New Dean for TAMIU College of Nursing and Health Sciences Returns Home to Leverage Strengths
This Fall at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), new leadership faces will welcome new and returning undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.
TAMIU has named four new deans, including a new Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and its Dr. F. M. Canseco School of Nursing, Dr. Elda G. Ramirez.
Dr. Ramírez’ selection as Dean of the TAMIU College of Nursing and Health Sciences marks a full-circle moment for the daughter of Laredo and South Texas.
While it represents an opportunity to return home and acknowledge Laredo’s critical role in nurturing her career in caring, it also offers a challenge focused on the future of healthcare. Dr. Ramírez traces it all to becoming a junior volunteer at Laredo’s former Mercy Hospital.
She recalled the foundational experience vividly.
“In 1978, I became a junior volunteer at Mercy Hospital in the Emergency Department. In those days, they let me do so many things! I would help with suturing and take patients all over the hospital. There was a lady one time who came in with a splint on her leg because she had dislocated her patella (kneecap). All I remember is by the time I left her room, I had her smiling through the pain. I knew I liked the energy and flow of the unexpected in the Emergency Department. The Emergency Department felt like home. I still maintain a practice as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner,” Ramírez said.
She had soon set in motion a career in Nursing that spans nursing, education, research... and now being named TAMIU’s new Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences after a national search.
“I moved to Houston a week after graduating from St. Augustine High School and started my pre-nursing at the University of Houston. Once I received my BSN (1988), I worked in the intensive care units and was back in the emergency department within three years. After having some minor leadership roles, I noted that nurse practitioner programs were growing across the country.
“I was independent as a nurse, so being a nurse practitioner would be my next endeavor. Once I finished my NP program, I wanted to go back to the emergency department, but no one would take me. The NP role was very new, though it had been around since 1965. In 1993 when I completed my MSN as an FNP it was still not well understood, especially in emergency departments.
“I landed my first job as an NP in the Emergency Department at University Hospital in San Antonio and loved every minute of it. When I started this dream job, I realized I was very deficient in my knowledge since I was a family nurse practitioner. My training did not prepare me as a nurse practitioner in the emergency department.
“In 1994, the Dean at UT Health Science Center School of Nursing in Houston, Dr. Patricia Starck, remembered me because I used to take care of her mom in the Emergency Department and asked if I was willing to start the first emergency nurse practitioner program in the nation. There was an opportunity with the Department of Emergency Medicine to staff and develop this. I never ever dreamed that I would be an academic... it was the furthest from my personal goals or journey. I wanted to work in the emergency department so badly and wanted to go back to Houston, so I took the leap. The PhD was a must, and I completed it in 2006,” she explained.
In the years since that journey began, Ramírez said the fuel that fired her growth has hinged on two key elements.
“That was my love for emergency nursing and taking care of patients. My professional career grew, and my influence in the specialty and national nursing organizations took hold. I was able to create a nationally and internationally recognized NP specialty according to the 2008 Consensus Model guidelines... the only specialty in the nation to ever accomplish that feat. In the process, I learned the essence of what it is to be a leader, a change agent, and most importantly, an advocate for the patients needing our care. What we can do for patients on their worst day is one of the most fulfilling parts of my career. Teaching others to provide exceptional care is a gift,” she indicated.
Likewise, her research undertakings have played to her career strengths.
“My research focus was on the field of competency for nurse practitioners. My original dissertation work was the basis for the national certification exam for emergency nurse practitioners. It was a practice analysis. My career focus has been educational programs, strengthening nurse practitioner competency, and funding, and recently in the fields of interprofessional education,” she explained.
Additional leadership opportunities have included working as an Assistant and then Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement and being the Administrative Director of a Center for Interprofessional Collaboration over seven Health Science Schools. Ramírez said these positions honed her leadership approach.
“With the reach of each role and the accountability it demanded came much humility and introspection. One must leave the ego at the door to allow another to lead. Knowing when to intercede is the strategy,” she said.
She’s also quick to note that her strong connection to South Texas through her family history has always sustained her and guided her path.
“My late father grew up in San Ignacio, Tx. My late mom grew up in Laredo. I am connected to the Ramírez-Uribe ancestry spanning from the 1800’s to the present. My grandfather was Candelario García on my mother’s side. Dad graduated from Martin High School, was in the Korean conflict, then worked for Southwestern Bell until retiring. Mom graduated from St. Augustine and finished a Bachelor of Arts from Laredo State University (’78) and worked for the Department of Human Resources. I grew up in El Azteca neighborhood and went to St Augustine High School. I have many family members still in Laredo,” she explained.
Ramírez said she’s confident about the future and wants to leverage existing strengths to focus on healthcare for the future.
“The College of Nursing and Health Sciences and its Dr. F. M. Canseco School of Nursing’s existing strengths are powerful. Having a strong cornerstone to leverage new directions is what success is built upon. I am depending on the existing strong base, innovative approaches and an ‘anything is possible’ mindset to shatter any glass ceilings. We are experiencing shifting times in healthcare and nursing, and our health science programs will be the focus of healthcare for the future. We need to take advantage of this opportunity,” she said.
Forging relationships with other Colleges and transfer institutions is also in her sights, Ramírez said.
“I spent the last two years of my career working with seven different Health Science Center schools that had many strengths along with areas of deficit, but as a University center in interprofessional education, we were able to leverage many aspects of each entity’s specific needs while concurrently enhancing the goals of the individual programs.
“I can say that there is no place for competition when you are talking about the healthcare needs of a community and the education of our future healthcare providers. We all should strive for excellence and respect for our graduates. The goal in professional and business relationships is that everyone benefits. That is what I will pursue,” she said.
She’s also identified elements she considers vital to the future of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
“Financial sustainability, diversified revenue streams, academic excellence, innovation/technology, strong leadership, student success through community engagement, and most importantly, ADAPTABILITY is vital,” she explained.
In closing, she also has some thoughts for the new and continuing students she’ll meet at TAMIU this Fall.
“Are you ready? Our commitment as faculty and staff here at TAMIU is to support, teach, and prepare you for the future. Let’s do this!” she encouraged.
The Fall Semester at Texas A&M International University begins Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. Registration is underway now. Visit the Registration Hub for details. Late Registration ends Friday, Aug. 29.
For more on the University’s story, visit tamiu.edu or follow its social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X.
