Highlights
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During her nearly 40-year career, Sharon Tucker has paired rigorous evidence with close attention to each patient, guided by a lifelong curiosity about why people get sick, heal and change.
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On Thursday, Oct. 29, she was celebrated as the Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing, which was established in 2009.
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The chair, funded by 91吃瓜网 Pegasus Partner Orlando Health, supports nursing research with direct patient impact and reflects a shared 91吃瓜网-Orlando Health commitment to Florida鈥檚 nursing workforce.
鈥淚鈥檝e always had this curiosity bug,鈥� says Sharon Tucker, dean of 91吃瓜网鈥檚 College of Nursing. 鈥淪ince I was a kid, I used to ask all those 鈥榳hy鈥� questions. I was probably terribly annoying, but I wanted to know things.鈥�
One of the first she remembers asking was why her grandmother died of cancer when other grandmothers didn鈥檛. Tucker was 5. She would eventually learn that genetics, environmental factors, age and lifestyle can all play a part. But as a child, she simply wanted to understand why some people got sick and others didn鈥檛.
That question, along with an aunt who was a nurse, led Tucker to nursing.
鈥淣ursing gave me a way to translate my curiosity into service,鈥� she says. By her second year of nursing school, she knew she wanted to pursue research, earn a Ph.D. and teach.
鈥淒r. Tucker鈥檚 research supports our efforts to empower nurses and elevate clinical excellence to deliver compassionate, evidence-based care.鈥� 鈥� Kelly Edmondson, Orlando Health鈥檚 senior vice president of nursing and patient care services
On Thursday, Oct. 29, Tucker was officially invested as the Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing, recognizing her service to nursing education, evidence-based practice and healthcare innovation. She is the second faculty member to hold the position, which 91吃瓜网 Pegasus Partner Orlando Health established in 2009 to support nursing research with a direct impact on patient care 鈥� the kind of work Tucker has pursued throughout her career. The investment also positions Tucker to help shape what’s next in nursing education, workforce development and patient care, advancing 91吃瓜网’s commitment to preparing the healthcare leaders Florida and the nation will need in the decades ahead.
鈥淒r. Tucker鈥檚 research supports our efforts to empower nurses and elevate clinical excellence to deliver compassionate, evidence-based care,鈥� says Kelly Edmondson, Orlando Health鈥檚 senior vice president of nursing and patient care services. 鈥淚t is an honor to continue to partner with 91吃瓜网 to strengthen the nursing workforce and create a healthier future for all.鈥�
The title is new. The curiosity behind it is not. Curiosity drives Tucker鈥檚 questions; evidence is how she answers them. Together, they have driven her career and practice defined by wanting to know more about: what it means to care for someone, what it takes to lead well and why it all begins with the self.
鈥楢 Chart Doesn鈥檛 Provide the Whole Picture鈥�
Tucker began her career in intensive care at the Mayo Clinic, caring for people during some of the most critical moments of their lives. There, she saw how some health crises were unavoidable, while others could be prevented or improved through healthier behaviors. But changing those behaviors, she learned, was rarely simple. A person鈥檚 history, circumstances and support systems all mattered.
She wanted to understand all of it, not just the illness.
In the late 1980s, while working as a nurse counselor at the Sexual Assault Resource Service in Minneapolis, Tucker had an experience that changed how she approached the people in her care.
鈥淏ecause of her, I learned the importance of seeing things from the patient鈥檚 perspective, being open to the reality that there can be more than one truth and understanding each person鈥檚 journey is critical to truly helping them.鈥� 鈥� Sharon Tucker, Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing
鈥淭his patient had endured a lot of adversity and taught me how to help help someone heal,鈥� says Tucker. Because of her, I learned the importance of seeing things from the patient鈥檚 perspective, being open to the reality that there can be more than one truth and understanding each person鈥檚 journey is critical to truly helping them. That was pivotal for me.鈥�
That lesson stuck.
For nearly 40 years, understanding the world from the other person鈥檚 point of view has been Tucker鈥檚 guiding philosophy. From the ICU to the dean鈥檚 office, Tucker has built a career spanning patient care, research, teaching and leadership, publishing more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, securing more than $40 million in research and training funding, and helping advance evidence-based practice across the profession. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a distinguished fellow of the National Academies of Practice in Nursing.
She is also a board-certified adult psychiatric-mental health clinical nurse specialist and integrative nurse coach 鈥� two credentials that reflect her interest in the whole person, not just a diagnosis, and a focus she would also turn on herself.
