Rosario Medina
Nurse Leader, Educator, and Program Developer
Rosario Medina, Ph.D., FNP-BC, ACNP, CNS, FAANP, is a New York native who currently lives in Colorado. Early on, with science being her favorite subject, she was certain of a career in medicine by the time she was in middle school. In fact, she was able to join a special pre-college magnet program that allowed her to go right into a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program from high school. Dr. Medina completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Pace University Lienhard School of Nursing at Pleasantville, New York.
Her early exposure to nursing planted a “teaching seed” that grew over the years. After her time as a manager, she returned to school for her Master’s of Science (MSN) in Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from College of New Rochelle in New York and eventually her PhD from Barry University in Miami, Florida. Like many other nurses, it was not a straight shot to a Ph.D for Dr. Medina. Before working toward her doctorate, Dr. Medina’s MSN journey was filled with difficult choices, as she had to choose between a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or a Nurse Practitioner degree. Being that the acute care arena primarily employed CNS, she decided on the CNS route. Fortunately, the beauty of nursing is that it allows for various paths to reach your desired career destination. With that career flexibility in mind, Dr. Medina later returned to school for her Post NP Certificate, from Florida Atlantic University and Barry University, specializing in Family and Acute Care, following her passion for preventative primary care.
Dr. Medina has 28 years of academic experience as a teaching professor and administrator. Her 39 years of nursing experience — 23 of which have been as an active family nurse practitioner — has focused on the management and care of underserved populations with chronic disease and comorbidities in New York City, Florida and Colorado. Medina’s research trajectory has made her an expert in understanding health beliefs and values of Hispanic underserved populations and knowledgeable in community-based research aimed at changing practice. Her research findings have supported the alteration of practice in meeting the healthcare needs of underrepresented Hispanics — primarily by infusing practice with culturally competent community outreach interventions. Dr. Medina has also lead several grant-funded research project that has resulted in positive behavior among the Hispanic populations.
Dr. Medina is currently a clinical professor and the Associate Dean of Clinical and Community Affairs at the University of Colorado College of Nursing. She holds a secondary appointment in medicine in the Division of Family Practice. In her role as Associate Dean, Dr. Medina oversees multiple nurse-led faculty practices serving Denver metro and rural Colorado areas. These include five midwifery clinics; a campus health primary clinic serving students, staff and faculty; an integrative primary care clinic serving a mixed population in the suburbs; and an integrative primary care clinic caring for the underserved populations of Denver. As a nurse educator, she enjoys influencing others to fall in love with the nursing profession. During her time teaching, she realized her role in opening the door for others who might wonder if they have what it takes to pursue a career in Higher Education as a nurse.
Further Resources
Sources
The information above was sourced from Dr. Rosario Medina
View Dr. Medina’s Nurses You Should Know Video here.
Connect with Dr. Medina on LinkedIn.
Learn More
To learn more about inclusion in nursing and be part of the national discussion to address racism in nursing, check out and share the following resources:
Know Your History
- Nursing CLIO to engage with historians and scholars committed to deep work around historical accuracy in healthcare and nursing.
- American Association for the History of Nursing to attend monthly webinars on topics of nursing history, view the calendar here.
Examine Bias
- NurseManifest to attend live zoom sessions with fellow nurses on nursing’s overdue reckoning on racism or to sign their pledge.
- Breaking Bias in Healthcare, an online course created by scientist Anu Gupta, to learn how bias is related to our brain’s neurobiology and can be mitigated with mindfulness.
- Revolutionary Love Learning Hub provides free tools for learners and educators to use love as fuel towards ourselves, our opponents, and to others so that we can embody a world where we see no strangers.
Support & Advocate
- National Coalition for Ethnic Minority Nurse Association to stay engaged with topics relevant to nurses of color.
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