Dr. Sharon Pearce is the President and owner of Sharon Pearce Anesthesia, Speaking & Consulting, providing anesthesia services as a Ceritfied Registered Nurse Anethesist (CRNA). Dr. Pearce led lobbying efforts resulting in the passage of The Care for School Children with Diabetes Act in North Carolina (NC), which benefits thousands of public-school children. Her advocacy also led to the defeat of a bill to limit CRNA scope of practice and decimate rural hospitals that rely on CRNAs as their sole anesthesia providers. An unsuccessful bid for the NC House of Representatives in 2016 was the impetus to design the first-ever Candidate School for Nurses and Midwives. Although the program launch was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in creating a pipeline of nurses prepared to run for office continues to gain momentum. Dr. Pearce is one of the producers filming the first-ever documentary about nurses serving in elected office to motivate nurses to run and inform the public about nurses’ ability to lead legislatively. In addition, she co-hosts a Top 50 medical podcast, downloaded in more than 125 countries with half a million listens to date.

Dr. Pearce received her BSN and MSN from UNC-Greensboro, her anesthesia certificate from Wake Forest, and her DNP from Yale University.