Skip to Main Content

Cheryl Sheils, EdD, RN

Adjunct Professor

EdD, UMASS Amherst; MSN, University of Connecticut; BSN, American International College

Cheryl Sheils has over 30 years of experience in nursing higher education at both the baccalaureate and graduate levels. Her areas of expertise include pathophysiology, pharmacology, research methods, leadership, as well as curriculum and program design and evaluation. She is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and maintains a leadership role as Governance Chair of the Beta Zeta At-Large Chapter. She is the former Director of Nursing Education and Chief Nurse Administrator at Bay Path.

Her clinical experiences include critical care and home health care as well as medical missions to Jamaica, WI. She has held positions in management and administration in clinical and nursing education settings. She was a founding member, member of the Board of Directors, and clinical manager of Pioneer Free Health Service for 20 years.

She has experience with qualitative research design as well as survey and evaluation research. She has been a practicum and research project advisor to many.

She is the recipient of the 2013 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award – Public and Community Health and The National Association of Hispanic Nurses Western Massachusetts Promoting Nursing Diversity Leadership Award. She also received a Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and served as primary investigator for a Latina Nurse Scholars project funded by the grant.

Doctoral Dissertation:
• Latinas in the Pipeline to Baccalaureate - Prepared Nursing: Challenges and Supports in Persistence to Degree and Professional Licensure, using Spradley’s method of ethnographic interviewing.

Research and Clinical Interests:
• Underserved and disenfranchised populations
• Nursing workforce diversity
• Improving equity and quality in healthcare delivery
• Community health care


Please visit the Doctor of Nursing Practice program page to learn about curriculum, faculty, program options and more!