Diana Cristina Castellanos Uribe is a Colombian nurse executive, international consultant, educator, and thought leader dedicated to advancing professional nursing practice through shared governance, clinical leadership, quality improvement, and evidence-based nursing. She is recognized for leading Colombia’s first ANCC Magnet® Recognition, guiding the first healthcare organization in Latin America to achieve Forum for Shared Governance Accreditation, and developing one of the world’s top five clinical leadership models recognized by the International Hospital Federation (IHF).
With more than sixteen years of experience in academic and high-complexity healthcare organizations, Diana has focused on transforming nursing into a strategic driver of organizational excellence. Her work demonstrates the value of professional nursing practice by integrating shared governance, nursing-sensitive outcomes, evidence-based decision-making, and the measurement of clinical, operational, and financial outcomes—including the cost of poor quality—to improve patient care and organizational performance.
At Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, one of Latin America’s leading academic medical centers, Diana has led the development of an integrated measurement system for the Professional Nursing Practice Model and nursing-sensitive outcomes, positioning nursing as a strategic partner in organizational decision-making and continuous improvement.
Under her leadership, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá became the first hospital in Colombia and one of the first organizations in South America to achieve ANCC Magnet® Recognition. She also led the design and implementation of the organization’s Shared Governance Model, enabling Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá to become the first healthcare organization in Latin America to earn accreditation from the Forum for Shared Governance.
The Shared Governance Model she developed was recognized by the International Hospital Federation (IHF) as one of the world’s five leading clinical leadership models and was presented at the 47th IHF World Hospital Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, as an international example of professional nursing leadership and organizational transformation.
Diana currently leads the development of the Clinical Conditions and Nursing Service Lines Model, an innovative framework that integrates nursing leadership across clinical care pathways, strengthens evidence-based practice, leverages data-driven decision-making, and improves clinical outcomes, patient experience, and organizational sustainability. The model has been selected for presentation at the 48th IHF World Hospital Congress in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2026 as an innovation in transforming professional nursing practice.
As an international consultant, Diana partners with healthcare organizations throughout Latin America to design and implement professional nursing practice models, shared governance structures, Magnet® readiness strategies, nursing performance measurement systems, and nursing-sensitive outcome frameworks. She also serves as Chair of the Colombian Nursing Quality Network, leading a national collaborative that promotes nursing quality, professional practice, innovation, and leadership across healthcare organizations in Colombia. Through these roles, she has helped healthcare organizations strengthen professional practice environments and build sustainable cultures of nursing excellence.
Beyond her consulting work, Diana serves as an External Healthcare Accreditation Surveyor for ICONTEC, supporting healthcare organizations in advancing quality and patient safety. She is undergraduate and graduate faculty at Universidad de La Sabana and Universidad El Bosque, where she teaches healthcare quality, professional nursing practice, leadership, and outcomes measurement. She also mentors senior nursing students from universities across Colombia through academic innovation projects designed to prepare the next generation of nursing leaders. In addition, she serves as Chair of the Annual International Nursing Quality Symposium in Colombia, bringing together national and international experts to advance nursing quality, professional practice, and healthcare innovation. Diana is an internationally recognized speaker and author of book chapters on person-centered care, patient safety, clinical leadership, and the transformation of professional nursing practice.
Diana earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Universidad de La Sabana, a Specialist Degree in Healthcare Administration from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management from Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, and is a Planetree Fellow in Person-Centered Care.
Diana believes that the future of nursing depends on organizations that empower professional governance, cultivate shared leadership, and make decisions grounded in evidence. Her mission is to advance nursing as a strategic force for healthcare transformation by designing innovative professional practice models, developing future nurse leaders, and demonstrating the measurable value nursing brings to patients, healthcare organizations, and society.