Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center Announces 2025 Board of Directors
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) is proud to introduce its 2025 Board of Directors: Kristin Akers, Grady Barnhill, Susan Cox, Joseph Ebberwein, Lawrence Fabrey, Jacklyn Griffin, Nicole Martin, Alicia Murray, Arden O’Donnell, and LaDonna Wright.
- President: Alicia Murray, DNP, MSN, RN, CHPN®, CNE, is an associate professor at Husson University, where she has been teaching full-time since 2017. Dr. Murray began her nursing career over 37 years ago as an LPN and, in 2020, earned her Doctorate in Nursing Practice with a focus on population health. She has an extensive background in hospice and home health nursing and has been involved with program development in the inpatient and outpatient settings. In addition to her work, Dr. Murray is active in board service for three health care systems. She has been certified in hospice and palliative care for 24 years.
- President-Elect: Kristin Akers, MSN, ACNP-BC, ACHPN®, is dually boarded as an acute care nurse practitioner and an advanced certified hospice and palliative care nurse. Her clinical expertise spans critical, oncology, and palliative care. She is currently a senior nurse practitioner with the University of Utah’s Supportive and Palliative Care Program. In addition to clinical practice, Kristin teaches best-practice communication skills regionally as the co-director of the Utah Advanced Communication Training (UACT) course and nationally as Senior VitalTalk Faculty. Kristin served on HPCC’s Exam Development Committee for the ACHPN exam from 2016-2022.
- Treasurer: Grady Barnhill, Med, has been involved in testing for over 35 years, beginning in personnel testing for the state of Georgia. Three years later, he moved into state licensure testing, where he consulted with licensing boards for a variety of professions, from architects to optometrists to water well drillers. After 15 years, he began work with the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), later serving as their Director of Psychometrics and Development. After three years, he joined the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) as their Director of Recertification and Professional Assessment. Here, he was responsible for specialty certification as well as their Professional Development Portfolio recertification process. In 2012, Grady returned to NCCPA, where he served as Director of Exam Programs and as Senior Assessment Advisor until his retirement in December 2021. During his career, he has done numerous presentations on assessment and credentialing at various national conferences. He was elected to serve two terms on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (I.C.E.) and continues to serve on the I.C.E. Public Member Committee. In November 2022, he began serving on the Assessment Advisory Group for the Nursing Community Assessment Service in British Columbia, and in January 2023, he began serving a term as a public member on the Board of Directors for HPCC. In April 2023, he served as incorporator for the International Society for the Advancement of Continuing Competence (ISACC) to incentivize evidence-based improvements in continuing competence. He remains interested in credentialing and public protection and in advocating for evidence-based improvements in measuring and enhancing continuing competence.
- Secretary: Arden O’Donnell, MPH, MSW, LICSW, APHSW-C, is a palliative social worker at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She began her professional career in social work as a Pediatric Palliative Care (PACT) Fellow at Children’s Hospital and later became a member of the Dana Farber-Brigham and Women’s Palliative Care Service. Her long-time commitment to palliative care began with her focus on international public health working with HIV/AIDS patients in Zimbabwe and Lesotho. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Boston University where her dissertation focuses on the social worker’s role in cultivating prognostic awareness with patients and families coping with serious illnesses. Additionally, Arden teaches Social Work in Health Care at Smith College School for Social Work and Boston University and communication and palliative care skills to inter-professional clinicians, residents, and medical students as a faculty member of the Harvard-based Palliative Care Education Practice (PCEP) Program. She is a Vital Talk-trained facilitator. Arden is also dedicated to helping children who have experienced the loss of a parent and founded Coalition for Courage, a nonprofit focused on supporting the education of orphans in Zimbabwe.
- Past-President: Lawrence Fabrey, PhD, retired as chief psychometrician for PSI Services, and then for several years served on the PSI Science Advisory Board to help ensure the highest professional standards and practices. He had a similar role with Applied Measurement Professionals and previously worked with the American Nurses Association and the National Board of Medical Examiners. He was a voting psychometrician for the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) for six years and Chair of the NCCA for three years while also serving on the Board of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA, now ICE). Dr. Fabrey received three awards from I.C.E., most recently the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. He was twice the co-chair of the NCCA Accreditation Standards Revision Main Committee, which led to updated standards being approved in 2014 and 2021.
In addition to those serving in elected positions, the 2025 HPCC Board of Directors is comprised of:
- Susan Cox, MSN, RN, CHPN®
- Joseph Ebberwein, MPS
- Jacklyn Griffin, DNP, ACNP-BC, ACHPN®
- Nicole Martin, MBA, BSN, RN, CHPN®, CHC
- LaDonna Wright, RN, CHPN®