UCF Nursing: Dean Sharon Tucker Receives Orlando Health Endowed Chair
Tucker, a researcher and clinician with nearly four decades of experience, was officially invested as the second holder of the chair established in 2009.
By Rahul Garnier ·
Sharon Tucker has spent nearly four decades asking why people get sick, heal, and change. On Oct. 29, UCF officially invested her as the Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing, a title that recognizes her work in education, research, and patient care. Tucker is the second faculty member to hold the position, which the university’s partner Orlando Health created in 2009 to fund nursing research with direct impact on clinical outcomes.
Tucker’s path to the dean’s office began in a five-year-old’s confusion about why her grandmother died of cancer while others did not. That early question, combined with the influence of an aunt who was a nurse, led Tucker to pursue a Ph.D. and a career in intensive care. She started at the Mayo Clinic, where she observed how environment and lifestyle influenced health crises. Later, as a nurse counselor in Minneapolis in the late 1980s, she learned the value of seeing illness from the patient’s perspective rather than just their medical chart.
Since then, Tucker has built a career that spans clinical practice, research, and leadership. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and secured over $40 million in research and training funding. She serves as a board-certified adult psychiatric-mental health clinical nurse specialist and an integrative nurse coach. Her work often focuses on the gap between scientific evidence and daily practice, particularly in high-stress nursing roles.
In 2009, Tucker and two colleagues developed a self-efficacy assessment tool. That instrument is now used by more than 4,000 people in over 40 countries to identify learning gaps. Tucker credits a three-year Robert Wood Johnson Nursing Executive Fellowship completed in 2007 with teaching her to step up and voice opinions to influence change. That lesson shapes her current approach to leadership and education.
Kelly Edmondson, Orlando Health’s senior vice president of nursing and patient care services, noted that Tucker’s research supports efforts to elevate clinical excellence. Edmondson stated it is an honor to continue partnering with UCF to strengthen the nursing workforce. The endowed chair provides permanent financial support that generates annual resources for the university.
As dean, Tucker is currently exploring how artificial intelligence could affect nursing education and practice. Her immediate goals include empowering practice-ready nurses and fostering partnerships that improve patient care. She recently completed a six-month dean development program and led her leadership team through a book club on team dynamics.
Tucker maintains a personal routine that includes running for 40 years, a habit she says provides silent time for thought. She recently competed in several marathons. For Tucker, the work involves listening carefully, using evidence wisely, and keeping the person at the center of the task.
Source: UCF Today
