Two Kent State University College of Nursing alumnae brought home national awards from the recent National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) Annual Conference held in March in Portland, Oregon.
Marcia Cornell, who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at Kent State, was awarded NACNS’s 2023 Preceptor of the Year Award. A preceptor serves as a one-on-one mentor for nursing students. The award recognizes a clinical nurse specialist preceptor who has demonstrated a commitment to teach, coach and mentor critical nurse specialist students to achieve competencies in the nurse, patient and organizational spheres of practice and education.
Cornell said she was pleased to receive the honor because serving as a preceptor for those studying to be critical nurse specialists (CNS) helps her to advocate for the role and to mentor and train the next generation of clinical nurse specialists.
A CNS holds the same certification and master’s degree as an advanced practice registered nurse, commonly called a nurse practitioner. But while a nurse practitioner follows a more medical path, meeting directly with patients, a clinical nurse specialist examines the nursing role for large patient populations to create plans and interventions that help nurses perform their jobs better to improve outcomes for patient populations.
For example, a CNS may look at how nursing care is provided in an emergency room and look for ways operations can be improved to make getting the job done more efficient for nurses, but also to improve the patient’s experience.
“We do a lot of work with process improvements, nursing education and professional development,” Cornell said. “We do a lot of work behind the scenes.”
She was nominated for the award by College of Nursing faculty Cindy Wilk, Ph.D., senior lecturer, and Tina Saunders, MSN, nurse educator coordinator and senior lecturer.
Wilk said Cornell has served as a preceptor for many years for several Kent State students in the Adult-Gerontology Critical Nurse Specialist program and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the College of Nursing.
As a preceptor, Cornell provides opportunities for students to grow in their knowledge of APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse) practice within the CNS role so that they can meet and exceed course expectations, Wilk said.
“Being a preceptor is an amazing opportunity to give back to the nursing community. Precepting helps develop leadership skills and teaches us a lot about ourselves, about the most current practice, and often helps revitalize us by hearing fresh ideas and perspectives,” Wilk said. “Nursing faculty recognize that our preceptors play a vital role in guiding and mentoring new nurses at both the undergraduate and graduate level.”
Cornell is employed as a senior clinical nurse specialist in Critical Care, Emergency & Trauma Services at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in Chardon, Ohio. She recently was inducted as a fellow in the Critical Nurse Specialist Institute, a designation awarded to outstanding critical nurse specialists who have made significant and impactful contributions to advance the CNS role.
Cornell earned a BSN at Kent State in 2000, and a MSN in 2010. Cornell received a Doctor of Nursing Practice at Lourdes University in 2017. Cornell said that throughout her education Kent State offered her much support. When she signed up to teach clinical rotations for student nurses, Cornell said she was able to earn free tuition which helped make earning a master’s degree affordable.
When working with Kent State nursing students, Cornell said she finds them to be “well-prepared, engaged and excited for their nursing role.”
At the same conference, Kent State alumna Dianna Copley won the organization’s Susan B. Davidson Service Award in recognition of her extraordinary service to NACNS. It is named for Susan B. Davidson, a founding member of NACNS who served two terms as president of the association and chaired its research committee. Copley was recognized for her work as chair for the first website and listserv committee from 2020-2022; she led the committee in enhancing website functionality and end-user experience as the pandemic and virtual communication became even more critical.
Copley is employed as a clinical nurse specialist at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, where she serves as a clinical expert and resource for nurses within the surgical intensive care unit. She recently completed the inaugural Nursing Ethics Faculty Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic, an 18-month program focused on developing excellence and leadership in examining and addressing ethical issues through the lens of nursing practice. Copley earned a Master of Science in nursing at Kent State in 2015 and a Doctor of Nursing Practice at Case Western Reserve University in 2020.
“My professors and preceptors spoke of the importance of professional citizenship not only for my chosen specialty of critical care, but also for my role as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS),” Copley said. Recognizing the importance, Copley joined the local CNS chapter in 2014 and volunteered to be on the local board in 2015.
Wilk said she was particularly proud that Kent State alumni have received national recognition at the conference two years in a row. In 2022, alumna Kayla Little won the Rising Star CNS of the Year Award.
Wilk said several current College of Nursing graduate students and numerous alumni attended the conference and several were presenters. Monica Cummins and Kristin Scott, Adult-Gerontology CNS master’s degree students who are expected to graduate in May, presented posters of projects they completed during their graduate program.