Kelly Carter

Kelly Carter, MS, RN, NE-BC, serves a three-year term as a director on the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Board of Directors from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027. She completed a one-year term as treasurer on the AACN board from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. She also serves a concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

Carter is nursing director of the Surgery Nursing Division at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, where she has worked for over 30 years, including service in a leadership role for nearly 20 years. She is a champion of meaningful recognition for nurses and finding ways to reduce stress and burnout. She and her teams have achieved positive clinical outcomes, as well as multiple AACN Beacon awards.

As a nurse manager, Carter received a DAISY Nurse Leader Award, and she and her team earned multiple DAISY Team Awards. She also helped her unit achieve AACN’s Beacon Award for Excellence. Through an intentional focus on joy at work, Carter and her teams have achieved top decile engagement and strong clinical quality outcomes, reducing stress and burnout. In recent years, she has shared this work through publications and presentations at national and regional forums.

Since 2001, she has been a member of AACN’s Greater Richmond Area Chapter, Virginia. She served on the AACN – AACN Certification Corporation Nominating Committee in 2016. Additional affiliations include membership in the Virginia Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL), Virginia Organization of Nurse Leaders (VONL) and Sigma Theta Tau.

Carter earned a Master of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, both at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.