We validate excellence in medical-surgical nursing. Meet the Board of Directors and learn how to volunteer with MSNCB.
Meet the MSNCB Board!
The Board of Directors are the decision-making authority for the Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB). They manage the business and affairs of MSNCB, including determining policy, managing financials, and defining strategic direction.
Operationally, the Boards develop, execute, and oversee organizational goals. All directors understand, uphold, and support the mission, vision, values, bylaws, and policies of MSNCB.
Wes has been a medical - surgical oncology nurse for most of his career. Currently, he is residential faculty at Mesa Community College. Wes has been certified as a CMSRN since 2006. Prior to joining the Board of Directors, he was a member and chair of the CMSRN Item Writers and Test Development Committees and was part of the original workgroup for the CCCTM exam.
Dr. Jessica Tully has been a Registered Nurse for over 19 years. She has worked at Midland Memorial Hospital over 16 years and is currently the Medical/Surgical Division Director. Jessica is certified in medical-surgical nursing, nurse management and leadership, and executive nursing practice.
She is an active member of several nursing associations and organizations. Jessica serves/has served on the Medical/Surgical Nursing Certification Board, Hospice of Midland, and the Permian Basin Great 25 Nurses. She has a passion to work closely with outstanding Med Surg clinicians to ensure exceptional care. Jessica is married to Midland Fire Assistant Chief Michael Tully and has two children Caden and Rylee.
Cindy began her nearly 40-year nursing career in the USAF. She has experience in several nursing specialties, including labor and delivery, pediatrics, school nursing, infection control, and utilization review, but settled in the specialty of medical-surgical nursing.
She has 14 years of experience as a nurse educator, teaching medical-surgical nursing. Cindy has been certified both as a CMSRN and as a Certified Nurse Educator (CEN), since 2009.
Cathryn is an experienced leader in health care management working with Populytics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lehigh Valley Health Network where she oversees a division of the care coordination services.
She is skilled in clinical quality, care management, clinical nursing, peritoneal dialysis, and nutrition-dietetics. She is a strong operations professional and has a demonstrated history of working innovatively in the hospital & health care industry. Cathryn has her MSN from Loyola University New Orleans as well as her Certification in Care Coordination and Transition Management (CCCTM).
She serves on the Medical Surgical Nursing Certification Board of Directors, and participates with the American Case Management Association, the American Medical Surgical Nursing Association, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nurses, and Signa Theta Tau Nursing Honors society.
Mindy has a BA in psychology and a Master of Education from the University of South Alabama and began her career as a primary educator. Mindy earned her BSN in 2009 and has since obtained experience in a variety of inpatient and outpatient specialties. Her most recent clinical experience in direct patient care, and subsequently a leadership position was on a medical-surgical unit.
During her time on the medical-surgical unit, Mindy was involved in establishing Shared Governance in her facility. This foundation in medical-surgical nursing has significantly influenced her current position in quality, where she leads initiatives to support high quality and safe care for all patients. Mindy earned her CMSRN in 2019.
Courtney is a Manager of Staff Education for UPMC where she has practiced for over fifteen years in a variety of roles. She has a diverse professional background with experience in medical-surgical, cardiac telemetry, and post-surgical clinical specialties prior to her transition into nursing education.
Courtney received her Masters degree with a focus in Nursing Education from Robert Morris University and has been certified as a medical-surgical registered nurse since 2014. She is an active member of several professional nursing organizations including the Academy of Medical Surgical Nursing, the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, and the Association for Nursing Professional Development Specialists.
Kim is Coordinator, Education Services for the Health Information Services Division at Bernard Becker Medical Library, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine. She delights in providing the perspective of the health consumer to the board.
Kaitlin received her BSN from The University of Arizona in 2019. Since then, she has been working at the Southern Arizona VA hospital where she is dedicated to serving veterans. She has been specializing and working on a medical-surgical floor for 3 years. She is also a member of the DEMPS program where she deploys to VA’s around the country during national disasters and emergencies. At her hospital, she has created a project focused on increasing staff education regarding spinal cord injury patients in acute care settings. Kaitlin eventually plans on becoming an Acute Care NP.
Marisa is currently the Strategic Advisor to the Chief Nursing Executive at the University of Michigan – Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, MI and is a Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN®). She previously served as a staff specialist with the organization’s nursing leadership team, with concentration in surgical services subsegment in the Adult Hospitals.
Previous projects include implementing an electronic SBAR for internal transfers and a separate SBAR for external transfers, fall prevention, reduction for length of stay, and safety assistant guidelines. Most recently she completed her Doctorate in Nursing Practice in Transformational Leadership: Systems from Rush University.
Terri has been the CEO of AMSN and MSNCB since 2017. Terri is a former senior clinical research operation professional with 21 years of clinical and industry experience, coupled with over 32 years in acute care nursing in the healthcare setting. She has almost seven years of association management leadership experience.
Terri received her RN from Centennial College, BScN from York University, an Executive MBA from Athabasca University, and an Ed.D. in the Executive Leadership (ELP) Human and Organizational Learning (HOL) Program at the George Washington University.
What we're all about.
Our mission is to validate excellence in medical-surgical nursing.
MSNCB certification is universally valued as essential to positive patient outcomes.
Develop your potential.
Get involved! Look for an annual email in early autumn that calls for volunteers. You could be our next item writer or auditor. Committee and task force members have regular, ongoing responsibilities as defined by their Committee or Task Force Charter. Volunteers must hold a valid CMSRN credential.
Participating on the Board of Directors is a very rewarding experience, both professionally and personally. It requires a variety of skills and knowledge about MSNCB, medical-surgical nursing, and resource management. Candidates interested in serving on the MSNCB board are self-nominated. CMSRNs in good standing who meet the eligibility requirements may apply.
Members of the Item Writers Task Force develop new exam items for MSNCB certification exams following the Item Writing Style Guide and using references provided by MSNCB. This group receives item writing training from our test development partner.
Members of the Item Reviewers Task Force review examination items and make necessary revisions to items following the Item Writing Style Guide and using references provided by MSNCB. This group receives item writing and reviewing training from our test development partner.
Members of the Test Development Committee review the performance of each exam form, problematic items, and standard setting for MSNCB certification exams. Committee members are given independent assignments 3-4 times per year. After each assignment, members attend virtual meetings for 1-3 days that last 1-3 hours each day.
Members of the Recertification Committee review recertification applications randomly selected for audit. You need about 3-4 hours monthly to review 1-4 audited recertification applications. You make a commitment to complete assigned audits in a quick turnaround time frame by participating in this committee.
CMSRN by the numbers.
In accordance with accreditation standards, MSNCB publishes certification statistics on an annual basis. Information includes number of testing candidates, pass/fail statistics, number of recertifications, and number of total certificants.
| Year | Tested | Passed | Failed | Pass Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,897 | 2,926 | 971 | 75% |
| 2020 | 4,648 | 3,506 | 1,142 | 75% |
| 2019 | 7,128 | 5,551 | 1,577 | 77% |
| Year | Recertified |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,353 |
| 2020 | 2,894 |
| 2019 | 2,928 |
| Year | Total CMSRNs |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 39,979 |
| 2020 | 41,647 |
| 2019 | 36,893 |
