Verna Nelson

Verna Nelson is currently a Staff Perfusionist at Southeast Health in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where she has worked for 14 years. Previously, she worked as a perfusionist for St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis.

Verna graduated from the University of Missouri in 1985 with a Bachelors degree in Health Services Management and completed her Bachelors in Perfusion Technology at St. Louis University in 1993. She has served on the Missouri Perfusion Society’s Board of Directors since 2011 and has been the Treasurer since Oct 2013.

Before becoming a perfusionist, Verna was a respiratory therapist for 13 years and practiced in New Jersey, Arizona, North Carolina and Missouri.

Verna has been married to her husband Tom for 28 years and they have a son named Michael who is 18 years old and will be going to college in 2014. Her other pride and joy is her dog “Sugar” who is as sweet as her name.