As a nurse leader at one of the largest HCA Healthcare hospitals in Florida, Galen College of Nursing graduate Sean Fitzgerald, MSN, RN, plays a role in shaping patient and nurse outcomes every day. 

It’s part of why Fitzgerald keeps the quote “Choose Your Impact” on a wall in his office. The reminder reflects his opportunity to solve problems, improve patient care, and develop the next generation of nurse leaders.  

From a career in service with the U.S. Marine Corps to becoming a critical care nurse, and then his current role at HCA Florida North Florida Hospital in Gainesville, Fla. as Assistant Chief Nursing Officer, Fitzgerald’s career reflects what is possible when experience, education, and perseverance come together.  

“I feel like I was a decent ICU nurse, but I feel like I’m an even better operations leader,” Fitzgerald said. “This feels like where I belong.” 

Coming from a military family, Fitzgerald enlisted and served as a Sergeant in the Marine Corps, where discipline, adaptability, and responsibility are all core values. These values all carried over to Fitzgerald’s career in nursing, which he began by working at the bedside in an intensive care unit. 

The defining moment that set Fitzgerald’s path towards nursing leadership came in October 2018, as Category 5 Hurricane Michael bore down on Northwest Florida. Working in his hometown of Panama City Beach, Fla., Fitzgerald was part of a group of hospital leaders who helped evacuate more than 100 hospital patients to safety at other nearby facilities. As the chaos of the event was unfolding and the hospital was moving patients, Fitzgerald had the opportunity at times to step back and watch his senior leaders and how they coordinated care between his facility and others to accept the patients.  

“I remember watching it and thinking ‘I like what (the ACNO) is doing there and I think I can do that’,” Fitzgerald said. 

A few days later, when things calmed down, the ACNO pulled Fitzgerald aside to let him know he was impressed with his leadership, and he thought Fitzgerald should pursue a career in it.  

“If you spot potential and talent, you’ve got to let people know that they have it, you believe in them, and they’re capable of it,” Fitzgerald said.  

Fitzgerald’s move into a nursing leadership role helped bring him to HCA Healthcare. He began at the HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital as a Clinical Manager of House Supervision, before rising to become a Floor Director of the Orthopedic/Dialysis unit.  

During this time, Fitzgerald took advantage of HCA Healthcare’s tuition benefits program, which enabled him to earn his Galen Online RN-to-BSN degree in 2022 with no out-of-pocket tuition costs.  

In 2023, Fitzgerald took the next step and enrolled in Galen’s Online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program. 

“I really wanted the challenge of post‑grad, I wanted to take it on, I wanted to challenge and elevate my thinking,” Fitzgerald said. “The MSN elevates that thinking to quality improvement, communication management, strategic planning.” 

Fitzgerald says he was able to apply a real-world lens to what he was studying on a day-to-day basis.  

“I selected a quality improvement project because it directly correlated with the work I was doing in real time,” Fitzgerald said. “This was something I could add to my tool bag to take that to the next level.” 

Shortly after graduating from Galen with his MSN in 2025, Fitzgerald joined North Florida Hospital as an ACNO. According to his supervisor, Fitzgerald’s leadership has already made a measurable impact. 

“Sean has shown through hard work and dedication that you can excel in leadership,” said Michelle Farris, MSN, RN, HCA Florida North Hospital Chief Nursing Officer. “During his time in the ACNO role at North Florida, Sean has developed strong relationships with his team and has helped to drive the nursing strategic agenda.” 

Looking forward, Fitzgerald dreams of one day becoming a CNO, but he said he’s “perfectly happy to master the role I have now,” while he waits for his opportunity.  

For Fitzgerald, the desire to make a bigger impact led to leadership. Support from HCA Healthcare and education through Galen College of Nursing made that impact possible, not just for him, but for the nurses and patients he serves every day.

Galen can help you become a nurse leader like Fitzgerald, giving you the chance to make a big impact on patient outcomes.

With Galen’s Online MSN program, learn new techniques to become an excellent nursing administrator or nurse educator, enabling you to manage staff to the fullest or best prepare the next generation of nurses to enter the workforce. Classes are taken one at a time, two per semester, and it’s made with working nurses in mind, providing you with the flexibility you need to advance your career at your pace.