Education:
DNP University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada
MSN Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, Georgia
BSN Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Certified Nurse Educator National League of Nursing
Work and Education:
Cheryl A. Tucker is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) where she has taught since 2004. Dr. Tucker has held several leadership roles including Theory and Level 2 Coordinator for the Undergraduate BSN program. She has taught in the distance, accelerated, and traditional undergraduate BSN program and the graduate DNP program in the face-to-face and online classroom environment as well as clinical practicum and lab settings. She taught the first eighteen FastBacc® students in 2009 and the first group of distance accelerated (DABSN) students. Additionally, she has consulted with various nursing publishers as a nursing content and NCLEX® expert, authoring, and reviewing nursing content and NCLEX® style questions for multiple textbooks and online materials.
Dr. Tucker is a generalist nurse having practiced in many areas of nursing including med/surg, critical care, mother/baby, psych, and community settings. Her primary areas of clinical practice include: medical surgical nursing, intensive care nursing, post anesthesia care, with professional experience in the areas of cardiology, endocrinology, neurology and respiratory nursing.
Prior to working at Baylor, Dr. Tucker’s professional experience included: Adjunct Faculty, Texas Woman’s University; Faculty member of Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama and at the School of Nursing Macon State College, Macon, Georgia; Director of PN Program and Nursing Faculty, Pulaski State Area Vocational Technical School; and Director of Utilization Management and Director of In-Service Education, Humana Hospital Muscle Shoals, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Dr. Tucker held leadership positions in Louisville, Kentucky including: Medical Services Manager and Health Resources Coordinator, Partner’s National Health Care Plans; Senior Regional Administrator and Healthcare Coordinator, Kentucky Peer Review Organization.
University-Wide and LHSON Committees:
Over the years, Dr. Tucker has used her leadership skills to serve the following LHSON committees: Chair Continuing Education Committee, Chair Educational Technology Committee, Chair Faculty Organization LHSON, Chair Mentoring Committee, Chair Non-Tenured Clinical Track Task Force, Chair Testing Committee Task Force, and Chair Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. She has served as a member of the Academic Affairs Committee, Academic Policies Committee, Admissions Committee, Centennial Committee for LHSON’s 100 Year Anniversary, Clinical Track Search Task Force, Concept-Based Curriculum Task Force, Faculty/Staff Community Blackboard, HESI Exit Exam NCLEX-RN® Task Force, Program Effectiveness Committee, Program Evaluation and Accreditation Task Force , Research Committee, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, University Wide General Education Assessment Committee, University-Wide Selection Committee for Outstanding Professors, University-Wide Teaching, Learning and Technology Committee, and Work Force Satisfaction Committee.
Professional Organizations and Awards:
Staying involved professionally to further her growth, Dr. Tucker has been a part of organizations that include: Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and was inducted into Theta Tau Chapter, Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, Georgia in 1996. During her doctoral studies, she was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2017. As a Baylor Nursing student, she was inducted into Alpha Tau Delta Nursing Sorority, Baylor University, Baylor University Alumni Association, and was part of the Baptist Nurses Fellowship.
Her leadership within the profession of nursing includes service to the Children's Heart Foundation Board Advocacy Committee 2022-2025; Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing International Nurse Leader Review Committee Member July 2019- June 2023; American Heart Association (AHA)-Congenital Heart Foundation (CHF) Congenital Heart Defect Research Awards Peer Review Committee (2020); Chair the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing Region 6 Global Service Committee 2020-2021; President of Eta Gamma Chapter Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing Baylor University 2020-2021, 2010-2012; Program Planning Committee Member and Abstract Peer-Reviewer for the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing: A Leading Advocate for Nursing Education; Manuscript Peer-Reviewer for the academic journal, Nurse Educator (2019-present); Abstract Peer Reviewer for various Educational Conferences sponsored by the NLN and Nurse Educators in the Rockies Conference (2019-present); National League for Nursing (NLN) Ambassador (2014-2018); Counselor Eta Gamma Chapter Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing Baylor University (2013-2019); and Elsevier National Nursing Advisory Council 2011-2012.
