NRHA's Rural Health Nurse Certification Program 

SuLynn Mester is a Registered Nurse. She has been in nursing since 1987, specializing in critical care, cardiovascular surgical care and trauma care, prior to moving into management and administration.  She spent 14 years at a rural Texas hospital as Chief Nursing Officer, and currently works in the Center for Rural Health and Nursing with a focus of bringing education and nursing degree availability to rural communities. 

She is committed to education, not only for herself but for others.  She is a lifelong learner, receiving her Associate Degree in Science from Clarendon College in 1984, Associate in Nursing from Amarillo College in 1987, Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2016, Master of Science in Nursing in 2018, and Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2020, all from the University of Texas at Arlington.  Upon graduation with her DNP, she immediately pursued faculty status with UTA, and still teaches in the accelerated online Doctorate program, and serving as faculty advisor for students in their final stages of their DNP projects.

She has established collaborative relationships with the University of Texas at Arlington to bring the Accelerated Online BSN partnership to rural Texas.  She sits on the board of Clarendon College School of Nursing, as well as the Area for Health Education Center (AHEC).  Succession leadership for rural healthcare is of utmost importance to her, and thus, she helped develop and is now serving as an Advisory Board Member on the NRHA Rural Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Certification Program. And most recently, she has helped develop the NRHA Rural Nursing Certification Program.

She is passionate about rural healthcare advocacy issues and is actively involved in efforts in Austin and Washington, DC to ensure and preserve rural healthcare access.  She is heavily involved in rural health policy, serving on the Texas Nurses Association as the Governmental Advising Committee liaison, as well as serving as an Education and Research Constituency Group Representative and is an elected member of NRHA Congress.  Her Doctorate research and thesis highlighted advocacy efforts to protect healthcare access for the rural population.    

She is a past recipient of Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH), National Rural Health Association (NRHA), as well as a fellowship in the Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship.  In her final year of doctoral studies, she was chosen for the John and Louise Shira Fellowship Scholarship.  

Her rural focused work and research has been published in Nursing Management Magazine and has other publications pending.

She grew up a farm girl, and currently resides in the remote rural area of Childress, Texas with her husband Randy.  She is co-owner of Cupcake Cattle Company, raising and marketing miniature Highland cattle. 

Shutts is a 2006 graduate of Clinton County Community College, where she earned her credentials as a Registered Nurse (RN), and of Plattsburgh State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing in 2009. In 2014 she graduated from Walden University, earning her Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN); and in 2017 she earned her Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from Western Governors University.

She comes to Alice Hyde from UVM Health Network – CVPH, where she served in a wide variety of capacities. Since joining CVPH in 2003, Shutts has served in roles ranging from direct patient care and inpatient unit supervisory roles, to program and service line directorships. Most recently, Shutts served as the Director of Practice Operations at CVPH from 2019 – 2021.