BCEN’s Amy Grand Elected President of the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC)
OAK BROOK, IL (July 1, 2025) – The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), the benchmark for nursing specialty certification across the emergency spectrum, is proud to announce that Amy Grand, MSN, RN, ICE-CCP, BCEN’s director of certification and accreditation, has been elected president of the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) board of directors.
Grand, who begins a two-year term starting today, will lead the nation’s only accrediting body dedicated exclusively to nursing specialty certification.
With a mission to promote excellence in health care through rigorous accreditation processes, the ABSNC is instrumental in preserving the integrity and standards of nursing board certification, advancing care delivery and fostering public trust. The ABSNC currently accredits 87 programs from over 30 specialty nursing certification organizations and is one of the few accrediting bodies recognized by the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program.
“Amy’s commitment to ABSNC’s core values—excellence, leadership, service and integrity—along with her dedication to the rigors required of quality certification programs, makes her an exceptional leader for our organization,” said ABSNC Executive Director Felicia Lembesis, CAE, ICE-CCP. “Her extensive experience and forward-thinking approach will be instrumental as we embark on our upcoming initiatives.”
Grand brings over 20 years of experience in nursing credentialing, along with a decade of clinical nursing experience, to her new role. She has served on the ABSNC board since 2019 in various leadership positions, including vice president and president-elect. At BCEN, Grand oversees the certification and accreditation strategy, including exam development, psychometric services, accreditation compliance, and credentialing operations, for BCEN’s six nationally recognized certifications in emergency, trauma, critical care transport and burn nursing.
“Amy is a nationally respected leader in the credentialing community with a steadfast commitment to ensuring that nursing specialty certification exams are high quality, relevant, and inclusive and fair for all candidates,” said BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, ICE-CCP, CENP, CPHQ, FABC. “In her new role as ABSNC president, I have no doubt Amy’s leadership and her passion for advancing the nursing profession will continue to uphold the integrity of national accreditation standards and shape the future of nursing specialty certification.”
“My work maintaining and launching BCEN certification programs over the past 10 years—and witnessing the immense pride that RNs take in being board certified—deepened my appreciation for national accreditation and sparked my interest in being part of the ABSNC,” said Grand. “I’m excited to continue collaborating with my incredibly talented colleagues on the board as we advance ABSNC’s mission and work in the best interest of nurses, nursing care and patients everywhere.”
As ABSNC president, Grand will also serve a two-year term as an ex-officio board member with the American Board of Nursing Specialties (ABNS), whose member organization represent over 1 million certified registered nurses worldwide.
Read ABSNC’s board of directors election announcement.
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 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). The CEN, CPEN, CFRN, CTRN and TCRN certification programs are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) and are ANCC Magnet-accepted. Learn more at bcen.org.
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CONTACT: Maris Hammons, BCEN Director of Marketing & Communications | mhammons@bcen.org | 630-339-4530
