As an active leader, working professional, keynote speaker, and leadership consultant, Dr. Dean Prentice has worked in healthcare for the past 29 years. Dean has led small teams in the clinical setting to running the operations of a small hospital and large outpatient clinic for the United States Air Force. His passion and desire is to connect and develop with leaders in all industries to help improve the leadership behaviors and characteristics of nurses and to give them confidence to change the face of healthcare.
Dean develops leaders through personal interactions and fostering relationships built on mutual trust, evidenced-based research, and a background of life-long learning through experience and education. Professionally developing healthcare leaders with a focus on nurses, Dean believes every professional can improve their effectiveness as a leader whether at the bedside, in the classroom, or in the executive suite.
The professional journey has taken Dean from the bedside on an inpatient medical unit to the medical group commander (CEO) of a large outpatient clinic. This exciting road in leadership has been influenced by leaders in many industries. Along with a diverse educational background, the influence of leaders outside healthcare and the dynamic environment of healthcare, Dean has a desire and passion for innovative approaches to developing nurse leaders.
Dean has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Oral Roberts University, a Master of Arts in Human Resource Development from Webster University, and a Doctorate in Health Administration from the University of Phoenix. He is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Nurse Executive. Dean has been awarded the US Air Force Chief Nurse Badge and Senior Flight Nurse Badge with over 1,000 hours of flying.
Dean currently lives in Sumter SC, stationed at Shaw AFB, with his wife and three children. Dean currently is serving as the Deputy Command Surgeon for the United States Air Forces Central Command. His family keeps his focus on the important things in life, providing a strong grounding for his dreamer ideas of which they mostly support!