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Heidi L. Benavides, DNP, MSN, RN, CMSRN

Associate Professor/Clinical

Heidi Benavides is a registered nurse who is passionate about plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine as a means to prevent, manage, and reverse chronic illness. Heidi spearheaded the Green Wellness Program: Plants-2-Plate utilizing shared medical appointments with an interdisciplinary methodology. This program is improving health outcomes to South Texas residents, and she serves as program director. Heidi is nationally recognized and published expert in plant-based nutrition. Heidi is currently a Associate Professor/Clinical at the University of Texas Health San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas. She has practiced as a registered nurse since 2006 with a focus on chronic illness management, working in both outpatient and inpatient care settings. She has expertise in solid-organ transplants, long-term care, skilled nursing, medical and surgical care, home health, hospice, and rehabilitation. She currently practices at the nursing school Wellness 360 clinic using a shared medical appointment model. Heidi primarily teaches in undergraduate nursing acute and chronic disease management. She has been funded for a number of community health screening projects. She has presented at several national and international conferences about whole food plant-based nutrition, utilizing nursing hand-off report at the bedside to encourage positive clinical outcomes, prioritizing patient care assignments, and utilizing priority setting frameworks. She is currently the school’s Nursing Student Association Faculty Advisor and Assessment Technologies Institute® School of Nursing champion. Heidi is a full-time doctoral student at Baylor Herrington School of Nursing with a focus on the family nurse practitioner role.