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About Us
High-quality health care begins with nurses. Knowledgeable, skilled, compassionate – they are
the backbone of our health care system.
Yet Colorado faces a critical mismatch between the number of nurses we have and the number
of nurses we need. Our state has 12 percent fewer nurses than our population requires – double
the national vacancy rate.
The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence is the only organization in Colorado exclusively dedicated to ensuring that our state has adequate numbers of highly-qualified nurses.
We bring together educational institutions, hospitals, government agencies, foundations and the business community to investigate the sources of the shortfall, develop strategies to address it and secure funding to implement those plans. With an emphasis on collaboration and innovation, the Center leads the way toward developing Colorado’s nursing workforce of the future.
The Center’s research has examined important facets of the nursing shortage in Colorado, such as:
- The readiness of recent nursing graduates to meet current practice demands.
- The critical shortage of qualified faculty at all our nursing schools.
- The importance of broad-based coordination to develop effective solutions.
Findings such as these shape the Center’s priorities and projects.
Representative Projects
- Work, Education and Lifelong Learning Simulation (WELLS) Center – The nation’s most
advanced resource for clinical simulation training, combining computerized mannequins
with 3-D computerized anatomical imaging.
Every school of nursing and hospital will have access to the WELLS Center, which is
housed in the Bioscience East building at the Colorado Science and Technology Park at Fitzsimons campus, and funded by the
Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment. The Colorado Center
for Nursing Excellence helped to develop the lab and oversees its operations.
- Faculty Development Initiative – A four-year, $1 million effort, funded by the Colorado
Dept. of Labor and Employment and coordinated by the Center, to train new clinical
faculty. Launched in 2005, the Initiative has already trained more than 340 new clinical
scholars, enabling more than 800 clinical rotations.
- Colorado Consortium for Nurse Retention – Because many nurses leave the profession
due to dissatisfaction, the Center seeks to develop programs to increase nursing job
satisfaction and retention. This five-year project replicates one Denver hospital’s model of
collaborative process improvement and nurse empowerment in other rural and urban
test sites.
- Colorado Nursing Clinical Placement Inventory and Matching System - Thirty clinical facilities are actively posting rotation opportunities on the platform, enabling dozens of nursing schools to identify the best placements for their students and provinding real-time data on available rotations.
- Colorado Consortium for Nursing Leadership Development - This HRSA funded project provides training and coaching for the frontline leaders.
Funding Partners
Banner Health
Centura Health Systems
Colorado Health Foundation
Colorado Trust
Columbine Health Care
Exempla Health Care
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HealthONE
Kaiser Permanente
Poudre Valley Hospital
Rose Community Foundation
St. Mary’s Hospital
University of Colorado Hospital |
Board of Directors
Jerry Spicer, RN, MPA (CHAIR) – Vice President, Patient Services, St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical
Center (Grand Junction)
Sharon Pappas, RN, MSN, CNAA, PhD (VICE CHAIR) – COO/CNO, Porter Adventist Hospital
Lynn Dierker, RN – Deputy Director of Community Initiatives, Colorado Health Institute
Ann Evans, RN, MS, MBA – Vice President, CNO, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center
Bert Glandon – President, Arapahoe Community College
Carol Gregory, RN, MSN, MBA – CNO, The Medical Center of Aurora
Kathy Harris, RN, MS CHE – Regional VP Clinical Services, Banner Health Western
Region
Kelly Johnson, MSN, RN, NEA, BC – Chair, Advisory Council
Craig Luzinski, MSN, RN, CNAA-BC, CHE, CNO - Poudre Valley Hospital
John McWilliams – President, Western Skies Group
Jean Scholz, MS, RN - President/CEO, Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence
Linda Fischer Smith, MSHA, MSN – Director, Regional Nursing Service, Strategy and
Innovation,
Kaiser Permanente
Advisory Council
Kelly Johnson (Chair), MSN, RN, NEA, BC – VP & CNO, The Children's Hospital
Carol Dungan Applegeet, MSN, RN, CNOR, CNAA, FAAN – Director of Perioperative
Services,
St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center (Grand Junction)
Kate Bechtold, MHA, RN – CNO, St. Anthony Hospitals
Nancy Kiernan Case, RN, PhD
Janet Houser, PhD, EdS, MN – Associate Professor, Regis University
Lee Ann Kane, RN, MSN – Director, Nursing Staff Development, Denver Health
Mary Krugman, RN, PhD, FAAN - Director, Professional Resources, University of Colorado Hospital
Debra Leners, PhD RN, PNP, CNE - Professor Interim Director, School of Nursing,
University of
Northern Colorado
Mark Merrill, RN, ND, CNS - Program Director, Board of Nursing
Yvonne D. Myers – Health Systems Coordinator, Columbine Health Systems
Gayle Preheim, Ed.D., RN, CNAA, BC, CNE - President, Colorado Council on Nursing
Education
Fran Ricker, MSN, RN, CGRN - Executive Director, Colorado Nurses Association
Linda Roan, RN, MSN – Director of Education, The Medical Center of Aurora
Denise Root, RN, MSN - Director of Nursing, Otero Junior College
Jean Scholz , MS, RN - President/CEO, Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence
Nancy Smith, PhD, RN, BC, FAANP - Associate Dean and Professor, Beth El College of Nursing and
Health Sciences, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Nan Walters, RN, MSN - Professor, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Kristina R. Wenzel, RN, MBA – Executive Director, Central Colorado Area Health
Education
Center
For more information, contact Jean Scholz, Center President and CEO,
(303) 715-0343 x 10
» Download Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence fact sheet
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For additional information, tools and resources on Colorado nursing, call 303-715-0343. |
