Kelley Elizabeth Johnson (born October 22, 1992) is an American nurse, TV host and beauty pageant titleholder. In addition to being a Chief Nurse Advocate, she is also a doctoral student, keynote speaker and national spokeswoman. Kelly Johnson was also crowned

Miss Colorado The Miss Colorado competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Colorado in the Miss America pageant. Colorado has won the Miss America crown on three occasions. Savannah Cavanaugh of Beaver Creek, Colorado was ...

2015 and placing Second runner up at

Miss America 2016 Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Ticket ...

. Johnson later won

Miss California USA Miss California USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Crown Diva Productions. California's most ...

2018. She placed in the top 10 at

Miss USA 2018 Miss USA 2018 was the 67th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 21, 2018 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey hosted for the first time, while Carson Kressley and Lu Sierra served as commentat ...

Early life and education

Johnson was born in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

, and spent her later childhood in

Windsor, Colorado Windsor is a home rule municipality in Larimer and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town was 32,716. Windsor is located in the Northern Colorado region. History In 1873, a settl ...

. Her mother is Julie Johnson Haffner and her stepfather is Gene Haffner. Johnson also has two older sisters. She is a 2010 graduate of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins. Johnson attended

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mont ...

from 2010 through 2012. She is a 2015 graduate of

Grand View University Grand View University is a private liberal arts university in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1896 and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the university enrolls approximately 2,000 students and is accredited by the Highe ...

where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

and was the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of her nursing class. Johnson is a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

Pageant career

Early pageants

On March 30, 2014, while a student at

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, Johnson won the Miss Liberty 2014 title. She competed as one of 15 finalists in the 2014 Miss Iowa pageant on a platform of "Raising Awareness About the Importance of Early Cancer Detection" and piano playing as her talent. She was a top-10 finalist for the statewide title.

Miss America 2016

In November 2014, returning to her state of origin, Johnson was awarded a crown that allowed her to move on to the next round in the competition. She entered the state pageant at

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Ellie Caulkins Opera House The Ellie Caulkins Opera House is located in Denver, Colorado as part of the large Denver Performing Arts Complex. It seats 2,225. The Caulkins family pledged $7 million towards the enhancement of the lyric opera house and adjacent public spaces ...

in June 2015 as one of 26 qualifiers. Johnson's competition talent was a

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

which was correlated to her experience with a patient she had met with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. Her platform is "The Health Initiative PLUS: Prevent, Live, Uncover, Study". Johnson won the competition on Saturday, June 20, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Colorado titleholder

Stacey Cook Stacey Janelle Cook (born July 3, 1984) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States, and specializes in the speed events. Racing career Born in Truckee, California, Cook started skiing at age 4 with her father at various Lake Tahoe ...

. As Miss Colorado, her activities included public appearances across Colorado. Johnson was Colorado's representative at the

pageant in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, in September 2015. In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she performed an original monologue inspired by a patient she encountered as a nurse during the talent portion of the competition. In the interview portion, she was asked what woman should appear on the ten-dollar bill and answered "

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

". Johnson's personal platform was "The Health Initiative PLUS". She was named second runner-up to

Betty Cantrell Baciliky Andris "Betty" Maxwell (née Cantrell; born September 1, 1994) is an American singer, actress, model, author, and beauty pageant titleholder from Warner Robins, Georgia, who was crowned Miss Georgia 2015. On September 13, 2015, she wa ...

, Miss Georgia 2015, and awarded a $20,000 scholarship prize.

Reactions to nursing monologue

On the September 14, 2015 episode of '' The View'', co-hosts

Joy Behar Josephine Victoria "Joy" Behar (; née Occhiuto) is an American comedian, television host, actress, and writer. She co-hosts the ABC daytime talk show '' The View'', where she is the only original panelist still regularly appearing. She hosted ...

and

Michelle Collins Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas ''EastEnders'' and ''Coronation Street''. Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' from ...

poked fun at Johnson, a

, for her Miss America monologue in which she wore a nurse's uniform and

stethoscope The stethoscope is a medical device for auscultation, or listening to internal sounds of an animal or human body. It typically has a small disc-shaped resonator that is placed against the skin, and one or two tubes connected to two earpieces. ...

while speaking about her profession. Their comments sparked a social-media backlash, particularly by nurses, and some advertisers pulled their ads from the show. On September 17, 2015, Johnson appeared on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'' to discuss her on-stage question and answer, suggesting DeGeneres should be on the ten-dollar bill and her decision to perform a monologue about nursing for her talent. After her interview, Johnson received $10,000 from

Shutterfly Shutterfly, LLC. is an American photography, photography products, and image sharing company, headquartered in Redwood City, California. The company is mainly known for custom photo printing services, including books featuring user-provided ima ...

to help pay for her tuition for nurse anesthetist school.

Miss USA 2018

On December 3, 2017, Johnson was crowned

2018 after representing Redondo Beach in the competition by outgoing titleholder India Williams. She represented California in

and placed in the top ten. She was succeeded by Erica Dann at the end of her reign.

References

External links

Miss Colorado official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kelley Living people American beauty pageant winners American nurses American women nurses Colorado Mesa University alumni Miss America 2016 delegates Grand View University alumni People from Fort Collins, Colorado 1993 births Miss USA 2018 delegates