Clinical Nurse Specialists

Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) are advanced practice registered nurses who have graduate preparation at the master's or doctorate level. CNSs are expert clinicians in a specialized area of nursing practice. The specialty may be identified in terms of:

  • Population
  • Setting
  • Disease or medical sub-specialty
  • Type of care
  • Type of problem

In addition to providing direct patient care, CNSs influence care outcomes by providing expert consultation for nursing staff and by implementing improvements in healthcare delivery systems. Demonstrated outcomes include the following:

  • Reduced hospital costs and length of stay
  • Reduced frequency of emergency department visits
  • Improved pain management
  • Increased patient satisfaction
  • Reduced patient complications

Community's Clinical Nurse Specialists

Starr Bacon, med-surg CNSStarr Bacon, MSN, RN
Medical-Surgical

Starr is a medical-surgical clinical nurse specialist at Community Health Network. She received her BSN from the University of Indianapolis in 2013 and her MSN from the IU School of Nursing in 2022. She has been with Community Health Network since 2018.

Janel Borkes, CNSJanel Borkes, MSN, RN, RN-BC
Medical-Surgical

Janel is vice president for professional nursing practice at Community and leads the CNS team. She has been a CNS for 20+ years and has a background as a medical-surgical CNS.

Angela Foley, cardiovascular CNSAngela Foley, MSN, RN
Cardiovascular

Angela is the CNS at Community Heart and Vascular Hospital along with the cardiovascular service line. She received her BSN and MSN from Indiana University in 2002 and 2012, respectfully. She has worked as a cardiovascular ICU nurse for almost 20 years, with seven years spent as a cardiovascular CNS. She has focused on cardiovascular surgery/VAD, ECMO and targeted temperature management since becoming a CNS.

Traci Lorch, CNSTraci Lorch, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, RNC-OB
Maternity Services

Traci is the CNS for Maternity Services for Community Hospital North and Community Howard Regional Health. She has worked in the area of obstetrics for over 30 years. She completed her MSN to become a CNS at Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis (2011) and received her doctorate in nursing practice from Vanderbilt University (2018). Traci is passionate about improving the quality of care for all maternity patients with a special focus on maternal sepsis and postpartum hemorrhage. She also has certifications in Inpatient Obstetrics, RNC-OB, and Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, ACNS-BC.

Amanda McCalment, CNSAmanda McCalment, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC
Adult Health

Amanda is the CNS at Community Hospital East. She specializes in adult health and has experience in both medical-surgical and critical care areas. She received her MSN from IU School of Nursing in 2015.

Brittany Myers, CNS internBrittany Myers, MSN, RN, ACCNS-AG, PCCN
Adult Gerontology/Progressive Care

Brittany is a clinical nurse specialist at Community Howard Regional Health. She received her BSN and MSN from IU School of Nursing in 2011 and 2020, respectively. She has been with Community Health Network since 2012 and is certified in progressive care.

Julie Painter, CNSJulie Painter, MSN, RN, ONC
Oncology

Julie has been a nurse for close to 40 years. Located at Community Hospital North, she specializes in adult health and is certified in oncology care.

Jackie Jessie, CNSJackie Jessie Roberts, DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CWOCN
Medical-Surgical

Jackie Jessie has been a nurse for 20+ years, 10 of which she has spent in the role of clinical nurse specialist, specializing in medical-surgical nursing. She is certified as an adult health CNS (ACNS-BC) and as a wound ostomy continence nurse (CWOCN).

Megan Siebert, CNSMegan Siebert, MSN, AGCNS-BC, PCCN
Adult Gerontology/Progressive Care

Megan is the CNS at Community Hospital South. She is an adult gerontology CNS with a certification in progressive care.

Dawn Sullivan Wright, CNSDawn Sullivan-Wright, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, CEN, TCRN
Emergency

Dawn practices within Community's Emergency Services area. She is certified in emergency nursing and is a board-certified Adult Health clinical nurse specialist. She has focused on emergency nursing since 1993, but has experience in a variety of nursing areas.

Macee Threet, CNS internMacee Threet, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CMSRN
Medical-Surgical

Macee is a clinical nurse specialist intern at Community Hospital Anderson. She has been with Community Health Network since 2016. She received her BSN from IU School of Nursing (2019) and MSN from Indiana Wesleyan University (2022). She plans to obtain a post-MSN certificate for AG-CNS in May 2024. She is certified in medical-surgical nursing.

Susan Tyler, CNSSusan Tyler, MSN, RN-BC, PCNS-BC, CPN
NICU/Pediatrics

Susan is the NICU/Pediatric CNS for Community Health Network. She is certified as a pediatric CNS with additional certifications in pain management nursing and pediatric nursing. Susan received her MSN from IU School of Nursing in 2015.

Kelly Woker, CNS internKelly Woker, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC
Adult Gerontology

Kelly is a CNS at Community Hospital North. She received her BSN from University of Indianapolis in 2001 and MSN from IU School of Nursing in 2020. She has been with Community Health Network since 2000 with a focus in cardiac care.