BCEN Welcomes New Employer Relationships Manager
Stephanie Klavohn Brings Leadership, Education and Bedside Experience to the Role
OAK BROOK, IL (February 2, 2026) – The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), the benchmark for nursing specialty certification across the emergency spectrum, today welcomed Stephanie Klavohn, MBA, MS, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, as BCEN’s new employer relationships manager. Klavohn’s primary responsibility is building and maintaining BCEN’s relationships with hospitals, health systems and other employers of emergency, trauma, critical care transport, and burn nurses, as well as spearheading BCEN’s volume-discount certification voucher program. Kathy Mace, RN, CEN, is retiring from BCEN after seven years of dedicated service in the role.
BCEN offers six accredited and Magnet-accepted nursing specialty certifications, which validate RNs’ expertise in emergency, pediatric emergency, trauma, flight, critical care ground transport and burn nursing, to the benefit of nurses, patients and healthcare organizations. The BCEN Voucher Program supports greater access to nursing specialty certification and renewals through tiered, volume-based discounts—starting with as few as three vouchers and becoming increasingly cost-effective at higher volumes.
“Stephanie is a proven, accomplished and capable leader with a sharp mind for business growth. She has her finger on the pulse of the nursing specialty certification industry, and I’m extremely excited to bring her on board,” said BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, ICE-CCP, CENP, CPHQ, FABC. “I look forward to seeing how Stephanie will enhance, nurture and grow the BCEN Voucher Program, and I know she will add instant value to the BCEN team.”
“As an emergency nurse and educator, I have seen firsthand the impact that nursing specialty certification has on clinical excellence and professional growth. I’m proud to bring that perspective to my role as employer relationships manager at BCEN,” said Klavohn. “I look forward to maintaining the strong employer relationships already established while thoughtfully cultivating new partnerships to further expand access to certification and advance emergency nursing excellence for nurses, patients, and communities.”
A board-certified emergency and trauma nurse with more than 22 years of experience, Klavohn brings hands-on bedside, clinical education, and leadership expertise to BCEN. Previously, she served as a nursing education specialist with the Emergency Nursing Association, where she honed her ability to bridge nursing professional development with employer priorities. From 2013 to 2019, Klavohn was a trauma program coordinator and then a clinical educator at Edward Hospital (Naperville, Illinois), a Level II trauma center, where she supported certification requirements, regulatory compliance, and performance improvement through roles that deepened her expertise in workforce readiness, quality metrics and employer-driven outcomes.
Klavohn holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Health Administration from the University of St. Francis (Joliet, Illinois) and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Illinois State University. Born and raised in Joliet, Klavohn resides in Naperville, Illinois.
Acknowledging the retirement of Kathy Mace, BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker said: “Kathy has been an absolute asset to the BCEN team, having taken command of the BCEN Voucher Program and created long-lasting relationships with our customers who purchase certification and recertification vouchers. Her diligent leadership and nurturing of relationships boosted the outcomes of our voucher program to the benefit of nurses, nurse professional development practitioners, healthcare providers and patients. She will be greatly missed.”
More on BCEN’s Voucher Program & 2026 Plans for Certification Support Resources
Introduced in January 2017, BCEN vouchers purchased by employers and individual nurses or groups of nurses can be used for initial certification, retests and recertifications, with the option to add BCEN’s Test Assurance program for a discounted second exam attempt. In 2025, BCEN saw solid double-digit growth in vouchers purchased by nurses.
In 2026, BCEN plans to expand the voucher program to include BCEN Learn certification exam preparation products. BCEN Learn is BCEN’s award-winning nursing professional development platform that features interactive continuing education (CE) offerings including CE courses and free CE webinars as well as certification exam practice tests and review courses. BCEN will also continue to enhance its portfolio of industry-leading resources that support nurses’ certification journeys as well as professional development practitioners, nurse leaders and employers who champion specialty board certification for their RNs and APRNs.
About BCEN
Founded in 1980, the independent, not-for-profit Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN®) offers robust national board certification programs fostering empowered nurses across the emergency spectrum who contribute noticeably to patient care, safety and outcomes. More than 50,000 RNs who specialize in emergency, pediatric emergency, trauma, flight, critical care ground transport, and burn nursing worldwide collectively hold more than 60,000 BCEN credentials. BCEN’s Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN®), Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN®), Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN®), Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN®), Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN®), and Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN®) certification programs are nationally accredited by the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) and ANCC Magnet®-accepted. Learn more at bcen.org.
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CONTACT: Maris Hammons, Director of Marketing & Communications | mhammons@bcen.org | 630-339-4530
