Dr. Shanna W. Akers

Dr. Shanna W. Akers is an educational leader and registered nurse with nearly 30 years of nursing leadership and clinical experience. Her background includes practice as a critical care nurse in cardiac and trauma intensive care units, service as Director of the Cardiovascular Service Line for a two-hospital health system, and leadership roles as a Professor of Nursing and Nursing School Dean. She currently serves as Dean of the Scott & White School of Nursing, where she provides strategic leadership focused on academic excellence, faculty development, and student success.

Dr. Akers has more than 15 years of experience in higher education, having served as Administrative Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Dean, and Professor. Throughout her academic career, she has taught across all program levels, including courses in leadership, ethics and policy, nursing education, and programmatic assessment at the graduate and doctoral levels. She earned her initial nursing licensure at Louisiana Tech University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has a Master of Science in Nursing in Nursing Administration and a Master of Business Administration. She completed a post-graduate Educational Specialist (EdS) degree in Educational Leadership in 2011 and earned a Doctor of Education (EdD) in Curriculum and Instruction in 2015. Her doctoral research examined the relationship between clinical and simulation experiences and critical care nursing students’ knowledge and self-efficacy.

A committed scholar and speaker, Dr. Akers has published multiple peer-reviewed articles related to nursing education, spirituality, forgiveness, and healthcare, and has written for local publications focused on encouraging healthcare professionals and addressing educational needs. She has presented both nationally and internationally, including at the Sigma Theta Tau International Congress, the International Nursing Research Congress, and institutions in India such as the All-India Institute for Medical Sciences in New Delhi, the MOSC College of Nursing in Kolenchery, and Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur. She also speaks regularly on Biblical leadership and facilitates women’s Bible studies.

Dr. Akers serves on the editorial board of the Jordan Journal of Nursing Research and reviews manuscripts for professional journals including the Journal of Christian Nursing and Teaching & Learning in Nursing. She is a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) and board certified as a Nurse Executive–Advanced (NEA-BC). Her professional affiliations include the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing (ALSN), Christian Nurses Fellowship, Texas Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International. She was selected as an AACN–Wharton Executive Leadership Fellow in 2018 and has participated in the AACN Advancing Academic Leadership program. Currently, she serves as Treasurer for District 7 of the Texas Nurses Association and was elected as Nominating Committee Member for ALSN. Her research interests include faith-based education, spiritual care, forgiveness, religiosity in healthcare, and the impact of nursing leadership and practice on patient and educational outcomes. (ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-51...)

Dr. Akers and her husband, Shawn, have a son and two daughters. They live in Temple, Texas, where they enjoy hiking, spending time outdoors, and making memories as a family.