Joanna Elizalde

About Your Instructor

Joanna Elizalde, MBA, MAN, RN, CPHQ, CPPS, CQPA, CSSBB, CPHHF, PMP, IA

Joanna Elizalde is a healthcare quality and patient safety leader with over 15 years of clinical, managerial, and consulting experience across primary and acute care settings in the Philippines and internationally. She achieved TOP 8 ranking out of 94,462 PNLE examinees in 2009, launching a distinguished career in global healthcare.

Currently serving as Head of Quality at Qatar Red Crescent Society (an Accreditation Canada-accredited organization), Joanna leads corporate-level initiatives in accreditation, integrated care, risk management, and health system performance. She holds nursing licenses in the Philippines, Canada, and the United States, having successfully passed NCLEX, HAAD RN, UK NMC-CBT, and Canada BC-CBA examinations.

Her academic credentials include training from Harvard Medical School (Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership Certificate) and the University of Edinburgh (Masters in Clinical Human Factors and Patient Safety). She holds multiple international certifications including CPHQ, CPPS, Six Sigma Black Belt, and PMP, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Science by research.

With previous leadership experience as Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer at The Medical City - Iloilo, Joanna brings both acute care expertise and primary care insights to her teaching. She has coached thousands of healthcare professionals, including nursing students, working nurses, and healthcare leaders to success.

Joanna is active as a peer reviewer for international healthcare journals and serves as a subject matter expert in patient safety and quality improvement. Her teaching approach combines practical exam strategies with real-world clinical experience, providing students with both the tools to pass the PNLE and the foundation for successful nursing careers.