Shakira Henderson is a busy woman. She holds not one but two prominent positions at the University of Florida — dean and chief administrative officer of the UF College of Nursing and also system chief nurse executive at UF Health.
The dual roles require a lot of juggling for Henderson, but there are also a lot of synergies — and it’s a leadership combination other nursing programs are considering.
Henderson began her career in nursing as a bedside nurse and worked her way through leadership positions. At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she last worked, she was assistant vice chancellor for clinical research on the university side, clinical research integration officer for the UNC School of Medicine, and a system vice president and research officer for the health care system.
When she was tapped to become the nursing college dean at UF, she was ecstatic. “That combination of being the nurse in the middle allows me to bridge that gap between academic nursing and clinical practice. It allows me to not only educate the next generation of nurses but implement best practices in real time,” she explains.
The BSN program at UF has grown 41% over the past five years, due to a major focus on the school’s accelerated BSN program. Students with a degree in another field can earn their nursing degree in just 15 months.
Henderson sees many synergies between her dual roles, such as unifying academic and practice leadership to respond to the nursing shortage, addressing nursing burnout and providing professional development.
She’s seen many other institutions that want to address the synergies between their nursing college and health care system but may not capitalize on it with a role like hers. “You have to change a lot of things to make [the dual role] happen, but it’s not impractical. … We want to be the first movers in the space and pilot innovative ways,” she says.
Henderson says she’s able to manage her two positions with careful time management, prioritization, and a strong support system both from nursing college faculty and UF Health leaders. Effective delegation and open communication also help, she says.