Orlando, FL – The National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) today presented its prestigious Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) of the Year Award to Karen M. Marzlin, DNP, RN, CCNS, CCRN-CMC, CHFN, Acute Care CNS at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio and the owner of Key Choice, a training and consulting business; and Cardiovascular Nursing Education Associates (CNEA), a continuing education business. The Award recognizes an NACNS member for outstanding professional achievement in all aspects of CNS practice. It is presented each year to a nurse who demonstrates CNS competencies and exemplary practice in patient care, nursing and health care delivery systems.
Marzlin has more than 27 years of experience in cardiovascular and critical care and is currently practicing in inpatient medical cardiology. She has extensive clinical expertise in the area of heart failure patient management and is helping to develop a high risk heart failure clinic. At Aultman Hospital, she co-leads a multi-disciplinary heart failure steering committee that has demonstrated improvement in patient outcomes. She collaborated on the publication of Cardiovascular Nursing Practice: A Comprehensive Nursing Resource Manual published by CNEA, and speaks nationally on a wide variety of cardiovascular, critical care, and leadership topics.
“It is our great honor to present the CNS of the Year Award to Dr. Marzlin,” said NACNS 2014 President Les Rodriguez, MSN, MPH, RN, ACNS-BC, APRN. “Her lifelong commitment to influencing, and engaging nurses and to transforming the practice of nursing is an inspiration to us all. She also works to mentor nurses to help them provide the highest quality care to their patients, and she has developed an innovative approach to assessing nurses’ competency that takes into account their expertise and contributions at the point of care.”
Marzlin’s community involvement includes participating in the Angel Tree Project, Operation Christmas Child, Dalit Freedom Network and the Fresh Passion Water Project.
She holds a DNP and an MSN from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She earned her BSN at Walsh University in Canton, Ohio, and diplomas from the Kaplan School of Legal Nurse Consulting in Boca Raton, Florida and Akron City Hospital School of Nursing in Ohio.