Dr. Tucker was one of 30 faculty selected nationwide by The American Association of Colleges of Nursing to participate in the inaugural AACN-Apple Digital Innovation Bootcamp: From Content to Action, July 9-12, 2018, in Austin, Texas. She was invited to return to the second Bootcamp to present her project, Transforming a Written Clinical Assignment into a Digital Interactive Clinical Experience, at the AACN-Apple Digital Innovations Bootcamp, Austin, Texas, June 24-27, 2019. In 2021, she was selected as an AACN/APPLE GNSA Digital Innovators Program Faculty Advisor/Mentor.
Dr. Tucker has received several prestigious awards and honors including: The 2021 Heart of the Mission of the American Heart Association Science and Research Lay Stakeholder Volunteer Recognition Award; Dallas Magazine 2020 Excellence in Nursing Award in the area of Education and Research; Outstanding Non-Tenured Teaching Award Nominee at LHSON (2013); Dallas-Fort Worth Great 100 Nurse Honoree (2012); and Outstanding Faculty Award Nominee for Non-Tenured Teaching at LHSON (2008).
Community Service:
Giving back to the community, Dr. Tucker has made a positive impact. She is an active member of First Baptist Church Lewisville through her Bible Study class, prayer ministry, and the Mission Madness Program. Additional community service includes: faculty sponsor of Xray/Lab/ER room at Let’s Pretend Hospital sponsored by Decatur General Hospital and Calhoun Community College Department of Nursing; RN for Asthma Camp sponsored by Macon State College School of Nursing and School of Respiratory Therapy; camp nurse for “Kids Camp" at Laverne Griffin Youth Camp in Wasilla, Alaska; Planning Committee Member and Participant for the annual Migrant Health Fair Houston County, Georgia; and River Ministry of Texas Baptist Convention in Dallas, Texas. She has also served on various medical mission trips in United States, Canada and Mexico.
Selected Publications (Peer Reviewed)
Rossler, K. L., & Tucker, C. (2022). Simulation helps equip nursing students to care for patients with dementia. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 17(1), 49–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2021.08.003
Tucker, C.A. (2021). The teaching-learning experience from a generational perspective. In M.J. Bradshaw, B.L. Hultquist, & D. Hagler (Eds.), Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (8th ed., pp. 34-45). Jones & Barlett Publishers.
Tucker, C.A. (2021). Clinical reasoning action-focused thinking. In M.J. Bradshaw, B.L. Hultquist, & D. Hagler (Eds.), Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (8th ed., pp. 70-82). Jones & Barlett Publishers.
Tucker, C.A. (2020). Succession planning for academic nursing. Journal of Professional Nursing, 36(5), 334–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2020.02.002
Tucker, C.A., Bradshaw, M.J., & Ketcham, N. (2013). Teaching and Learning in a Winter Wonderland. Nurse Educator, 38(4), 164-168. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0b013e318296db8b
Selected Podium Presentations (Peer Reviewed)
Tucker, C.A., Zebreski, L., & Cotter, K. (2022, September 29). Leaving a legacy through successful succession planning [Virtual conference session]. Be Bold: Sigma Region 8 2022 Biennial Conference, Virtual Conference.
Tucker, C.A., & Osteen, K. (2022, September 29). Developing, implementing, and adopting virtual simulation to promote clinical reasoning during the Covid-19 pandemic [Virtual conference session]. Be Bold: Sigma Region 8 2022 Biennial Conference, Virtual Conference.
Tucker, C.A., & Osteen, K. (2021, July 1-30). Don’t Panic! Socially Distanced SIM Adventure [Virtual video conference session]. Pearls of wisdom for academic practice: 30 years and beyond. 2021 Nurse Educator’s Conference in the Rockies, Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Tucker, C.A. (2021, April 9). Tablet technology enriches students’ learning in didactic courses [Virtual conference session]. 2021 Texas League for Nursing Annual Spring Summit, Virtual Conference.
