Shelly Wells is Professor Emerita from Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Her primary areas of impact have been in nursing workforce policy. She led the development of Oklahoma’s first comprehensive state law to address workplace violence in the healthcare setting. She developed the state’s first BSN-to-DNP program for rural family nurse practitioners to address supply issues specifically in rural Oklahoma and beyond. She continues to work with the Oklahoma State Legislature and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to identify and address the issues of nursing education, supply and demand, and her impact is felt in the nursing education at all levels state-wide. Dr. Wells serves as a member of the ANA Committee on Nursing Practice Standards. She is a member of the Oklahoma Board of Nursing’s Education and Practice Advisory Committee. She serves as the Nursing Representative to the Governor’s Subcommittee on Healthcare Workforce. She is a Fellow in the NLN Academy of Nursing Education. She is the immediate past president of the Oklahoma Nurses Association, a member of the ANA, NLN, and Sigma. Dr. Wells earned her BS (Nursing) at Graceland College and her MS (Nursing), MBA, and PhD degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.