2009, specializing in medical malpractice. She also serves as a member and volunteer for Western Pa Wounded Warriors and as a CPR instructor in the community. She has enjoyed planning our chapter’s special events and dinner and her time as editor of our newsletter, The LiNC. She is so grateful for the wonderful experience of serving on the board as Director at Large in 2016-17, President in 2018 and Secretary/Treasurer 2021-24.
Melissa Choma, RN, LNCC
Past President
Melissa Choma is currently working as an in-house legal nurse consultant for the law firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin. She works in the medical malpractice division of this large defense firm. She obtained her Diploma in Nursing from the Ohio Valley Hospital School of Nursing (now the Trinity Health System School of Nursing) in Steubenville, OH in 1989. She began her nursing career at the Ohio Valley Hospital in Steubenville, working on ICU/CCU/Tele Stepdown units. In September 1997 she became a travel nurse, working on various units, including open-heart stepdown. After several assignments at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, she accepted a full-time position on their abdominal transplant floor, caring for patients who had undergone liver, pancreas, and kidney transplants. While there, she also served as charge nurse and preceptor to many new nurses. She returned to western Pennsylvania in July of 2007, taking a position at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute of UPMC as a Clinical Transplant Coordinator, caring for a large caseload of patients who had received kidney transplants. While there, she completed a home study course for legal nurse consulting. In March of 2014 she became the in-house LNC for the Pittsburgh office of MDWCG and obtained her LNCC in October of 2017. She joined the Pittsburgh Chapter of AALNC to begin networking with other nurses who have taken the journey into this branch of the nursing profession.
Audrey Lalli, RN, BSN, CRRN
Secretary/Treasurer
I graduated from WVU School of Nursing with a BSN and began my nursing career in May of 1978, working in Med-Surg. Enjoying the experiences nursing can expose one to, I then switched to Cardiac Care/Step-Down, Orthopedics, Substitute School Nursing, Home Care and finally Rehabilitation Nursing. I have remained in Rehabilitation 32 years, obtaining my CRRN. I presently am the Director of Quality and Risk Management after being a Nurse Manager there for over 12 years, on a unit specializing in Spinal Cord Injury. The unit did have patients with other diagnoses as well. I have had other management roles during my years at Harmarville (first named HealthSouth and now a name change to Encompass), such as being Interim Chief Nursing Officer for several months and being an active participant in helping to establish policies and procedures based on best practices. My consulting career began in 2011. I review both plaintiff and defense cases with almost a 50% case mix. I have been deposed approximately 25 times and to trial twice. I find expert work very interesting and rewarding. It actually makes my primary job more tolerable at times! I served on the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Chapter from 2014 to 2017, being a Past President in 2016. I was honored to be nominated for the Board and I will be honored to serve again.
Becki Kelton, RN, MSN
Director At Large
Becki Kelton has over 24 years of experience in nursing and healthcare. She received her nursing degree in 1998 and went on to obtain her master's in nursing education and leadership from Carlow University in 2019. Becki continued her education by completing a certificate course in legal nurse consulting at the University of South Carolina Aiken in 2022. Her clinical background includes adult trauma step down, pediatrics (intensive care, emergency room and same day surgery), skilled/long-term care, and hepatology. For the past 11+years, she has been working in transplant case management and contract negotiations for Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance. Becki is the founder of Upstate Legal Nurse Consulting specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury, and healthcare fraud cases. Becki has written a chapter in Pay Iyer's second volume book on medical record analysis for attorneys, which is due out next month. She is passionate about legal nurse consulting and feels blessed to be a part of the AALNC Pittsburgh Chapter.
Pamela Borello, BSN, BS, RN, CNOR, CNAMB, CSSM(e)
Director at Large
My entire professional career has been in the perioperative area, first as a Surgical Technologist and then as an RN CNOR. I recently completed my BSN and consider myself a lifelong learner. My LNC work over the past 2 years is as an independent TE, and I am looking forward to obtaining work as a subcontractor. I continue to work full-time in the operating room as a travel RN and interim clinical manager, am active in my local AORN chapter in Michigan as a past president and current board of director member, and am progressing deliberately through the AALNC professional course. My interest in Legal Nurse Consulting has led me to join the national AALNC organization, as well as three chapters. I served AALNC as a volunteer on the 2023 Program Committee for Forum, and am currently on the AALNC Education Committee, reviewing new modules for the updated AALNC Professional Course due out soon, and am participating with the Pittsburgh Chapter as a new DAL. I look forward to working with and getting to know the entire Pittsburgh chapter membership!
Carol Patton, DrPH, FNP-BC, CRNP, CNE
Director At Large
Dr. Patton holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Science degree in primary care nursing from West Virginia University and a Doctoral Degree in Public Health (Dr.PH) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health with emphasis in Health Services Administration. Dr. Patton completed her studies as a family nurse practitioner from West Virginia University as a post-master's student and also completed a certificate program in Healthcare Informatics and Technology at Drexel University.
Dr. Patton is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a family nurse practitioner. Dr. Patton maintains a clinical practice and is a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) through the National League for Nursing. Dr. Patton is a Program Evaluator and a Distant Education Accrediting Commission Evaluator (DEAC). Dr. Patton has served in leadership roles for local, regional, national and state nursing organizations as well as professional nursing organizations. Dr. Patton is a member of several professional nursing organizations and is serving in a variety of leadership roles in these professional nursing organizations.
Dr. Patton has published and presented nationally and internationally on several topics related to clinical nursing practice and organizational leadership and change to create high reliability organizations that focus on patient safety and quality as well as nurse satisfaction and retention. Dr. Patton has served in leadership roles as Director of Nursing Research for 2 major healthcare systems facilitating nursing research, nursing scholarship and evidence-based practice for Magnet.
Dr. Patton has written extensively regarding topics of healthcare communications and other key topics and concepts focusing on development of high reliability teams and specifically on developing strategies and cultures to enhance patient safety and quality. Dr. Patton serves also as a nursing education consultant creating and revising AD, BSN, RN-BSN, Master's, Family Nurse Practitioner Programs, DNP and PhD programs preparing nurses at all educational levels to be able to positively impact nursing services and healthcare delivery in the 21st century.
Membership Benefits
Benefits of Pittsburgh Chapter Membership
Membership Requirements
Become A Member of the Pittsburgh Chapter
RN membership may be granted to any registered nurse who maintains active licensure in the U.S. or is recognized by the International Counsel of Nurses as a professional nurse, who practices in or is interested in the practice of legal nurse consulting. Membership of our national organization, American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants is a requirement before joining our local chapter. See aalnc.org for more information. All new applicants who join after June 1st will be granted an extended membership through December of the following year as an incentive for those who join late in the current membership year.
Non-RN membership may be granted to individuals with an interest in the goals and activities of the AALNC- Pittsburgh Chapter.
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