Entrance Interview with Dean Tucker

By Julie Harper ’01

Newly appointed Dean Sharon Tucker sits down to share her journey to Central Florida and her vision to lead UCF’s College of Nursing into the future.

On August 1, 2025, Sharon Tucker officially begins her appointment as dean of UCF’s College of Nursing and takes the helm at a time of growth and opportunity both at the college and in the profession.

The Midwest native relocated to Central Florida last year, bringing two decades of leadership experience with her to UCF as professor and chair of the Department of Nursing Practice.

A change management expert and distinguished scholar in psychiatric mental health nursing and evidence-based practice, Tucker is energized by her new role and hometown.

Just like the sunshine outside her office window at the new Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion, officially opening Fall 2025, her excitement for the future of the profession and Knight nurses is shining bright.

You most recently were at The Ohio State University. What attracted you to Florida?

I grew up in Minnesota and lived throughout the Midwest, but our family traveled a lot to Florida. My husband and I both wanted to eventually move here. I don’t mind the heat or the humidity.

When I was at The Ohio State University, we rented a place in Daytona Beach. We’re both active people and the walkability of the beach in Daytona was really attractive to us. So I started looking at opportunities in the region and UCF came up.

What were your first impressions of UCF?

I had only known of Orlando as Disney from our family vacations. But when I first came to the interview on campus, I loved it. I came from a very large university, and UCF is equivalent if not bigger.

I could feel the innovation — not just from my discussions with President Cartwright, but also in the work happening here. It’s a desire to be cutting-edge while also being community-driven. I was very impressed.

I was also struck immediately by the talented pool of students, faculty and staff from all backgrounds. There is so much talent and commitment to doing good work.

At the college level, the leadership team is amazing. I immediately felt connected and accepted in the College of Nursing from the moment I met Dean Sole. I have continued to feel support not only for myself, but also, more importantly, our students, faculty and staff.

What do you think are the greatest strengths of UCF and the College of Nursing?

I think UCF is a diamond in Central Florida.

Our clinical partners value our students, which reflects excellence. The commitment of our faculty is reflected in the outcomes of our students, who score above the national averages on the licensure and certification exams. The commitment of our students beyond their academics, in student organizations and community service, is also impressive.

All of this shows the pride of UCF in great depth. People want to come here and stay here.

I also love the community in Lake Nona. It’s vibrant and a place of youth and ideas. I’m thrilled that the College of Nursing is here and excited to leverage the strengths of the campus.

What are your goals and vision for UCF’s College of Nursing?

What are three words you would use to describe your leadership style?

Transformational, relationship-based and compassionate.

There are many challenges facing healthcare and the nursing profession. In your opinion, what are the greatest challenges?

I think it’s the recruitment and retention of nurses at the bedside and faculty recruitment, retention and development. Like the nursing profession, faculty are aging and we are going to face a shortage of faculty that will have implications for our ability to produce the nurses that we need for the delivery of care.

Another challenge is ensuring population health by leveraging the strength of nurses. We have to strongly advocate for the role of the nurse, maximizing their training, education and expertise, to get them back to spending more time with patients to help with their suffering and to educate in caring for illness and disease.

How will UCF contribute to the solution of those, and future, challenges? 

It’s leveraging UCF’s goals of transformation and unleashing potential.

There’s a lot of untapped opportunity with working with industry and looking at things differently with out-of-the-box thinking in healthcare. I am a strong believer in eliminating the phrase, “because this is how we have always done it.” We have to continue to advance science and data to drive our actions.

It’s leveraging technology and AI, to be willing and open to using it, and exploiting the expertise across professions and the university by humbly inviting partners to engage in dialogue.

We need to continue to work with our partners to ensure our students graduate with the skills and competencies that are essential and critical for practice. But also, we need to be bold with our clinical partners in how to use nurses in their full scope of practice beyond the hospital to coaching people in their physical and mental health.

These challenges present an opportunity for us to all work together to keep people healthy, prevent disease affordably, and ensure a healthier future for all.

What qualities do you think are important in nurses today?

If you could offer one piece of advice to incoming UCF nursing students, what would it be?

First of all, I would say nursing is not an easy profession. It’s hard work and it takes a very special person to be a nurse. Stay committed, leverage your strengths, know thyself and commit to lifelong learning.

