SPRINGFIELD, MO - Carole Eldridge, DNP, RN, NEA-BC has been named dean of St. John’s College of Nursing (SJCON) and Health Sciences Southwest Baptist University.
Dr. Eldridge comes to the dean’s position from University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, where she served as director and associate professor of UTMB’s online Nursing Leadership Master’s program. Eldridge brings to SJCON her extensive experience in technology and business within the healthcare industry.
Dr. Eldridge is well known and respected in the field of nursing and healthcare as a business leader, educator and consultant. Her well rounded experience in the healthcare industry includes serving as CEO of Pacesetter Home Care Group, Inc., a 50-branch home care company that operated in four states. Eldridge is the author of several textbooks and online journals. Her book Evidence-Based Falls Prevention: A Study Guide for Nurses, published by HCPro, has been published in three editions.
Eldridge has integrated her lifelong personal goals for nursing into her new position as dean. Eldridge says “My overarching goal and calling as a Christian nurse and educator is to help make better healthcare available to every human on the planet, in Jesus’ name.”
In her new position as dean, Eldridge already has objectives in place to meet the mission of SJCON and her goal. Says Eldridge "We want to work toward a prelicensure 4-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing based on SBU's Bolivar campus, offer an accelerated BSN for those who have a bachelor's degree in another major, and an online Master of Science in Nursing program. We will also be working on moving the existing RN-to-BSN program from its current blended delivery method to a fully online venue."
Eldridge believes that St. John’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences and Southwest Baptist University are uniquely positioned to embrace this mission by equipping Christian healthcare professionals to serve globally. Eldridge has experienced firsthand, serving globally. Mid career she moved to southern Africa, where she taught women’s health and ran a medical clinic for the Baptist Seminary of Zambia.
Dr. Eldridge earned her nursing diploma from Burge School of Nursing in Springfield, Missouri, in 1974. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Evangel University in 1975 and a Master of Science degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2006, she was awarded the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Leadership and the Business of Healthcare from Rush University in Chicago. She is a Board-Certified Nurse Executive, Advanced.
Eldridge’s many honors include: Who’s Who in Outstanding Female Executives, Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, and Who’s Who in American Teachers. In 2006, Eldridge received the Nurse Educator Teaching Innovation Award from the Nursing Education Consortium of Southwest Missouri.
Eldridge’s commitment as a Christian is integrated in all aspects of her career. Eldridge says “In my work as a Christian educator in the health and business arenas, I strive to teach an applied theology that puts hands and feet to the Christian beliefs and practices taught in the Bible. Many people choose the health professions because they want to help others, and as a Christian nurse and teacher I can reinforce this motivation in students as they learn how to use their gifts and abilities in Christian service.”
