Board of Directors

Lori Scheidt, MBA‑HCM, has served as Executive Director of the Missouri State Board of Nursing for 25 years. She has contributed extensively to NCSBN, serving on 13 committees and chairing three, including the Fraud Detection Committee and the Member Board Agreement Review Committee, and spent four years as Vice‑Chair of the Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators Executive Committee. She played a key leadership role in advancing the Nurse Licensure Compact through her work on the Legislative Strategy Team, Model Rules and Implementation Work Group, and as Chair of the Compliance Committee. Lori is a recipient of the Exceptional Contribution, Meritorious Service, and R. Louise McManus Awards. In Missouri, she led development of the nurse workforce data system, eliminated the licensure fee for new graduates, spearheaded the state’s nursing grant program, and championed military pathways to licensure, including approval of the U.S. Air Force practical nurse program.

Barbara Blozen is president of the New Jersey Board of Nursing (NJBON) and a tenured professor at New Jersey City University, she earned her Masters degree from NYU and her doctoral degree from Seton Hall University.  During her tenure at the NJBON, the BON implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact and Blozen served as an interim NLC Commissioner. She has been recognized twice as a grant recipient for the Robert Wood Johnson New Careers in Nursing, and for the AACN Gold Initiative to expand the Gold Foundation's White Coat Ceremony, which led to implementing the iconic ritual of humanism at New Jersey City University. Blozen is widely published and has presented across the country and internationally on a variety of subjects, including transition to practice, nurse licensure, the nurse practice act and mentoring to name a few. In 2020 Blozen earned a Certificate in Health Policy and Media Engagement from The George Washington University School of Nursing via an NCSBN scholarship. She is also a member of the inaugural class of NCSBN’s International Center for Regulatory Scholarship.

Carolyn Jo McCormies has served as a member of the Arizona State Board of Nursing since 2020 and currently serves as the Board President. Carolyn has over 30 years of experience in nursing. She works as an APRN exclusively with the Native American population in southeastern Arizona. She has participated in writing NCLEX test questions and the standard setting panel. Carolyn participates in education, knowledge and APRN calls through NCSBN. She was a member of the second class of NCSBN’s International Center for Regulatory Scholarship (ICRS) program and served on the Awards Committee. Carolyn previously served as director for an Associate Degree Nursing Program. She has had the privilege of traveling on medical missions as an APRN. Carolyn previously served as a Commissioner for the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). She has served in the capacity of a peer evaluator for the ACEN for many years. She served as a site visitor and served on the selection committee for the National League for Nursing (NLN) Center of Excellence designation.

Dr. Painter is the Executive Director at the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses.  She served on the NCSBN Finance Committee for 4 years and the NLC Research Committee since its formation.  Under her leadership many NCSBN initiatives have been implemented for West Virginia, including adoption of the Nurse Licensure Compact.  Just prior to the pandemic, ORBS was executed for licensing in conjunction with Nursys® for licensure verification.  For more than 20 years, Dr. Painter has worked as a volunteer at the West Virginia Camp for Children with Diabetes, known as Camp Kno-Koma and she serves on the Board of Directors.   She was honored in 2022 with the West Virginia Future of Nursing Nurse Excellence Award.

Jenny Barnhouse was selected as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Board of Nursing in 2021. Prior to becoming the Executive Director, Jenny worked for the Oklahoma Board of Nursing’s Peer Assistance Program as the Program Coordinator. Jenny earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from The George Washington University. She has served on the NCSBN Model Act and Rules Committee and has served as Member-at-Large on the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) Executive Committee, the NLC Compliance Committee, and the NLC Research Committee. She currently serves as the NLC Commissioner for Oklahoma.

Kelly Jenkins has served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Board of Nursing for five years, following eight years of service as a Board member, including as President. Nationally, she has served on the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) Executive Committee and as Chair of the NLC Compliance Committee. She has also completed NCSBN’s International Center for Regulatory Scholarship (ICRS) certificate program. Throughout her 34-year nursing career, Kelly has held diverse leadership roles with a primary focus on quality, patient safety, and corporate compliance. Her experience in nursing practice, organizational leadership, board governance, and regulation equips her to listen, collaborate, and provide thoughtful leadership while keeping public protection at the center of every decision.

Ann Oertwich has served as Executive Director (ED) of the Nebraska Board of Nursing since 2016. This role also includes management of the Nebraska  APRN Board and the Nebraska Center for Nursing.  Past roles include Executive Director of the Nebraska Nurses Association, as well as a member of the Nebraska Board of Nursing.  Ann has also spent over 13 years as a nursing faculty member in various nursing programs in Nebraska. Ann’s clinical practice background includes hospice, home health, and ostomy/wound care; as well as speaking about professional nursing practice issues for the past 30 years. Ann has been actively engaged in NCSBN as an ED since 2018. Ann served as treasurer of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) from 2018 – 2022, and currently serves as Chair of the NLC Training & Education Committee.

Missy Poortenga has served as the executive officer of the Montana Board of Nursing since 2018.  She has spent the last two decades working somewhere in the spectrum of healthcare settings including assisted living, acute care, clinical trials research, quality improvement and most recently, nursing regulation.  Missy has served on a number of committees, including the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) Executive Committee from 2020 to 2024, the NLC Policy Committee since 2021 and the Model Act and Rules committee in 2024.

Dr. John J. Whitcomb serves as Vice Chair of the South Carolina Board of Nursing, representing Congressional District 3, following seven years of service on the Board’s Investigational Review Committee. A critical care nurse for more than 40 years, he served 26 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a Commander. His leadership roles included Specialty Advisor for Critical Care Nursing to the Navy Surgeon General and Trauma Training Officer for the White House Medical Staff, with service during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Dr. Whitcomb’s scholarship focuses on critical care outcomes, cardiac arrest, workforce development, and nursing education. His national leadership includes service on the Boards of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and AACN Certification Corporation and as Chair of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Scientific Review Committee. At Clemson University, he has served as Faculty Senate President, Provost Fellow, and Chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. He has also held leadership roles with Sigma and the South Carolina Deans and Directors Nursing Education Committee.