AdventHealth University
AdventHealth University welcomes Laura J. Fero, Ph.D., M.S.N., R.N., as its new dean of nursing.
Fero has extensive experience as a university administrator and professor, as well as a nursing leader at hospitals and health systems throughout the country. She earned a doctor of philosophy degree in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing, a master’s degree in nursing/business administration from the University of Phoenix, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fero most recently served as dean of nursing at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to that she was the founding dean of nursing and health sciences and director of nursing at Lees-McRae College in North Carolina.
“AdventHealth University is thrilled to welcome Dr. Fero to our institution,” said C. Josef Ghosn, Ed.D., FACHE, president and CEO of AdventHealth University (AHU). “We are confident Dr. Fero will skillfully lead our undergraduate and graduate nursing programs, ushering in an era of unprecedented growth, collaboration, and innovation in the fields of nursing and nursing education.”
Nursing education offerings at AHU include an associate of science in nursing degree, three-year accelerated bachelor of science in nursing degree, an R.N.-B.S.N. degree program, a doctorate in nurse anesthesia practice, and a doctorate in nursing practice. The associate degree program is scheduled to begin in spring 2024, with 25 students. Fero will also oversee the bachelor of science in nursing program at AHU’s campus in Denver, Colorado.
“I am grateful to join an organization that is forward thinking in its approach to nursing,” said Fero. “Now is a great time to become a nurse, and I look forward to working with students and faculty on setting our nursing strategy to achieve educational excellence, develop faculty and staff, establish pathways to student success, and grow nursing-student enrollment.”
There are 546 students in AHU’s nursing programs at the Orlando campus, and nearly 50 nursing program students at AHU’s Denver campus.
AHU previously announced its commitment to quintuple its nursing student enrollment over the next 10 years, continuing its vital role in the nursing workforce pipeline and in stemming the national nursing shortfall.
AdventHealth University | April 2024
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