RCBC Director of Nursing Dr. Shannon Williams leverages exclusive leadership experience to improve program

Another day, another big moment for Rowan College at Burlington County staff. In February, the National League for Nursing accepted RCBC’s Director of Nursing, Dr. Shannon Williams, into its 2024 LEAD Program, a highly selective, cutting-edge experience for current or prospective nursing leaders in education.

Since orientation in June, Williams, along with 24 fellow nurse educators from colleges, universities, and healthcare institutions nationwide, including those from as far away as Oregon, has participated in one-on-one executive coaching, retreats, and leadership webinars as part of the program, all in an initiative to become a preeminent educational voice in the healthcare landscape.

Williams credits RCBC and its members, particularly the Dean of Health Sciences, Dr. Karen Montalto, for instilling in her courage; if not for them, she may never have taken the leap to apply.

Dr. Montalto said to Williams, "'We really should get you in a leadership program,’” Williams recalls. “So she’s the one that pushed me to do it, and she wrote a lovely letter to help me get in. And RCBC has been very supportive of me, and I’m so thankful for that.”

Nursing wasn’t even Williams’ initial path; before, she was a teacher, teaching to autistic children in a self-contained classroom at one point and children at the third-grade level at another. However, when her oldest daughter was born, and she rested in the hospital, a nurse unwittingly sparked a desire inside Williams to pursue something new.

“She sat in the room with me and taught me what to do when I go home with a baby, you know, my first baby, and the light went off,” she said. “So I told my husband that I wanted to go back to school to be a nurse, and that’s what I did.”

First, Williams completed her nursing degree at the highly regarded Helene Fuld School of Nursing, followed by her master’s and doctoral degrees. Soon, she was back in the classroom, teaching again—clinical this time—right here at RCBC in 2016.

Williams then departed from the college for nine months but was rehired as director in 2023. In this new role, LEAD has helped squash feelings of trepidation about how to best guide the nursing program.  

“I feel like that’s one of the big things that this has done for me; it has made me more confident in my role,” Williams said. “One of the things I want to do is bring out the best in the faculty and, especially, the students. When you have a strong leader, that makes everyone else better.”

Williams and the rest of the LEAD cohort will convene next in September at the National League for Nursing Education Summit in San Antonio, Texas. As she traverses these new experiences and challenges, Williams strives to stay curious, ask questions, and look at things from another perspective to improve.