Rate My Professor Patricia Sharpnack

Dr. Patricia Sharpnack is the Dean of The Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions and Strawbridge Professor at Ursuline College. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ursuline College, a Master of Science in Nursing from The University of Akron, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing with a focus on education. Holding certifications as a nurse educator (CNE) and advanced nursing executive (NEA-BC), she is a fellow of the NLN Academy of Nurse Educators (ANEF) and the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), inducted in 2019. Her clinical career includes work in coronary and medical intensive care, home care, and maternal-child nursing. Sharpnack has served as Chief Nursing Officer for healthcare agencies and held numerous leadership positions, including appointment to the Ohio Board of Nursing where she was president for three terms, supervisory member, and nursing education chair. She also acted as a National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) delegate and committee member from 2014 through 2022. At Ursuline College, she assumed the role of Dean in 2014.

Dr. Sharpnack's academic interests encompass academic-practice partnerships, active learning and teaching strategies, innovative clinical education models, competency development and testing, health care policy, and cultural competence. She serves on editorial boards and as a reviewer for refereed journals, with extensive publications and presentations at national and international conferences. Key publications include 'Dreaming to Achieve Let Us Begin Our Competency-Based Education Journey' (Nursing Education Perspectives, 2024), 'Mental Health in Nursing Education: Creating a Supportive Environment for Faculty and Students' (Nursing Education Perspectives, 2024), 'Reimagining Nursing Education: The Power of a Shared Vision!' (Nursing Education Perspectives, 2023), 'Pathways to BSN Education: Teamwork in Ohio' (Nursing Education Perspectives, 2017), and 'Using low-fidelity simulation with sophomore nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program' (Nursing Education Perspectives, 2012). As Chair of the National League for Nursing Board of Governors from 2023 to 2025, she advanced nursing education initiatives, contributing to Ursuline College's designation as an NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education in 2021 and 2025. She was nominated for the YWCA 2025 Women of Achievement award.