Believe in the core mission of what nursing care is all about. It is truly a calling to want to serve humans in a way of managing and alleviating suffering. You are with people at their most vulnerable and scared moments.

As a nurse, you’ll have many moments of impact — patients you’ll never forget. I’ve had many in my career, from my early days as a critical care nurse to working as a sexual assault nurse examiner. What will stick with you in those moments is the human connection, and that you were there for someone not only physically, but also emotionally.

What initially inspired you to pursue a career in nursing?

I have a big heart.  As a child, I remember watching football with my family and feeling bad for the team that lost. I want everyone to succeed and have opportunities.

Nursing provided an opportunity and an ideal fit for my desire to be in a profession where I could give back and continue to help people live their best lives.

You began your career at the bedside. What was your journey from bedside care to leader and scholar?

I began my career as an ICU nurse at Mayo Clinic, and one of my most important observations was how many of those patients had behavioral elements to their illness. What brought them in could have been prevented, and I realized I want to be on the other end of their care.

I began to help with trauma of sexual assault victims. The work was very rewarding and enlightening. I realized that trauma can lead to mental health problems and mental health problems can lead to trauma, making someone more vulnerable. It inspired my career trajectory into psychiatric and mental health nursing.

I advanced my knowledge in mental and behavioral health and advanced my education to eventually earn my Ph.D. While doing so, I began to work in administrative roles in healthcare organizations to influence decisions at the management level and in roles in higher education to build research and mentor nurses.

Most recently before UCF, I was in an endowed position in mental health and helped build an institute for evidence-base practice.

I’m grateful and excited about the opportunity to lead UCF’s College of Nursing as dean. I feel privileged to work with everyone here.

As a researcher, you have focused your work on psychiatric mental health nursing and evidence-based practice. What inspired your work in those fields?

It’s all an umbrella of change, being a change agent to help people. I strongly believe that change has to come from within and a lot of times people get stuck.

For mental health and illness, it’s improving functioning to not just survive, but thrive in life. In organizations, it’s getting clinicians to adopt new evidence and new ways of doing things to ultimately improve care.

The implementation science field grew out of recognizing the need to understand how to help people adopt evidence and accelerate the use of evidence.

I have also focused my research on worksite wellness and the meaningful things that help people enjoy their work and lives such as flexibility and respect.

You have published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, co-authored an award-winning book, and been an invited speaker across the U.S. and around the world. What scholarly activities are you most proud of?

You have more than two decades of leadership experience. What have you learned?

First and foremost, I learned that emotional intelligence is critical. You cannot be a good leader if you don’t have emotional intelligence, and that includes empathy, personal insight, personal self-awareness and a willingness to listen.

Promoting and listening to the voices of all constituents is really important. You can’t accomplish much if you’re only focused on yourself and your own ideas.

Intentionally developing and valuing relationships with colleagues, within the profession and other disciplines, is also something I have focused on and think is important.

Another lesson is to know that conflict is inevitable. As a mental health advanced practice nurse and psychotherapist, I know that most people don’t like to deal with conflict or they do it in a very aggressive way. Managing conflict takes a lot of finesse. You have to stay true to your word, always have integrity, don’t personalize or make assumptions, and always do your best.

Those are the four agreements (from author Miguel Ruiz). If you live your life guided by these agreements, you’re going to deal with conflict in the most constructive way and you’re going to help people grow.

You also have to be bold in how you advocate for your people and in navigating challenges.

You have earned numerous accolades in your career. What achievement means the most to you?

There are two that stand out to me. One was being selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program. It was a three-year advanced leadership program for nurses, and it truly inspired and changed me as a leader.

Second is my induction as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Awardees are selected for demonstrating impact both nationally and internationally. Being selected affirms the work that I’m doing matters.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

There are actually three pieces of advice that really drive my day-to-day. First, timing is critical. Not everything can happen at once. You have to look at the factors influencing whether or not the time is right.

Second, it can be lonely at the top. You have to make decisions sometimes that not everyone is going to like.

Third is a quote from Maya Angelou that always has inspired me. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It’s true – both in the nursing profession and as a leader.

What energizes you about your work?

It’s two things: change and purpose. I’m not afraid of change. I’m excited by it. Looking at things differently and having a vision that you can plan and execute is exciting.

Knowing your purpose is incredibly powerful – providing an anchor for decisions and actions – and it’s an opportunity we can all explore more.

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