Angela Pal, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, CHSE is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing and serves as the Specialty Director of the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program. She earned a BSN from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997 and an MSN in Nursing from Duke University School of Nursing in 2009. She was a faculty member in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, caring for cardiothoracic surgical patients as an advanced practice provider, as well as educating medical students, nursing students, PA students, surgery residents, and cardiothoracic surgery residents.

Angela’s interest in research began with a graduate research course during her ACNP curriculum. Having been in practice many years prior, she had questions about how best practices are developed and refined. Through this research course, she was excited to learn more about the research process and how she could be involved in this process. This led her to pursue and obtain a PhD in Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. She conducted and completed her dissertation research on women and their experiences with living with left ventricular assist devices for patients with end-stage heart failure.

After she completed her PhD, she began her career in academia at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. With her background of caring for patients in acute care settings and the joy she found in educating future providers, she found a passion with combining the two by educating students in the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program. From her own experience, she recognized that there is a significant transition period from bedside nursing to providing care as an advanced practice provider and worked to help new nurse practitioner students begin their careers.

Dr. Pal is a member of many professional organizations related to cardiovascular disease, critical care, and nurse practitioner education, including the American Heart Association, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.