Charlene Jones, MS, RN is a retired registered nurse with more than forty years of nursing experience. As a nurse for more than 40 years, her nursing career encompasses a broad experience base in administration, education and clinical practice. As a child in Birmingham, Alabama, Ms. Jones always admired nurses in her family and her community. This admiration motivated her, after graduating high school, to enroll in the nursing program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After receiving her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and working at the University of Alabama Medical Center as a kidney transplant nurse, she saw a need to broaden her nursing knowledge base by enrolling in graduate school. She relocated to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area to pursue a graduate nursing degree.

After relocating to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, she was employed at VA North Texas Health Care System, Dallas. She worked as an Otolaryngology Charge Nurse and later a Urology Clinic Coordinator. After completing her Master’s of Science degree from Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Ms. Jones worked as a Nutritional Support Team Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Surgical Oncology Coordinator. She worked as a Surgical Oncology Coordinator for most of her nursing career. In her role as a Surgical Oncology Coordinator, her focus was on coordinating a multidisciplinary comprehensive care approach to promote a high quality of life for cancer patients including early detection and cancer prevention through education. Because of her actions in advocating for patients, expeditiously coordinating care with other services and continuously reviewing delivery of care and outcomes, Ms. Jones was known as the catalyst of the Surgical Oncology Service.

Ms. Jones served on the American Cancer Society- Fort Worth Church Connection. This is a community group working with African American Churches to educate undeserved communities regarding early detection and cancer prevention.Ms. Jones was commissioned in the United States Naval Reserve, Fleet Hospital-21 as a Lieutenant Junior Grade. She served as a Charge Nurse and Instructor of Enlisted training. She was also a part-time Clinical Instructor at Dallas Baptist University and Concorde Career College.

Jones is a long-time member of Chi Eta Phi Sorority and has served at the local, regional and national levels in elected and appointed positions.