In addition to the Regents’ Scholar award, the Board also honored CSN Nursing professor Ronald Gonzalez with the Nevada Regents’ Teaching Award.
Gonzalez is from Philadelphia and moved to Las Vegas in 1998. He and his wife moved to North Dakota in 2002 while she to completed medical residency training at the University of North Dakota before returning to Las Vegas in 2005.
Gonzalez has been a registered nurse for over 28 years. His clinical experience includes medical/surgical, operating room, emergency/trauma, IV and nursing administration. He obtained a Master’s in Healthcare Administration in 2006 and began teaching as adjunct faculty at the CSN the following year. Gonzalez received a Master’s in Nursing and joined CSN as a full-time Nursing instructor in 2008 and received tenure three years later.
Gonzalez is the co-coordinator of NURS 101 Fundamentals of Nursing at CSN, where he teaches lecture, lab, and clinical. He has taught NURS 115, NURS 205, NURS 208, and was the Program Director of the Practical Nursing program. “I love working with students from all walks of life,” he said. “It’s very special to see them develop on their journey towards becoming health care professionals. I am thankful to do the work that I do.”
Gonzalez has been married for 21 years, and his hobbies include playing the piano and traveling. He is currently pursuing a doctorate degree and names his parents as the inspiration for his dedication to his students and the nursing profession.
“Things came full circle for me in a very personal way,” he said. “I recently lost my father but before he passed four of my former students were with him in hospice care.” He could not help feeling proud. “Despite my feelings of grief, it was very rewarding to see my former students shining as practicing healthcare professionals.”
His father saw him become a Regents’ Award recipient before he passed, and Gonzalez knows he is proud of his son’s accomplishments. “I feel so grateful and happy. My accomplishments are his accomplishments. It means everything to me that I could share that with him.”
Gonzalez finds contentment educating and helping influence future nurses and has no plans to stop sharing his knowledge and experiences with future generations of health care workers. He tries to impart what it means to be a health care professional and lead by example. “Nursing is a career of service to the community,” he said. “It’s not just a job.”
Gonzalez will continue to volunteer his time to a variety of community and professional organizations and encourages his students to do the same (as he did when he was the faculty advisor for the Student Nurses Association at CSN). Gonzalez mentors and precepts students from other colleges and universities pursuing graduate level medical education whenever possible because he wants to help shape future practitioners.
