Jackie Gonzalez

Jackie Gonzalez, DNP, APRN, MBA, MSN, NEA-BC, FAAN is Adjunct Faculty at the George Washington University School of Nursing.  Today, Gonzalez volunteers her time in collaboration with the University of Miami Health System and has collaborated in the establishment of the Patient/Family Advisory Council. She serves on the Facilities and Technology subcommittees and is a community member of the Patient Safety Committee. She is also a long-time board member of the Miami-Dade County Boys & Girls Club.  

Most recently Dr. Gonzalez served most recently as Senior System Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer and Patient Safety Officer with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, Florida.  She has many years of experience as a senior clinical and organizational leader with expertise in health care leadership, strategic vision and decision making, clinical operations, quality, and patient safety as well as advocacy and innovation.  She has served on national panels including in the development of pediatric nursing sensitive indicators and the children’s hospital national disaster advisory committee for the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (now the Children’s Hospital Association).  She has also served on their national Education and MIS councils. 

Dr. Gonzalez led her organization in the achievement of four consecutive American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognition™ designations and was nationally among the first children’s hospitals to achieve initial designation.  In 2015, the Humpty Dumpty Pediatric Falls Prevention Program™, developed under her leadership and launched globally, was recognized for its global outcomes as a nurse-led pediatric falls prevention program.   The organization was selected as the first children’s hospital for its innovation, program impact and quality outcomes as the recipient of the renowned ANCC Magnet Prize™.  This pediatric patient safety program is globally accepted by approximately 1500 hospitals, touching thousands of lives and, throughout many countries, it serves as the standard of care for fall prevention in children. The program is also in all branches of the armed services; in every state across the United States and has been translated into over 16 languages.   

The Nursing Department, under Jackie’s leadership has been recognized for its outstanding clinical outcomes by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) in its receipt of gold and silver Beacon Awards in all inpatient units has also been recognized by receipt of Press Ganey’s NDNQI™ Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality in 2015 and by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society in 2019 as the recipient of Nursing’s Clinical Healthy Work Environment Award. 

Other noteworthy achievements include Gonzalez’s award from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce as a Healthcare Hero in 2017.  She was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush and reappointed by Governor Charlie Crist to the Florida Center for Nursing.  Additionally, she has served as President of the Florida Organization of Nurse Leaders and President of the Nursing Consortium of South Florida, representing nursing practice and academic institutions.  In 2004, Dr. Gonzalez was selected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and has been a. member of the Fellow Selection Committee. 

Dr. Gonzalez received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Nursing and has served on their Alumni Board.  She then obtained her master’s degree from the University of Miami and has served on their Visiting Committee.  She completed her MBA from George Washington University School of Business and received her doctoral degree in nursing practice from the University of Miami School of Nursing and Allied Health Studies.

She began her career in pediatrics and pediatric intensive care with Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.  She then moved to South Florida to begin her life’s work as a nurse caring for children in the hematology/oncology unit with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (known as Miami Children’s Hospital) and continued to advance into leadership roles.