2023 NP EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
Sheba Luke is the MSN Program Director and an Associate Professor in the Graduate Programs at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She is a family nurse practitioner and certified as a nurse executive and telehealth practitioner. She maintains an active practice as a family nurse practitioner at UTMB Urgent Care. As an educator, she is engaged in clinical and practice innovation with an emphasis on utilizing technology for process improvements. She has been at the forefront of designing, implementing, and evaluating virtual projects for the School of Nursing.
In 2016, she led the Master’s program in using iPads to conduct clinical site visits using FaceTime. Most recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was consulted for her technical expertise and experience in process improvements utilizing technology for virtually evaluating nurse practitioners’ clinical competence, which had international interest from Edith Cowan University in Australia to implement a similar telehealth simulation for their nurse practitioner students.
In addition, she enjoys creating active learning simulations for distance education learners. She is passionate about policy advocacy for nursing and healthcare, which was ignited through her selection to be a national policy committee member of the inaugural Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) through the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She has continued her advocacy work as a Texas Nurse Practitioner’s Legislative Ambassador for several years. More recently, she was chosen to serve on the legislative task force for the City of Sugar Land. She believes that nurse practitioners are vital for the future of our healthcare system by providing high-quality and affordable healthcare to an ever-increasing and diverse patient population. She aims to provide these future nurse practitioners with quality educational and training experiences and empower them to advocate for their profession.
