2024-2025 Board of Directors Announced by the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing

Allen C. Wolfe Jr. of Life Link III Begins Two-Year Term as BCEN Board Chairperson

OAK BROOK, IL (January 8, 2024) – The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), the benchmark for nursing specialty certification across the emergency spectrum, today announced its 2024-2025 board of directors and recognized outgoing board members for their service.

Comprised of expert nurse leaders specializing in adult/mixed emergency, pediatric emergency, flight, critical care ground transport, trauma, and burn nursing, BCEN’s board of directors oversees the organization’s strategic direction including activities pertaining to the quality and rigor of BCEN’s six national nursing specialty certification programs, its award-winning BCEN Learn continuing education platform, and its industry-leading portfolio of services and resources that support RNs seeking to earn and maintain specialty board certification.

BCEN’s 2024-25 board of directors members—whose volunteer, two-year terms began on January 1, 2024—are:

Chairperson: Allen C. Wolfe Jr., MSN, CNS, APRN, CFRN, CCRN, CTRN, TCRN, CMTE, FAASTN, senior director of clinical education, Life Link III, Bloomington, Minnesota

Chairperson-elect: Julie Ruddy, BS, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN, retired 41-year acute care/emergency/trauma nurse, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Secretary/Treasurer: Sean Elwell, DNP, RN, NE-BC, TCRN, EMT, senior director, trauma center, critical care transport, emergency services, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, in Wilmington, Delaware

Immediate Past Chairperson: Rebecca Steinmann, MS, APRN, CPEN, CEN, TCRN, CCRN, CCNS, FAEN, AHA instructor, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio

Returning Members-at-large:

Steven P. Talbot, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, professional practice leader, emergency services, Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, Houston, Texas
Roger Casey, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, FAEN, lead nurse, freestanding emergency department, Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Kennewick, Washington
Brody Eick, MBA, BSN, BS, RN, CEN, CCRN, TCRN, director of trauma services, Eisenhower Health, Rancho Mirage, California

New Member-at-large: Emily Werthman, PhD (c), MSN, RN, CBRN, burn program coordinator, The Johns Hopkins Burn Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland

Public Representative: Robert Corrao, executive chairman, Harbor, Scottsdale, Arizona

Ex-officio Member: BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, CENP, CPHQ, FABC

Outgoing board members being recognized for their service are:

Kyle Madigan, MHCDS, MSN, RN, CEN, CFRN, CTRN, CCRN, CMTE, who served on the BCEN board for 12 years, most recently as the immediate past chairperson. One of BCEN’s longest-serving volunteers, Madigan started working with BCEN in 1998 as an item writer for the Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN) exam and later chaired the CFRN/CTRN Exam Construction Review Committee before joining the board of directors in 2011.
Leigh Ann Yates of Hallmark Financial Services, who served as the public representative for the 2022-2023 term.

“We are grateful for Kyle’s 25 years of service to BCEN, during which time his tremendous transport nursing and nursing specialty certification expertise and his willingness to be a mentor and serve in national and federal leadership roles helped advance the flight and critical care ground transport specialties, inspired countless transport nurses, and contributed to the medical transport industry in so many ways,” said BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker.

“Having just launched our new CBRN burn nursing certification worldwide in fall 2023,” added Schumaker, “BCEN is very pleased to welcome new board member and Johns Hopkins Burn Program Coordinator Emily Werthman.”

For additional details and photos, please visit https://bcen.org/board-of-directors/.

About BCEN

Founded in 1980, the independent, not-for-profit Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN®) offers robust nursing specialty certification programs fostering empowered nurses across the emergency spectrum who contribute noticeably to patient care, safety and outcomes. Over 60,000 BCEN credentials are held by registered nurses (RNs) who specialize in adult/mixed emergency, pediatric emergency, flight, critical care ground transport, trauma, and burn nursing. BCEN offers the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN®), Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN®), Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN®), Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN®), Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN®), and Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN) certification programs. BCEN also supports nurses’ lifelong learning through the award-winning BCEN Learn continuing education platform and regional BCEN Learn Live professional development conferences. Learn more at bcen.org.

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CONTACT: Hilde Marnul, Director of Marketing & Communications | hmarnul@bcen.org | 630-352-0811