Kathleen Russell, a lawyer and a nurse, is an Associate Director in the Division of Nursing Regulation for NCSBN. Kathleen's professional background includes 40 years of nursing, legal, and non-profit leadership experience. She practiced nursing as a pediatric clinical nurse specialist and nursing educator, and law as a trial attorney. At NCSBN, she is responsible for services provided to member boards related to investigation and discipline, National Practitioner Data Bank reporting, alternative to discipline programs, substance use disorder, licensure fraud and most recently cannabis.