Dr. Bonnie Hesselberg, SCF Lakewood Ranch provost and dean of nursing at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, was recognized by the SCF District Board of Trustees at an October meeting for being named among Great 100 Nurses by the Florida Nurses Association.

Hesselberg was honored for her excellence in nursing practice at the 2009 FNA Great 100 Nurses Centennial Celebration in September in St. Petersburg Beach. She was nominated by her peers who described her as “a respected and admired leader in nursing education” with key strengths including “dedication, innovation and community involvement.”

Hesselberg has worked as a nurse and educator for the past 30 years to improve the quality of health care through her commitment to nursing programs. At SCF, she has helped secure funding to expand a successful associate in science nursing program and helped develop a new bachelor's of science in nursing degree program slated to begin in January 2010.

Hesselberg also helped design a new state-of-the-art Medical Technology and Simulation Center opening at SCF Lakewood Ranch in 2010. The two-story, 40,000-square-foot facility is SCF’s first green building with LEED certification. Designed to educate nursing and health care professionals, the building will feature sophisticated adult and infant simulation technology in an intensive care unit, labor and delivery room, science labs and classrooms.

Hesselberg also has been active as a member of the American Nurses Association, Florida Nursing Students Association and the Florida Nurses Association. She currently serves as director on the Southern Regional Educational Board, and has been named a member of the Advisory Panel for Simulation Technology and Nursing in Florida representing the Florida Council of Nursing Education Administrators.

In 2005, she established a Nursing Consortium for Education and Collaboration that includes representatives from area hospitals, hospice, health departments, other health care organizations and educational institutions.

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