ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - July 8, 2025 – AACN Certification Corporation – the credentialing arm of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) – announces its Board of Directors for fiscal year 2026, with terms effective July 1, 2025.
AACN Certification Corporation drives patient health and safety through comprehensive credentialing of acute and critical care nurses, advancing practice consistent with standards of excellence. To carry out its mission, the corporation offers 10 specialty, subspecialty and advanced practice nursing certification programs and has granted more than 140,000 certifications.
Jodi Berndt, PhD, RN, CCRN, PCCN, CNE, CNEcl, CHSE, becomes chair of the AACN Certification Corporation Board of Directors for three years. She is an associate professor of nursing at College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
”As a voluntary process, certification points to nurses’ commitment to career development and dedication to patient care, particularly as healthcare becomes increasingly complex and challenging,” Berndt said. “It demonstrates to employers and colleagues their commitment to using the best evidence to provide care for patients and families.”
Carol Olff, DNP, RN, CCRN, NEA-BC, serves a one-year term as secretary/treasurer and begins her third year on the board. She is director of critical care services at John Muir Health, Concord Medical Center in Concord, California.
Myra Ellis, MSN, RN, CCRN, becomes immediate past chair for three years. She worked in critical care throughout her 46-year nursing career, with the last 35 years focused on the care of cardiothoracic surgical patients.
Erika Simon, MSN-Ed, RN, CCRN, joins the board for a three-year term as a director. She is director of education and employee health at Northern Arizona Healthcare, Flagstaff.
Clareen Wiencek, PhD, ACNP, FAAN, returns to the board for a one-year term as a director and serves as co-chair of the AACN – AACN Certification Corporation Nominating Committee. Wiencek has over 45 years of experience as an educator and researcher, a palliative care nurse practitioner, and a bedside nurse and nurse manager in acute and critical care. From July 2016-June 2017, she was president of the AACN Board of Directors.
Continuing on the AACN Certification Corporation board with Dana Woods, MBA, AACN chief executive officer, are the following directors:
- Carly Byrne, DNP, APRN, PCNS-BC, CCNS, CPN, CCRN, FCNS, is a clinical nurse specialist at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska.
- Stephen Holman, MSN, AGACNP-BC, ACNP-AG, CCRN-CSC-CMC, is a nurse practitioner in cardiothoracic surgery at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia.
- Kathleen Siedlecki begins a second three-year term on the board as consumer representative. She is the founder of KAS Strategies, Chico, California, where she designs programs to raise awareness, engage thought leaders, influence health policy, mobilize advocates and motivate positive health behavior.
Each year, two members of the AACN Board of Directors serve concurrent one-year terms on the AACN Certification Corporation board:
Jarrod Atkinson, MS, RN, NEA-BC, CCRN, is associate chief nursing officer at Unity Hospital – Rochester Regional Health, Rochester, New York.
Desiree Hodges, MBA, BSN, RN, CCRN, NE-BC, is nurse manager of a critical care unit at Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina.
About AACN Certification Corporation: Established in 1976, AACN Certification Corporation, the credentialing arm of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, drives patient health and safety through comprehensive credentialing of acute and critical care nurses, advancing practice consistent with standards of excellence. Currently, about 130,000 acute and critical care nurses hold AACN Certification Corporation credentials.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with about 130,000 members and nearly 200 chapters in the United States.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; x.com/aacnme