Leadership
Betty Long, RN, MHA
Rebecca Rivkin-Czarkowski, RN, BSN, MPH
Robin Sambuco, RN, BSN
Jessica Rudi, RN, BSN
Teresa Duckworth, RN
Jackie Kane, RN, BSN
Andrea Spector, RN, MSN
Betty Long, RN, MHA
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 2022, she will serve as President of the Board of Trustees for The Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania.
Rebecca Rivkin-Czarkowski, RN, BSN, MPH
Nurse Czarkowski, who joined Guardian Nurses in 2015, is responsible for training, developing and coaching all of our RNs. She is also taking on the role of Director of West Coast Operations effective July 2021. 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.
Robin Sambuco, RN, BSN
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!
Jessica Rudi, RN, BSN
After several years of coaching and advising our nurses who work in our Complex Care MCC Programs, Nurse Rudi has been promoted (December 2021) to Manager of Data Metrics and Quality. In that role, she will be responsible for both our internal and external reporting. Clinically, she has extensive experience working with diverse clinical situations including cardiac, endocrinology, and orthopedics.
Teresa Duckworth, RN
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.
Jackie Kane, RN, BSN
Nurse Kane leads our Mobile Care Coordinator (MCC) Nurses who work in our Pennsylvania programs. She has more than 33 years in nursing with experience managing a large cardiology physician practice. She has also worked in pediatrics, adult critical care, and nursing management.
Andrea Spector, RN, MSN
Nurse Spector leads the nurses who work in our New York and New Jersey Mobile Care Coordinator (MCC) Programs. Having been a nurse for more than 35 years, Andrea has had roles in acute care nursing, school nursing, consulting, home care, and nursing administration.
Our Nurses
Michelle Agnese, RN, MSN
Lindsay Aliano, RN, BSN
Diane Bassett, RN
Nicole Botta, RN, BSN
Eileen Calderbank, RN, BSN, CCRN
Ramona Cooper, RN, MSN
Jennifer Donahue, RN
Sara Fiske, RN, BSN, CCRN
Jeneane Fitzmaurice, RN, BSN
Lori Fitzpatrick, RN, BSN
Conni Fonseca, RN, BSN
Lauren Gant, RN, BSN
Annissa Hensley, RN, BSN
Stephanie Houseman, RN, BSN
Charlotte Jaroma, RN, BSN
Walker LaFleur, RN, BSN
Crystal Leonardi, RN, BSN
Tish McBride, RN
Christina McCarrick, RN
Diane McCaffery, RN, BSN
Jeanette Meredith, RN
Stephen Mitchell, RN, BSN, MPA
Heather Munizza, RN, MSN
Maryellen Murphy, RN, BSN, CCCP
Monica Nash, RN, BSN
Tonya Niverson, RN, BSN
Colleen Pace, LPN
Suzy Parker, RN
Heidi Petersohn, RN, BSN, CPT
Peggy Pierce, RN, BSN
Yvette Pigeon, RN
Bianca Pollart, RN, BSN
Jennifer Prater, RN, MSN, CCRN
Lori Rivkin, RN, BSN
Alicia Spataro, RN, BSN
Paula Spector, RN, BSN
Damali N. Stansbury, LSW, MSW
Megan Swider, RN
Andrea Votendahl, RN, BSN
Kelly Welden, RN
Jennifer White, RN, MSN
Stephanie Wimmer, RN, BSN
Alonda Wood, RN, BSN
Diane Bassett, RN
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.
Nicole Botta, RN, BSN
Nurse Botta joins us with more than 15 years’ experience in clinical nursing and healthcare marketing in the Long Island area . She has advocated for patients and families through inpatient stays and has worked with families, providers, clinics and community agencies to make sure patients got the appropriate treatment.
Eileen Calderbank, RN, BSN, CCRN
Nurse Calderbank brings more than 35 years of nursing experience to her nurse advocate’s role. To her credit, 30 years in, she received her BSN degree in 2017. Her career has spanned many roles in critical care and most recently managing a cardiac catheterization lab.
