I’m Ruth Oliver, the Director of Nursing here at Schreiner. I got my start as a nurse in the city of my birth, Detroit, Michigan with a BSN at Mercy College. As a bedside nurse, I worked step-down inpatient units in Michigan, Illinois, and San Diego. I obtained a Master of Science in Nursing Administration from San Diego State University and was a manger for medical and orthopedic units. I had a 22-year career with Sharp Healthcare as a staff nurse, charge nurse, manager, heart failure case manager, and education specialist with IT. As a patient acuity specialist, I traveled between Sharp’s 6 inpatient facilities and worked with nurses in varied specialties.

Coming from a family of teachers, academia was my destiny. I worked in both adjunct and full-time faculty positions at Southwestern Community College, among other CCs, and Point Loma Nazarene University. Additional work as a Retention Specialist helped me understand better the learning processes and barriers for college students. After moving to Santa Fe New Mexico in 2015, I worked in hospital settings as a clinical educator and at Santa Fe CC. The best part of clinical education in smaller hospitals is the need to learn a little about everything, from emergency medicine to birthing babies. I completed my DNP with Grand Canyon University studying evidence-based practice in leadership. Drawn to the Texas Hill Country, I started at Schreiner in January of 2022. My twin girls preceded me to Texas, both married military men and one even married a native Texan! My son is sticking to the west coast at present. When not working, a German Shepherd and Husky/Rottweiler keep my husband and I busy and entertained!