Audria Denker, DNP, RN, FAADN, ANEF

As Chief Clinical, Integration, and Experience Officer (CCIXO) at Galen College of Nursing, Dr. Audria Denker provides strategic leadership across clinical education, healthcare partnerships, and student and employee engagement. With deep expertise spanning academic and clinical practice, she advances Galen’s integration with HCA Healthcare, strengthens the nursing workforce pipeline, and continually elevates the Galen experience.

Since joining Galen in 2005, Dr. Denker has held progressive leadership roles, including inaugural Chief Experience Officer, where she advanced Vital Voices engagement outcomes and identified opportunities to strengthen clinical operations and organizational culture. Under her leadership, Galen has grown from a regional institution into a national education enterprise spanning 25 campuses across 13 states, enrolling more than 6,500 students annually and serving more than 20,000 students.

Dr. Denker’s clinical background includes practice at Pikeville Medical Center and more than a decade of healthcare leadership at Norton Children’s Hospital and Norton Healthcare. A hallmark of her career is advancing workforce and pipeline solutions in rural and underserved regions, including development of the Hazard campus to address regional nursing shortages—an initiative that has informed scalable expansion strategies and lasting community impact.

In addition to her executive leadership, Dr. Denker is active in civic and professional service. She currently serves as President of the Kentucky Board of Nursing and has contributed nationally through roles with OADN, NCSBN, and the National League for Nursing. She is a Fellow of both the Academy of Associate Degree Nursing (FAADN) and the Academy of Nursing Education (ANEF).

Dr. Denker earned her ASN from Pikeville College and her MSN and DNP from Bellarmine University.