Ramona Cooper, RN, MSN
Nurse Cooper joins our team after spending 24 years in acute care nursing, 20 of which was in pediatrics. Most recently she worked in primary care programs as a triage nurse and as a mobile nurse with Amazon Care.
Sara Fiske, RN, BSN, CCRN
Nurse Fiske joins our team after 12 years in South Jersey acute care hospitals, more specifically as a staff nurse on surgical post-op units, detox units, and critical care units. She has the distinction of being a certified critical care nurse (CCRN) which requires rigorous course work as well as passing an exam.
Annissa Hensley, RN, BSN
Nurse Hensley joins Guardian Nurses with more than 23 years of healthcare experience in not just acute care hospitals but also in international missionary work in Cambodia and Mexico. Her recent experience has been in critical care units and interventional radiology units.
Stephanie Houseman, RN, BSN
Nurse Houseman brings 16 years of diverse nursing experience to her role as a Nurse Advocate. Having started in labor and delivery nursing, she went on to roles in home health, care management, clinical research and finally as a Program Coordinator of the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Program.
Walker LaFleur, RN, BSN
Walker joins the GN team after nine years as a nurse both in Florida and Washington state. He brings with him both acute care hospital experience as well as an outpatient dialysis clinic. He most recently managed two dialysis clinics, overseeing a 50-person team, in Northwest Washington.
Crystal Leonardi, RN, BSN
Crystal began her nursing career in 2001 as a staff nurse on the cardiothoracic surgical step-down unit at New York-Presbyterian Hospital: Weill Cornell and spent 10 years there. Since then, she has raised her family and worked a variety of per-diem positions in the NY/NJ area.
Diane McCaffery, RN, BSN
Nurse McCaffery has spent her 15 year career caring for adults on telemetry, stroke and dialysis units in acute care hospitals as well as several years working as a case manager in hospice.
Jeanette Meredith, RN
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.
Stephen Mitchell, RN, BSN, MPA
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.
Heather Munizza, RN, MSN
Nurse Munizza joins our team with 15 years of nursing experience, most of it in acute care hospitals first as a staff nurse on med-surg and telemetry units and later as a clinical supervisor and nurse manager. She has also been a clinical instructor for several nursing programs.
Maryellen Murphy, RN, BSN, CCCP
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.
Colleen Pace, LPN
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.
Suzy Parker, RN
Nurse Parker joins our Seattle team as the Mobile Care Coordinator RN for the Northwest Sheet Metal Workers Health Care Trust, our newest MCC Program. Prior to joining our team, Suzy enjoyed a 35 year career in nursing including roles in hospital acute care, behavioral health/substance use programs, and case management.
Heidi Petersohn, RN, BSN, CPT
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.
Bianca Pollart, RN, BSN
Nurse Pollart joins our team after seven years of inpatient experience in a variety of settings, including an adult medical-surgical and cardiac telemetry unit, neonatal intensive care, pediatric cardiac intensive care, general pediatric intensive care, and general pediatric medical floors that specialized in a variety of medical conditions.
Damali N. Stansbury, LSW, MSW
We are very proud to welcome Damali to our team as she is our first social worker! With experience in providing behavioral health services to children and families, Damali will support our team of nurses and together, they will support our patients’ behavioral health needs.
Andrea Votendahl, RN, BSN
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.
Alonda Wood, RN, BSN
Nurse Wood, who hails from West Virginia, has been a nurse for more than 34 years working first in critical care in Philadelphia, but after finding home care nursing in 1995, she never looked back. She enjoys establishing supportive relationships with her home bound patients.
Support Staff
Michele Murphy
Joyce Pedrick
Kelly Zoller
Joyce Pedrick
Joyce oversees our team’s expanding technology needs as well as having responsibility for maintaining our data and client reporting.