Betty Long, RN, MHA, is the President/CEO and Founder of Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates and a nationally recognized expert and speaker on patient advocacy. As a registered nurse since 1986, she has experience in clinical, management and consulting capacities. In addition, she has a long history of healthcare advocacy with special expertise in critical care, long-term care and geriatric care management. She is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Case Management Society of America as well as the Forum of Executive Women in Philadelphia. In 2021, she will serve as President-Elect on the Board of The Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania.

Nurse Czarkowski, who joined Guardian Nurses in 2015, is responsible for training, developing and coaching all of our RNs. Nursing is a second career for Rebecca. Since graduating 13 years ago from nursing school, she has worked as an emergency room nurse in several hospitals before taking a role as a case manager and team lead, managing 19 care managers in a specialty oncology hospital.

Nurse Sambuco is responsible for our Clinical Operations. She joined Guardian Nurses’ team in 2013 with more than 15 years of clinical and management experience in pediatrics. She has worked with patients of all ages, though, and feels strongly that everyone needs an advocate–regardless of their age or situation! In August, 2015, she was named as a FINALIST for the 2015 Pennsylvania Nightingale Awards!

Nurse Bassett has enjoyed a 29 year career in nursing as well as a variety of roles in that time, most of them in South Jersey. Med-surg nursing, operating room, clinical trials, nursing management, case management and ambulatory care are just a few of the roles she has held.

Nurse Berkowitz began her nursing career in critical care and spent many years in the acute setting before she found her way to palliative care and hospice. She has a solid knowledge of oncology as well as other disease processes and is passionate about guiding and supporting patients.

Nurse Bonacci leads the MCC Nurses in our Pennsylvania MCC Programs. She has worked in nursing for the last 12 years but prior to that she worked in television broadcasting. Her clinical experience includes cardiac care, medical-surgical patients as well as working in an outpatient obstetrics/gynecology office.

Nurse Darbee has enjoyed a 35+ year successful career in many nursing roles including critical care, case manager, infection control, quality, and nursing leadership.

Nurse Dominguez joins our team with more than 15 years of nursing experience including ER, occupational health, home care, and interventional radiology. More recently, she worked as the athletic navigator, coordinating the health care of all athletes at a Division 1 university.

After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Nurse Donahue found nursing and has never looked back. Now 23 years as a nurse, she has experience in hospital med-surg and post-partum units as well as insurance case management and community health.

Nurse Duckworth is part of our Seattle team and is a native Washingtonian. Her clinical experience includes hospital nursing–on med-surg, telemetry and labor & delivery units, as well as in long-term care at a skilled nursing facility. Tessie is passionate about wellness and enjoys working with patients to make better health decisions.

Nurse Fanslau is a seasoned nurse who has many years of experience in home health and hospice. She has served as a manager of a nursing team supporting and managing patients with chronic illness. In her role as a school nurse, also offered guidance and medical support to students in the New Jersey educational system.

Nurse Fitzmaurice began her nursing career in 2002 and has held several clinical roles in acute care. She has served the public in nursing roles spanning from student health to bedside nursing, to research nursing, to long term care.

Nurse Fitzpatrick began her nursing career in 1993 and through the years, has worked in both pediatric and adult nursing as well as several positions in clinical research and clinical trials.

Nurse Gant comes to Guardian Nurses after several years of hospital experience in pediatrics both at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Inspira Health System in South Jersey. She has also worked as a school nurse in South Jersey.

Nurse Jaroma has more than 16 years in nursing, mostly in the emergency department as a staff nurse and in leadership, but also cared for patients on telemetry and cardiac units. She brings great passion to her support of patients.

Nurse Kane leads our MCC Nurses who work in our NJ and NY MCC Programs. She has more than 33 years in nursing with recent experience managing a large cardiology physician practice. She has also worked in pediatrics, adult critical care, and nursing management.

Nurse Lennon joined our team after many years of working in acute care hospital units, primarily in cardiac units and the emergency room. She also has experience in short-stay surgical units, both pre and post op.

Nurse Libertella comes to Guardian Nurses with more than 34 years nursing experience, most recently as a liaison for acute rehab. She has also had experience in critical care and home care.

Nurse Logan’s nursing career began in Maryland with positions in the emergency room at several trauma facilities. After graduating with her MSN, she moved into hospital management roles and most recently was the Director of Emergency Services at a community hospital in Philadelphia.

Nurse McBride has more than 29 years as a nurse delivering patient care in med-surg and rehab units, as well as roles as a clinical care coordinator and IV/PICC Line specialist. She also has done compliance reviews and managed an out-patient chemotherapy center.

