Education

2004 Florida State University, B.S.
2012 The University of Tampa, MSN
2025 University of Central Florida, DNP

Courses Taught

BSN courses:

Health Assessment Didactic and Laboratory
Nursing Care of the Adult and Older Adult Didactic Course
Nursing Care of the Medically Complex Patient Clinical Course
Knowledge Integration for Professional Nursing Practice

MSN courses:

Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning Didactic
Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning Lab
Master’s Practicum in Older Adult Primary Care Practice
Master’s Practicum in Women’s Health and Primary Care Practice

Career Specialties

Shirley Franks has nursing experience in both the acute and out-patient settings with a Master of Science in Nursing and is certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She is driven to influence future nursing leaders through her role in various primary care settings. 

Professional and Community Activities

Professional scholarship (Clinical):

Franks developed and presented her DNP project at the Preventative Cardiovascular Nursing Association Symposium in 2026. The DNP "An Educational Toolkit Developed to Improve Hypertension Knowledge and Self-Management in a Transitional Uninsured Clinic." The location was at the Pioneer Medical Group Foundation, Tampa through the University of Central Florida. 

Other presentations (nursing education) include: "Transforming the Student Experience with Team-Based Learning" at the Center for Teaching and Learning and "Exploring Undergraduate Nursing Student Confidence Levels with Interviewing when using Standardized Patients in a Health Assessment Class" at the Florida Association Research Conference. 

Community:

Franks serves on various undergraduate and graduate department committees. She served as the faculty counselor for University of Tampa for five years in the nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau. She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Preventative Cardiovascular Nurses Association. Franks volunteers at the Pioneer Medical Group Foundation, Brandon Outreach clinic and back to school health clinics in Hillsborough. 

Honors and Awards

In April of 2026, Franks received an award for graduate capstone abstract from the Preventative Cardiovascular Nursing Association. The DNP "An Educational Toolkit Developed to Improve Hypertension Knowledge and Self-Management in a Transitional Uninsured Clinic." 

In 2012 while attending UTampa's MSN program, Franks was chosen to participate in a UTampa Life student web feature, which documented life as a graduate nursing student at UTampa. Additionally, at Florida State University she was nominated "Outstanding senior" candidate, Cum Laude graduate and inducted into Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of nursing.