Dr. Cheryl King

Biography and Professional Achievements

Dr. Cheryl King brings over 30 years of nursing experience to Colorado Christian University. Dr. King received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and began her career as a graduate nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She has always enjoyed working with sick and premature infants and their families.

Dr. King learned early in her career that she was blessed with a passion for teaching and mentoring nurses to achieve their full potential. She obtained her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center with a specialty in Maternal-Fetal Nursing to increase her expertise. Dr. King is licensed in the state as an advanced practice Clinical Nurse Specialist. She functioned as a Neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist for 20 years in a renowned high risk prenatal and neonatal referral center for the Rocky Mountain region. She also became one of the first nurses to be certified as a Neonatal Critical Nurse from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Dr. King made a career change in 2003 and became the Director of Education for a small suburban community hospital in the Denver area. This is where she gained experience working with senior leadership and directors of various service lines within the hospital. As the Director of Education for the entire hospital, she gained expertise in other areas within the nursing profession and other healthcare professions. She established a new graduate orientation program for the ICU and the Medical-Surgical Units. During that time she also became an affiliate faculty as she was being led toward academia. Dr. King's journey as an affiliate faculty helped her gain experience with Simulation and Skills Labs for courses such as Foundations, Health Assessment, Pediatrics, and OB Nursing. As an affiliate she also functioned in the role as a clinical faculty member for both Foundations and Maternal-Newborn courses. Dr. King also has over five years of experience as full-time faculty teaching in the classroom and online, as well as developing structured lab content and clinical simulations.

Dr. King is a member of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, Nurses Christian Fellowship, Low Risk Neonatal Nurses of Colorado, American Academy of Critical Care Nurses, and the Academy of Neonatal Nurses. She has published a chapter in a developmental care book, and articles in Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and Neonatal Network.

Dr. King continues to follow God's lead to enhance student engagement in academic excellence integrating professionalism, nursing as a ministry, and spiritual formation into nursing practice. She feels very blessed for the opportunity to continue to grow as a nurse and professor at CCU, and is humbled by God's love and wisdom!