Catawba College welcomes its inaugural cohort of students into its new B.S.N. pre-licensure program with the start of the 2017-2018 academic year. This, after learning that the N.C. Board of Nursing had unanimously approved the new program for up to 50 students at its May 12th meeting.
The nine students in this first cohort have all completed a special nursing application and a health assessment form (available online at www.catawba.edu/bsnPL), according to Dr. Racquel Ingram, Chair of Catawba College’s Nursing Department. These upper division students, all transfers to Catawba, include Vonetta McGhee Carrington, Tatyanna Carter, Sarah Eloise Ducote, Victoria Lopez, Cherell Louise Martin, Cindra Martin, Sophia Smith, Stacy Sword-Halsey, and Paul Tyler Thomas.
Catawba College President Brien Lewis was on hand to welcome these nursing students and called their arrival “a culminating moment” that followed five years of “work, dreams and aspirations” on the part of faculty and administrators, and members of the Rowan County community. “People in the community and friends of the college believe in this program,” he shared.
Catawba Provost Dr. Michael Bitzer assured students in this inaugural cohort that they could expect “an education rich in personal attention” that blends liberal studies with professional studies.
Ingram noted that 17 lower division students enrolled at Catawba have expressed an interest in the B.S.N. Pre-licensure program. Those students attended a special advising session with the Nursing faculty on August 13 to learn more.
In addition to Ingram, other faculty and staff members in the Nursing Department include Vivian Stamps, a nursing instructor, and Theressa Parks, administrative assistant.
The mission of the program reads: The Catawba College Department of Nursing seeks to prepare competent, diverse nurse professionals to meet the holistic health care needs of a culturally diverse society; using an interdisciplinary approach to blend the knowledge and competencies of liberal studies, and evidence-based practice healthcare models to embrace nursing education, nursing practice, critical thinking, scholarship, and service.
The B.S.N. pre-licensure program follows Catawba College’s initial foray into Nursing with the R.N. to B.S.N. program launched in spring 2017 in the School of Evening and Graduate Studies. That original program offering, which continues, offers Registered Nurses (RNs) who want to pursue a four-year baccalaureate degree the opportunity to do so using a flexible block format.
For more information call Dr. Racquel Ingram, Chair of Nursing Department, at (704) 645-4508 or visit www.catawba.edu/nursing.
