Dr. Kris L'Ecuyer is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Pre-licensure Nursing Education at Saint Louis University Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing. She is a CNL educator and was the administrator for a Model C (direct entry) and Model A (BNS-MSN) CNL programs. She is a national advocate for the CNL role, and has worked on numerous committees for AACN and the CNC regarding development of the CNL role, administration of the CNL exam, and advocacy for the CNL role. She has contributed to CNL role dissemination through scholarship and research, and numerous presentations.

Tobie H. Olsan, PhD, MPA, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, FNAP was the founding director of the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) program and is now Professor Emeritus of Nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing (URSON). She received her Master’s in Nursing Administration, and a PhD from the University of Rochester, School of Nursing, and a Master’s in Public Administration, with a health emphasis from the College at Brockport, State University of New York. Dr. Olsan attended the first AACN education-practice partnership meeting launching the CNL and developed the first CNL program in New York State. She teaches courses about leadership, CNL role and skill set, health care system redesign, program evaluation, and interprofessional partnerships in the MS, Leadership Programs and in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program. Collaborating with colleagues, Dr. Olsan helped develop a CNL to DNP program that enables nurse executives and other nurses with advanced nursing practice preparation to obtain a DNP. Dr. Olsan’s research is in the area of quality improvement, interprofessional education and collaboration, and the Veteran Administration’s home-based primary care, where a team of 10 investigators are studying the organizational factors and team-base care practices effective in supporting complex, chronically ill Veterans at home. Prior to obtaining her doctorate degree, Dr. Olsan was a nurse executive in acute care and long-term care.

Dr. Veronica Rankin has been a nurse for more than 16 years with clinical expertise spanning primary care and inpatient medicine, surgical, and cardiac care areas. She serves as adjunct faculty in the graduate program of Queens University of Charlotte and provides CNL exam study sessions at her hospital for employed CNL students. Due to her study sessions, her hospital has achieved a 100% first-time CNL Exam pass rate for the last 5 consecutive years. She earned her BSN in nursing from UNC-Charlotte, her masters as a CNL from Queens University of Charlotte, and both her post-master’s certificate as an adult-gerontology NP and her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from East Carolina University. Dr. Rankin currently serves as the president of the Mu Psi Chapter of Sigma Nursing and has recently taken on the role of secretary for CNLA. She credits her greatest sources of pride as her husband, their three girls and being able to help nurses unlock their greatest potential in the face of doubt.

Dr. Wharton is the Dean of the William Preston Turner School of Nursing at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. She completed Bachelor degree programs in Biology (Wofford College, 1994) and Nursing (University of South Carolina Upstate, 1998). She holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Education and a Doctoral degree in Healthcare Genetics from Clemson University.

She has been a nurse educator for seventeen years. She began her teaching career at Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood, South Carolina, in the Practical Nursing and Associate Degree Nursing Programs. In addition to serving as Dean, she is an Associate Professor of nursing and teaches a first-year seminar course for nursing majors and CNL Practicum I, and Leadership in Health Care in the MSN-CNL program. Dr. Wharton initiated the collaboration with Self Regional Healthcare that culminated in the Clinical Nurse Leader Partnership (CNLP) Program. The CNLP is a joint education venture where Self Regional provides 80% of tuition for registered nurses enrolled in Lander’s MSN-CNL program. In addition, the Lander faculty and the nursing administrators of Self Regional have created a practicum learning experience that allows the registered nurse to earn practicum hours and gain leadership experience as CNL-Interns.