Cynthia R. King, PhD, NP, MSN, RN, CNL, FAAN, is an owner and consultant of Special Care Consultants. She specializes in consulting in health care and nursing as well as writing and editing. Previously, Dr. King was a full professor and developed a clinical nurse leader program while at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. She has presented numerous times at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Clinical Nurse Leader (AACN CNL) conference on the template she developed for a CNL review course on how to best study for the CNL certification exam. Dr. King has worked as a clinician (staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner), educator, administrator, and researcher. She presents nationally and internationally and has been a keynote speaker at several major meetings. Dr. King has published extensively, including four books and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, and she has served as editor-in-chief of two nursing journals. She serves on numerous local, regional, and national committees and boards of nursing associations, nonprofits, and foundations.

Sally O’Toole Gerard, DNP, RN, CDE, CNL, is an associate professor and track coordinator of the nurse leadership graduate program at Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut. Dr. Gerard has been in nursing for over 25 years and has a background in critical care and hospital education. She specializes in diabetes as a certified diabetes educator. Her publications and research focus on diabetes and improvement of patient-related outcomes, and include five articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Gerard has been involved in a number of academic collaborations with local hospitals to introduce evidence-based practice and improve quality care in the acute care setting. She has completed training in a national partnership for health care improvement practices with the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Dr. Gerard presents nationally and internationally on the subjects of nursing leadership and improvement science.

Carla Gene Rapp, PhD, MNSc, RN is an Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist, and consultant. She has specialty knowledge and skills in rehabilitation nursing, and has completed a postdoctoral fellowship in geriatric mental health services research. Dr. Rapp has been on faculty at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Duke University, and Queens University of Charlotte (where she assisted Dr. King in the development of the CNL program). Most recently, Dr. Rapp coordinated/conducted industry-sponsored clinical trials and investigator-initiated research for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Neurology’s Memory Disorders Program. She has published extensively in books and in the peer reviewed literature, and has presented nationally and internationally on a variety of topics. Dr. Rapp has collaborated previously with Drs. King and Gerard on the Second Edition of their Clinical Nurse Leader Certification Review book, and on Essential Knowledge for CNL and APRN Leaders (a new textbook for CNLs and APRNs

Dr. Apgar has done research on licensure funded by the American Foundation for research and Consumer Education in Social Work Regulation and served for many years as the chairperson of the New Jersey Board of Social Work Examiners. Dr. Apgar has written extensively on issues impacting social work education and professional practice. She is a past President of the New Jersey Chapter of NASW and has been on its National Board of Directors. In 2014, the Chapter presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award and the Academic of the Year in 2020-2021.