Nurse McCarrick has had many diverse roles in her more than 30 years as a nurse. She has worked as a staff nurse, nurse manager, and case manager in acute care facilities as well as in the community and in home care.

Nurse McDonald hails from Philadelphia but calls Seattle home now. After her first med-surg role 27 years ago, she spent three years traveling around the country working in different cities and hospitals. For the last 15 years, however, she has held a variety of critical care roles in acute care hospitals around the Puget Sound area.

Nurse Meredith has more than 20 years of experience providing care to a wide range of patient populations, including home care. She began her nursing career working with residents of a long term care facility followed by many years as a staff nurse at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, in med-surg and cardiac care units.

Nurse Mitchell happily ‘broke the barrier’ of being our first male nurse on the GN Team. As he admits, “I’ve always been surrounded by female nurses.” Hailing from the Puget Sound area, Stephen has worked in clinical and psychiatric units for more than 10 years both in Washington and California.

Nurse Murphy joins Guardian Nurses with more than 39 years of experience in the Philadelphia area in so many areas of nursing, we don’t have enough room to list it all! Most recently, Maryellen’s work was in hospice and home care. She brings clinical, operations and management experience to our team.

Nurse Pace has more than 42 years of nursing experience. Throughout her long career, she has worked at hospitals and rehab facilities specializing in neurological, orthopedic, pulmonary and cardiac issues. She also has an extensive knowledge of many New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospital systems.

Nurse Pazmino’s clinical focus in her nursing career has focused on pediatrics, both in acute care facilities and in community behavioral health and home health. Prior to becoming a nurse, she worked in elementary education.

Nurse Petersohn brings more than 20 years of nursing experience starting as an Army Captain and staff nurse at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Her career includes pediatrics, school nursing, and oncology. She also works as a wellness and fitness coach and personal trainer.

Nurse Pierce, comes to us after 28 years in various acute clinical settings, including the emergency room and later, the cardiac cath lab. She has also worked in nursing education at an urban medical center as well as in nursing management.

Nurse Pigeon joins our team with many years of varied experience most recently in cardiac transplant. With more than 18 years as a nurse and as a manager, she has worked in acute care settings as well as a case manager at an insurance company.

Though he enjoyed being a motorcycle mechanic, Nurse Reiter pursued a career in nursing after appreciating first-hand the care he received as a patient. He worked in critical care for several years before transferring to home care where he enjoyed having time to engage his patients.

Nurse Ricci trained as a social worker but soon transitioned to nursing and began her clinical career in pediatrics in 2001. In the years since, she has worked with adults and children as a school nurse, in long-term care, and as a holistic therapist, certified bodywork therapist, reiki and meditation instructor.

Nurse Rivera started her healthcare career providing employment counseling to disabled patients and after becoming an RN, worked in the neonatal ICU at a large, academic medical center. Following that, she provided clinical expertise to clinical trials and most recently, was working in home care coordinating care for complex, chronically ill patients.

Nurse Rogers joins us as a ‘second career’ nurse. She has more than 10 years of nursing experience in emergency rooms, perinatal units, and labor and delivery rooms. For the last 20 years, she has served in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard (NJ).

Nurse Rudi coaches and advises our nurses who work in our Complex Care MCC Programs. She has more than 12 years of extensive experience working with diverse clinical situations including cardiac, endocrinology, orthopedic.

Nurse Spector joins us from Long Island, NY! She has enjoyed a diverse career in nursing for more than 37 years. She, too, has worked in both the pediatric and adult worlds, both as a staff nurse and a manager, and in the hospital, in schools, and in home care.

Nurse Swider has more than 22 years in nursing most recently working with long-term care patients. She brings many years of experience in general medical -surgical nursing as well as acute and subacute rehabilitation.

Nurse Votendahl, also a Washington state native, has more than 28 years as a nurse in the Seattle area. Most recently, Andy worked as an organizer for a Seattle nurses’ union and prior to that experience, she was a case manager, nursing supervisor, nurse educator, and med-surg/telemetry nurse.

Nurse Welden leads the nurses who work on our advocacy cases. She has more than 14 years of clinical experience both in pediatrics and adult care. Her hospital nursing background includes case management, neurology, ER and critical care. She also has home care experience both as a case manager and as a nurse manager.

Michele manages the administrative operations of our entire team and is responsible for taking care of our new headquarters.

Joyce oversees our team’s expanding technology needs as well as having responsibility for maintaining our data and client reporting.