The UMA community is celebrating Shannon Gauvin, director, program coordinator and associate professor of nursing, who has been named one of the Top 10 Exceptional Maine Nurses of 2025 by the American Nurses Association–Maine.
According to the Maine Nursing Action Coalition, Maine is projected to face a shortage of more than 2,800 registered nurses by 2030. Gauvin is confronting this challenge on two fronts: innovatively collaborating to increase highly qualified clinical nurse educators and increasing the capacity to educate new nurses.
To strengthen the teaching workforce, she and Dr. Erin Bellaire, in collaboration with MaineGeneral Medical Center developed an innovative model that engages bedside nurses as clinical educators. The strategy expands clinical placements for students, one of the biggest barriers in nursing education, while adding faculty capacity across the state. The model, now used by MaineGeneral, Mount Desert Island, Northern Light and MaineHealth, has become a scalable framework for workforce development in nursing education.
At the same time, Gauvin has guided significant growth in UMA’s nursing program, increasing enrollment from 91 students in 2019–20 to 271 in 2024–25. With the opening of the new Capital Center for Nursing and Cybersecurity Workforce Development, capacity is expected to exceed 400 students within the next four years. The facility’s advanced simulation and clinical training spaces prepare graduates to meet Maine’s evolving healthcare needs.
Beyond UMA, Gauvin also leads community-focused efforts that connect education with local workforce development. Collaborating with Community Concepts, who are the recipients of the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities grant, Gauvin was an integral part of launching a healthcare career boot camp for Oxford County high school students, introducing rural youth to nursing and allied health pathways.
She has also implemented initiatives that enrich the learning environment and promote collaboration, including night-shift clinical placements, a communication and civility workshop and system-wide simulation training that standardizes best practices across the University of Maine System.
Her dedication and innovation have earned her multiple honors, including the Agnes E. Flaherty Award, the UMA Meritorious Achievement Award and the DAISY Nurse Leader Award.
“This recognition reflects Shannon’s transformational impact on nursing education and her dedication to building Maine’s healthcare workforce,” said UMA President Jenifer Cushman. “Her leadership advances UMA’s mission to expand access to high-quality, workforce-focused education that strengthens communities across our state.”
Congratulations, Shannon, on this well-deserved honor and for your continued contributions to the future of nursing in Maine.
