Senior Director, Perioperative Education, AORN
Colleen has been long dedicated to the evolution of nursing practice and nursing research. She started her career as a staff nurse and has progressed from nurse manager to Executive Director of Surgical Services, Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer leading a top community hospital, Vice President, Academic Operations and now is the Senior Director of Perioperative Education with AORN. Colleen has been recognized as a leader in the organization receiving the David A. Gee Leadership award from her hospital. Colleen has also received recognition from her OSF St. Francis nursing school as a leader in nursing when she received the Distinguished alumni leadership award in 2007. While conducting her doctoral dissertation, Colleen’s research was twice recognized with the Dean’s Award and again with the MNRS award for doctoral dissertation research. Colleen has been active in presentation and publication as a means to disseminate information. Her participation on the editorial board of an OR and nursing journal has made her an invaluable asset.
Colleen’s background is cardiothoracic surgery critical care and Perioperative services with experience as a staff nurse building up to the executive director role via leadership in ascending management roles. In each area, a strong performance improvement team was developed, implemented with continued sustainment. Examples of successful process/performance improvement teams generated from the performance improvement teams include establishing Centers of Excellence – Stroke, VAD, LVR and Epilepsy, fall prevention, DPC improvement, skin care improvement, mass transfusion protocol development and implementation, flash sterilization and pathology tissue management to name a few. In the spirit of continuing education, Colleen completed her nursing research PhD completing research in perioperative pressure injury risk factors.
Colleen is married to Scott, they enjoy the outdoors, traveling and family. She has 2 daughters, both married and employed in healthcare.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
3010 - So Much to Learn, So Little Time: The Many Hats of a Perioperative Nurse Leader
Saturday, April 11, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM CST
Monday, April 13, 2026
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CST