Commissioner – Dr. Shellye Vardaman

Shellye Vardaman, PhD, RN-BC, CNE

Dr. Shellye Vardaman earned a baccalaureate degree in nursing from The University of Alabama, a master’s degree in adult health nursing education from Troy State University, and PhD in nursing from The University of Texas at Tyler. She has more than 20 years of nursing experience in the medical-surgical environment, holding board certification as Medical-Surgical Nurse through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Dr. Vardaman has been employed at a rural regional medical center in southeast Alabama, Troy Regional, since 2012. She works primarily in the intensive care unit, but also assists as needed in the education department.

Additionally, Dr. Vardaman holds the Nurse Executive Advanced board certification from ANCC and Certified Nurse Educator certification from the National League for Nursing. Dr. Vardaman has experience teaching in multiple levels of nursing education to include associate, baccalaureate, master’s and clinical doctorate. In addition to her clinical position at Troy Regional Medical Center, she holds faculty rank of Professor at Troy University.

Dr. Vardaman is an active participant in many professional associations including the American Nurses Association, Alabama State Nurses Association, Alabama League for Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, and Phi Kappa Phi. She served as an elected member of the International Governance Committee for Sigma Theta Tau from 2013-2017 and is currently a member of the Region 8 Awards Committee.

Dr. Shellye Vardaman has served the ACEN since 2012 as a Program Evaluator, Team Chair, member of the Evaluation Review Panel.