Petty, D.S., & Tucker, C.A. (2021, April 1-30). A plan for engagement in academia with reflective learning: Bringing context and relevance to teaching with service-learning projects [Virtual conference session]. Pearls of wisdom for academic practice: 30 years and beyond. 2021 Nurse Educator’s Conference in the Rockies, Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Petty, D.S., Tucker, C.A., & Osteen, K. (2019, November 16). Using standardized test data to drive curricular change [Podium presentation]. 2019 AACN Baccalaureate Nursing Education Conference New Horizons in Academic Nursing, Orlando, Florida.
Osteen, K., & Tucker, C.A. (2019, July 10). The next frontier: Transforming the teaching environment to reach diverse learners [Podium presentation]. 29th Annual Nurse Educator’s Conference in the Rockies, Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future, Vail, Colorado.
Tucker, C.A. (2018, November 16). Transforming a written clinical assignment into a digital interactive clinical experience [Podium presentation]. 2018 AACN Baccalaureate Nursing Education Conference, “Navigating Through a Sea of Change: Educating Nurses to Take the Helm,” New Orleans, Louisiana.
Tucker, C.A., & Rossler, K. (2018, November 5) Improved student outcomes through transformation of a geriatric course delivery [Podium presentation]. Transitions, Transformations, and Outcomes: The Challenges of Achieving Excellence in Nursing Education. Southern Regional Education Board Annual Meeting and Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
Selected Poster Presentations (Peer Reviewed)
Petty, D.S., & Tucker, C.A. (2022, September 29). Threading social determinants of health into a gerontology course through community-based experiential learning [Poster session]. 2022 NLN Education Summit, Healthy Planet, Healthy People, Celebrating the Year of the Nurse Educator, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tucker, C.A. & Osteen, K. (2022, February, 17-19). Creating socially distanced clinical environments: A Covid-19 virtual clinical project [Poster session]. NurseThink® for Nurse Educators - Next Gen Learning: Fundamentals, NCLEX®, and Beyond in-Person and Online Conference, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Palacios, N., Tucker, C.A., McGuire, C., & Sorich, M. (2021, August, 8). Music therapy: An adjunct treatment for pain in post-operative orthopedic patients [Virtual video poster session]. 2021 Virtual 5th Annual International Neuroscience Nursing Research Symposium (INNRS), Virtual Conference.
Neathery, M., Tucker, C.A., Steinke, J., & Mann, L. (2021, June 23). Psychiatric nursing textbook and spiritual care: Definitions, assessments, and interventions [Poster session]. 2021 Indiana Wesleyan University Innovations in Faith-Based Nursing Conference, Marion, Indiana.
Tucker, C.A & Osteen, K. (2020) Transforming a lecture into a simulated patient encounter [Poster session]. Navigating the Rough Seas of a Pandemic: Creating Innovative Simulation-Based Experiences to Stay Afloat. 2020 Texas League of Nursing Educational Summit, October 16, 2020, Virtual Conference.
Neathery, M., Tucker, C.A., Steinke, J., & Mann, L. (2020). Inclusion of spirituality & spiritual care in psychiatric mental health undergraduate textbooks [Poster session]. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses: Proud Partners in the Journal to Whole Health. 2020 American Psychiatric Nurses Association 34th Annual Conference, September 30– October 4, 2020.
Petty, D.S. & Tucker, C.A. (2019, November 3-5). Service learning with reflection: A vehicle to support clinical practicums [Poster presentation]. Enhancing Nursing Education Through Diversity, Student Engagement and Faculty Development. Southern Regional Education Board Annual Meeting and Conference, Atlanta, GA. November 2019
Tucker, C.A. (2018, May 1). Succession planning for nursing leaders in a college of nursing [Poster presentation]. Sigma Theta Tau Eta Gamma Chapter Louise Herrington School of Nursing 2nd Annual LHSON Celebration of Scholarship Day, Dallas, Texas.