PCNA Northern Minnesota Chapter
The Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association is the leading nursing organization dedicated to preventing and managing cardiovascular disease.
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Our members are nurses and nurse practitioners that assess risk, facilitate lifestyle changes, and guide individuals to achieve treatment goals at clinics, hospitals, and universities across the country.
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The current state of health care demands that nurses and advanced practice nurses play a leading role in identifying and implementing cardiovascular risk reduction strategies. PCNA is committed to supporting nurses so they may successfully rise to this challenge. We educate and support nurses through the development of professional and patient education, leadership, and advocacy.
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PCNA chapters across the United States are run by local volunteers. Chapters generally host one event in the spring and one in the fall. All are welcome to attend, including members of PCNA and non-members.
Interested in learning more about PCNA? Visit https://pcna.net for evidence-based resources for your practice.
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Interested in becoming a member of PCNA? Visit https://pcna.net/member-center/join-pcna/membership-options/. Membership includes FREE clinical tools, access to hard copies of patient education, access to the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, free/membership pricing for online continuing education, reduced registration fees to the PCNA Annual Symposium, access to PCNA awards, grants, fellowships and scholarships, and much more.
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Interested in getting involved with our chapter? E-mail caroldnp@charter.net and let us know what your volunteer interests include.
Meet the Chapter Leadership Team
Carol Marsh, DNP, APRN, CNP, FPCNA
Chapter Leader
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Carol works as a cardiovascular nurse practitioner for the St. Luke’s health system in Duluth, MN. She obtained her Doctor of Nursing degree and nurse practitioner license in 2009. Carol has extensive nursing experience in multiple specialties, including Med-Surg, Intensive Care, Occupational Health, Education, and Cardiology. Her clinical areas of interest include preventative cardiology and lipid management. Carol obtained her Clinical Lipid Specialist Certification in 2013. She has been an active member of PCNA since 2000, and was the recipient of the PCNA Fellowship Award in 2014 and the Terry Thomas Clinical Practice Award in 2021. In her free time, she loves baking, cake decorating, reading, Cricut crafting, and spending time with her children and grandchildren.
Kaisa Bernu, BAN, RN
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Kaisa works as a heart failure nurse at the Essentia Health Heart & Vascular Center in Duluth, MN. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Nursing degree from Concordia College in Moorhead in 2021. She worked as a bedside nurse in the intensive care unit at Essentia Health in Fargo, ND before transitioning to outpatient care. Her clinical interests include preventative cardiology, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, implanted devices, LVADs, and Amyloidosis. In her free time, she loves hiking, camping, backpacking, skiing, painting, and being a “plant mom”. She has been an active member of the PCNA chapter since 2023.
Shannon Isaacson, MSN, RN, PCCN-K
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Shannon works as the Cardiac Operations Supervisor at St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, MN. She obtained her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Walden University in 2020. Shannon has extensive nursing experience spanning 15 years in multiple specialties, including Neurology, Med-Surg, Cardiology, and emergency nursing, and has specialized in roles in education and nursing leadership. She holds certification as a Progressive Care Knowledge Professional (PCCN-K) from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Her clinical interests include cardiology, neurology, and leadership development. In her free time, she loves running, playing softball, having game nights with friends and family, and spending time with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs, Nicko and Bella. She has been an active member of the PCNA chapter since 2020.
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Lindsey Klein, BSN, RN, PHN, PCCN
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Lindsey works as the nurse manager of the cardiac unit at Aspirus St. Lukes Hospital in Duluth, MN. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree with a minor in Biology from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN in 2015. Lindsey has extensive nursing experience spanning 8 years, and has specialized in roles in long-term care, inpatient cardiac nursing, as well as nursing management and administration. She holds certification as a Progressive Care Knowledge Professional (PCCN) from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. She is an active member of the American Heart Association (AHA) and has been a co-chair of the Northland Go Red for Woman campaign for the past 3 years. She has been an active member of the PCNA chapter since 2022. In her free time, she loves spending time outdoors, being active, traveling, and visiting her family in Florida.
Anna Knuth, BSN, RN
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Anna works as a heart failure nurse at Essentia Health Heart & Vascular Center in Duluth, MN. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of North Dakota in 2015. She worked as a bedside nurse on a cardiac unit at St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, MN from 2016 to 2021 before transitioning to outpatient care. Her clinical interests include cardiology, preventative care, and heart failure. She is currently working towards obtaining her heart failure nurse certification. In her free time, she loves exploring the North Shore and spending time outdoors with her husband Steve, son Grayson, and her Golden Retriever named Winnie. She has been an active member of the PCNA chapter since 2022.
Erin Nordstrom, BSN, RN, PHN, CV-BC, FPCNA
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Erin works as a cardiac rhythm device nurse at Metropolitan Heart and Vascular Institute in Coon Rapids, MN. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the Minnesota State University - Mankato in 2018. She worked as a bedside nurse on a medical-surgical telemetry unit at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, MN and then transitioned to working as an RN care coordinator in an outpatient electrophysiology clinic at the University of Minnesota in 2019. Since 2021, she has been working as a device nurse. Her clinical interests include implantable cardiac devices, atrial fibrillation management, and chronic heart failure therapies. She obtained her cardiac-vascular nursing certification in 2022 and was the recipient of the PCNA Fellowship Award in 2024. She has been an active member of the PCNA chapter since 2022 and is also an active member of the Heart Rhythm Society. She is currently working towards her Master of Science in Nursing degree in Organizational Systems Leadership at the Minnesota State University – Moorhead. She loves reading, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her husband Ryan and her two dogs, Ace and Jewels.