Running for President of the NNJHPNA Chapter is a professional goal that will afford me the opportunity to promote the advancement of Palliative Care and Hospice practices within our organization and beyond. By participating in and developing educational events and engaging our members to become active in our Chapter, I will uphold our mission statement: to build an influential network of hospice and palliative care nurses and professionals in New Jersey to share tools, resources, and education focused on the provision of expert care of the seriously ill.

Lesli received her associate's degree from Bergen Community College, BSN from College of Saint Elizabeth, and MSN from Walden University. She got her start in nursing as an emergency room nurse for ten years before advancing her career to a Clinical Nurse Educator and then a Palliative Care APN. As a Clinical Nurse Educator, she taught The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) program to colleagues in the acute care setting. The ELNEC project is a national and international education initiative to improve palliative care.

Currently she is employed by Hackensack Meridian Health -- Raritan Bay Medical Center as a Palliative Care Advanced Practice Nurse where she evaluates and cares for patients with serious illnesses. In addition, she participates in nursing and medical resident education and serves as a clinical preceptor for nurse practitioner students and nurse practitioner residents seeking palliative care experiences. She has worked as a palliative care APN for 6 years.

One of her proudest life experiences was when she volunteered to participate in a medical mission to the Dominican Republic during her BSN program.

Lesli served as the secretary of the Northern New Jersey Provisional Chapter of HPNA’s steering committee since October of 2019 and was extensively involved and committed to the application for charter status this past year. She was recently re-elected as the Secretary of the Northern NJ HPNA Chapter.

In her free time, she is a cat mom to three beautiful Maine Coon mixed fur babies. She loves to cook and spend time with her friends and family to share fun and laughter while being grateful for her wonderful life!