The Road to Professional Status - Let’s Make It Indisputable?
August 28, 2026
4:00 - 5:30pm ET

Register in advance and invite a colleague to join you!

Description: Professional recognition and opportunities for career advancement are critical factors in nurse satisfaction and retention, yet nursing remains one of the few professions where educational achievement is not consistently recognized as a workplace differentiator. In this Trusted Conversations session, nursing leaders from academia and practice will explore the importance of professional recognition, clinical ladder programs, and competency-based advancement in today’s healthcare environment. Attendees will learn about a new national nursing certification designed to validate competencies needed for success in complex care settings and discuss its potential impact on early-career nurses, workforce retention, turnover costs, and patient outcomes.

Speakers:

 Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN

Former Dean of Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodriff School of Nursing
Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Nursing Validation Company (PNVC)

Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN is former Dean of Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (NHWSN) and Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Nursing Validation Company (PNVC). The PNVC’s mission is to help professional nurses demonstrate the full scope of their educational preparation through mechanisms including advanced certification. In partnership with healthcare systems, schools of nursing, and the AACN Essentials Initiative, Dr. McCauley and the PNVC are working to quantify and show the breadth of nursing professionalism. During her sixteen-year tenure as Dean, Linda McCauley developed and executed a comprehensive strategy to position NHWSN at the forefront of nursing research, education, and policy. Under her leadership, the school rose from its No. 26 ranking in 2011 to its current position as the No. 1 graduate nursing school in the US. NHWSN is ranked No. 2 in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) preparation, as well.

 David Marshall, DNP, JD, RN, FAAN, FAONL

Senior Vice President, Chief Nursing Executive, and holder of the James R. Klinenberg, MD, and Lynn Klinenberg Linkin Chair of Nursing in honor of Linda Burnes Bolton at Cedar-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA

David Marshall, DNP, JD, RN, FAAN, FAONL is senior vice president, chief nursing executive, and holder of the James R. Klinenberg, MD, and Lynn Klinenberg Linkin Chair in Nursing in honor of Linda Burnes Bolton at Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA. With more than three decades of nursing leadership experience, he has a track record of organizational achievement and a genuine dedication to excellence in human caring. Dr. Marshall is serving his second appointed, four-year term on the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Magnet® Recognition Program representing the American Academy of Nursing. In addition, he serves as the vice-chair of the Commission on Magnet®. He has served as Treasurer and on the board of directors of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.