鈥淚 know at the core of who I am that science improves lives,鈥� says Tucker. 鈥淓vidence-informed care is really important to me, but I have to apply the evidence we get from research within a patient鈥檚 preferences and circumstances. A chart doesn鈥檛 provide the whole picture of a patient. It has critical information but what鈥檚 missing is often just as important.鈥�
Focusing on what鈥檚 missing led Tucker to wonder how prepared future nurses are to enter a field where five nursing roles rank among the 30 most stressful jobs in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. She didn鈥檛 guess. In 2009, she and two colleagues developed a self-efficacy assessment now used by more than 4,000 people in over 40 countries to identify learning gaps and strengthen evidence-based practice.
鈥淒eveloping that scale continues to teach me that capability, context, confidence and culture all matter,鈥� says Tucker. 鈥淭oday, it informs how I approach education, leadership and implementation science: we must assess where people and organizations are, build the right supports and create conditions where evidence can become routine practice rather than an extra task.鈥�
The question, in other words, is never just what people should know. It鈥檚 what they need to put that knowledge into practice.
鈥楾he People Who Show Up Run the World鈥�
After years in hospital leadership, Tucker recognized the same resistance to change she had seen in individual patients. Even when people understand what needs to change, acting on it can be difficult.
鈥淲e all want to keep doing what we know, what鈥檚 comfortable, especially when we鈥檝e already got enough on our plate or are feeling overwhelmed,鈥� she says.
Tucker knows that feeling herself. In 2007, while balancing hospital leadership, university teaching and raising two young daughters, she began a three-year Robert Wood Johnson Nursing Executive Fellowship. At the time, she was accustomed to translating scientific research into evidence-based bedside care. Sharing her research findings came easily. Sharing her opinions was another matter. The fellowship asked her to do exactly that, and left her with a question: How do we influence meaningful change?
鈥�… I teach all my students, you have to step up to the mic whenever you can and voice your opinion. That鈥檚 how we influence change. The people who show up run the world. I think in nursing that鈥檚 more important today than ever.鈥� 鈥� Sharon Tucker, 91吃瓜网 College of Nursing Dean
鈥淭hat experience taught me to be courageous and to step up to a mic when I didn鈥檛 want to,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t can be uncomfortable, but I teach all my students, you have to step up to the mic whenever you can and voice your opinion. That鈥檚 how we influence change. The people who show up run the world. I think in nursing that鈥檚 more important today than ever.鈥�
The fellowship, like the patient years ago, pointed Tucker back to individuals. Being good at one thing, she learned, doesn鈥檛 mean someone feels prepared for the next. A leader鈥檚 job, like a clinician鈥檚, starts with the person, not the task. That means getting curious about the people doing the work: what motivates them, what challenges they face and what support they need to succeed.
Now, in her second year as dean, Tucker is applying that lesson to the next chapter of the College of Nursing. She is asking how artificial intelligence could change both the profession and the way nurses are taught. Her vision for what鈥檚 next focuses on what鈥檚 always been important 鈥� empowering highly skilled and practice-ready nurses, research opportunities that improve care for patients, and the partnerships, like the one with Orlando Health, that make it all possible.
鈥淭he evidence, the practitioner and the patient are all important,鈥� she says. 鈥淎s are continuing to promote a culture of honesty, trust, well-being and professional growth.”
Tucker is equally committed to all of those when it comes to herself. She recently competed a six-month dean development program and led her leadership team through a book club on The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
鈥淲hen things get challenging, I return to the belief that people can grow, organizations can change and nursing has a powerful role in improving health and well-being,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat focus helps me stay grounded: Listen carefully, act with integrity, use evidence wisely, and keep the person at the center of the work.鈥�
For Tucker, that person includes herself.
鈥楶resent, Resilient and Always Moving Forward鈥�
Endowed gifts provide permanent support, generating annual resources that strengthen 91吃瓜网 year after year. Through , endowments help power student success, groundbreaking research and community impact for generations.
For 20 years, Tucker has journaled and meditated, but her longest-standing practice is more about momentum than stillness. Tucker has been running for 40 years, including competing in several marathons. The miles give her space to think and a chance to test what she believes about herself.
鈥淩unning has taught me so much about myself, what I鈥檓 capable of, and what I can give to others, mainly because it gives me a chance to have some silent time to think,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e running, you have to be present, resilient and always moving forward.鈥�
At 5, Tucker wanted to know why. Today, backed by the Orlando Health Endowed Chair and a university committed to shaping the future, she is still asking bold questions, helping launch new ideas, stronger nursing leaders and better outcomes for the patients they serve.
