Synergis Education has hired Dr. Carole Eldridge as the company’s chief nursi
ng officer.
In her role as CNO and as a member of the Synergis leadership team, Eldridge will oversee the development of key clinical relationships essential to the company’s growth.
“We are thrilled that Carole is joining our team at such an exciting time in our history,” said Synergis Chief Executive Officer Norm Allgood. “Having grown our higher education partnerships by more than 70% in the last year, we realized the need to do the same for our partnerships within the health care industry, as these relationships will be essential to the training and development of the modern nursing workforce.”
As a registered nurse, certified nurse educator and former nursing college president, Eldridge has witnessed the evolution of the nursing profession firsthand and is uniquely qualified to speak about the challenges it faces today. She is inherently familiar with the national nursing shortage and is committed to doing her part to solve it.
“We have an urgent shortage, particularly in the smaller hospitals where we’ll be doing a lot of work,” Eldridge said. “We know that hospital-based nursing education prepares nurses to perform effectively the minute they graduate, and that’s what we need today. Just like we had to build up our health care workforce after World War II, we need to do the same now, after the pandemic. Synergis is poised to help its partner institutions do that, and I’m looking forward to contributing.”
Prior to joining Synergis, Eldridge served as a vice president at Chamberlain University in Downers Grove, Ill., leading the online degree and certificate programs in nursing and other health professions. Prior to that, she held leadership positions in several campus-based baccalaureate nursing programs, including serving as president of the Chamberlain College of Nursing Houston campus, dean of nursing at West Coast University’s Dallas campus, and dean and campus director for St. John’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Springfield, Mo.
In 2007, Eldridge led the online executive nursing leadership program at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, and before that she served as a nursing professor in traditional and online BSN and RN-BSN programs at Texas A&M University in Stephenville, Texas, and Southwest Baptist University in Missouri.
Preceding her career in higher education, Eldridge was CEO of Pacesetter Home Care Group and senior vice president for quality and resident services of Assisted Living Concepts. She has several years of experience leading healthcare consulting and management firms, where she managed clinical staff education programs, developed continuing education materials, and performed quality management audits. Her clinical experience includes 10 years as a critical care nurse, 10 years in primary care, home health care, and hospice, and a year operating a clinic in Lusaka, Zambia.
Eldridge holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rush University College of Nursing in Chicago, Ill; a Master of Science in Nursing from University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing, Arlington, Texas; a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Evangel College in Springfield, Mo.; and a diploma in nursing from Burge School of Nursing in Springfield, Mo.