Consuelo Nelson, PhD, MSN/Ed, BN, RN, has been appointed to Dean, effective September 25, 2022.

Dr. Nelson has been a nurse for 15 years. She joined Galen College of Nursing in 2021. Prior to being named Dean, Dr. Nelson has served as the Clinical Education Coordinator and the Program Director for Miami/Pembroke Pines campus. In her nursing practice she had a focus in Cardiovascular and Vascular Step down, Progressive Care, and Public Health areas. She also assisted in managing the H1N1 outbreak in Canada. Dr. Nelson earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Brunswick in Toronto, Canada, MSN from University of Phoenix, and PhD from Barry University in 2019, just before the COVID pandemic hit. She has been involved in education since 2012.

Dr. Nelson has earned several prestigious awards including Top Nurse Leader in Plantation, Florida by International Nurses Association in 2014, and was honored in the book “Worldwide Leaders in Healthcare 2014-2015” for this award. She received the 2020 Judith Balcerski Award for Excellence in Nursing Research from Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honors Society in 2020. Dr. Nelson presented her first CEU with STTI Lambda Chi Chapter at the November 2020 business meeting based on President’s (Richard Ricciardi) Call to Action for achieving Sigma’s vision of global nursing excellence. She will also be an ACEN Peer Evaluator in 2023.

Dr. Nelson moved to Florida 12 years ago from Canada, and recently celebrated her 30^th wedding anniversary. She has five boys, one of whom was born during the SARS outbreak, and another born two days before she took her NCLEX exam.