Nell Ard

Dr. Nell Ard is the Chief Accreditation Officer for the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). For nearly two decades, Dr. Ard has been working for the ACEN. She began as a volunteer peer evaluator in 2004 and then joined the ACEN as a full-time Director in 2012. She was promoted to the new position of Chief Accreditation Officer in 2023.

In 1983, Dr. Ard completed her baccalaureate degree in nursing at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. In 1988, she completed a master’s of nursing degree in family nursing with a focus in nursing education from West Texas State University in Canyon, TX. Dr. Ard completed her Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing in 1999 from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in Clinical Research. Her dissertation was entitled Adolescent Prenatal Attachment, Psychosocial Development and Parental Bonding: Is There a Relationship?

Dr. Ard had a variety of clinical experiences. She has worked in Labor and Delivery; Mother/Baby units; Women’s Health Care units; Level II Nurseries; and volunteered in indigent healthcare clinics. She began her teaching career in 1988. She was in nursing education for 24 years prior to coming to the ACEN; and she has taught in diploma; associate; baccalaureate; and master’s degree programs. Prior to coming to ACEN, Dr. Ard was the Director of Nursing for an associate degree program, Collin College in McKinney, Texas for ten (10) years. During her time with Collin College, she facilitated the nursing program’s designation as an Exemplary program by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in 2004 and 2009; and as the first NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education for Texas in 2011.

Dr. Ard has been actively involved in nursing education at the regional, state, and national levels. She has published several articles and given presentations extensively. She has also contributed to several nursing books including the “Essentials of Learning” Chapter in Building the Science of Nursing Education: Foundation for Evidence-based Teaching-Learning and was co-editor for Clinical Nursing Education: Current Reflections. Both of these books were published by the National League for Nursing (NLN).

Dr. Ard has been a Certified Nurse Educator since 2007. She also has been a Fellow in the Academy of Nurse Educators since 2009. Dr. Ard began as a program evaluator with ACEN in 2004; has served as a site visitor chair; and served on the Evaluation Review Panel for associate programs.

Dr. Ard has memberships in the National League for Nursing; Sigma Theta Tau; Association for Women’s Health, Obstetrical, and Neonatal Nursing; and the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing.