Nurse Leadership Series: Nurse Executives Leading the Charge - Expanding the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Workforce

September 2, 2026
Explore how nurse executives are breaking barriers and building momentum to support their workforce in partnership with Clinical Nurse Specialists through national collaboration and strategic innovation.

This year’s Nurse Leadership Series focuses on Designing the Future of Care: Bold Innovations in Action and features organizations that are demonstrating how nurse leaders are driving transformation through creative care models and workforce strategies. Participants will explore the design principles, leadership practices and measurable outcomes that underpin these initiatives. Each conversation invites participants to exchange ideas and consider how similar strategies can be adapted and scaled within their own systems.

Target Audience

  • Nurses
  • Other Healthcare Professionals

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to:  

  • Describe strategies for recruiting and retaining Clinical Nurse Specialists to meet workforce demands.
  • Identify methods for raising awareness and demonstrating the financial value of the CNS role in healthcare organizations.
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 ANCC
  • 1.00 General CE - Attendance
Course opens: 
09/02/2026
Course expires: 
11/01/2026
Event starts: 
09/02/2026 - 10:00am CDT
Event ends: 
09/02/2026 - 11:00am CDT
Add to calendar: 
FACULTY & PLANNERS
Faculty

MaryAnn Moon, MSN, RN, APNP, ACNS-BC
Enterprise Nurse Executive for Clinical Practice
Advocate

Barbara Jo Seymour, DNP, RN, NE-BC (Moderator)    
AVP, Member Connections                  
Vizient, Inc. 

Planners

Kim Francis, PhD, RN, PHCNS-BC
Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services 
Women and Infants Hospital 

Hanna Lakew      
Director, Member Networks                   
Vizient, Inc.

Samantha Nham
Networks Manager
Vizient, Inc.

Samantha Gordon, MS
CE Programs Manager
Vizient, Inc.

Marilu Kelly, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CHCP
Director, Continuing Education      
Vizient, Inc.

 

DISCLOSURE
As an accredited provider of continuing education, Vizient, Inc. is dedicated to ensuring this activity presents learners with only accurate, balanced, scientifically justified recommendations, and is free from promotion, marketing, and commercial bias. In accordance with The Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, all planners, faculty, and others in control of the educational content have disclosed the absence or existence of all financial relationships (of any dollar amount) with ineligible companies within the past 24 months.
 
Ineligible companies – those companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
 
It is Vizient’s policy that owners and employees of ineligible companies, and any individuals who refuse to disclose the absence or existence of financial relationships with any ineligible companies are disqualified from participating as planners or faculty.
 
Statement of Content Validity
Vizient, Inc. educational activities are intended to assist healthcare teams advance their professional responsibilities in accordance with the definition of continuing education. It is the policy of Vizient, Inc. to review and ensure that all content and recommendations for patient care within accredited CE is evidenced-based, based on current science and clinical reasoning while ensuring the content is fair and balanced. All recommendations must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Vizient, Inc. does not permit accredited continuing education if it advocates for unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or if the education promotes recommendations, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients.
 
FDA Off-Label Use
Faculty presenters are also expected to disclose any discussion of (1) off-label or investigational uses of FDA approved commercial products or devices or (2) products or devices not yet approved in the United States.
 
Disclaimer
The education provided through this activity is for continuing education purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in this activity are those of the faculty/presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of Vizient, Inc.
 
Disclosure Statements
 
Absence of Relevant Financial Relationships
None of the planners, faculty, or others in a position to control content for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, Vizient, Inc. is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

 

Designation Statements
 
Nurses (CNE)
 
This activity is designated for 1.0 contact hours.
 
Vizient, Inc. is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP12580, for 1.0 contact hours.
 
Other Healthcare Professionals (General CE Credit)
 
Vizient, Inc. will award all other healthcare professionals who successfully complete the activity a Certificate of Participation. Various state license boards and credentialing bodies accept certificates of participation from accredited CE activities to meet CE requirements for license renewals and re-certification. It is the responsibility of the participant to contact their state licensing board and/or certifying body for verification on credit eligibility reciprocity.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 ANCC
  • 1.00 General CE - Attendance
Please login or register to take this course.

 

Select the “Obtain Credit” button to access the activity evaluation and to claim CE Credit.
 
Please Note: 
  • If the "Register/Take Course" tab is displayed instead of the "Obtain Credit" tab, you must first login to proceed with the credit claim process.
  • This activity requires learners to confirm their attendance using an activity code. An Access Denied error message indicates that your attendance was not recorded via SMS text or QR code scanning.
Please click here to enter the code you received at the end of the activity to verify your attendance if you have not already done so: https://continuingeducation.vizientinc.com/code

 

 

Required Hardware/software

 

The Vizient CE Learner Portal is compatible with most modern web browsers (such as Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari) and can also be accessed with mobile devices.