School of Nursing
The School of Nursing welcomes its 6th cohort to the Accelerated BSN program! For more info click here.
Director's Message
As we enter into the summer, our traditional BSN students and 9 month faculty have some well-deserved time off. Reflecting back on this last academic year, it seems to be a blur. A successful NightinGala in April allowed us to come together with alumni and friends to celebrate the accomplishments of the year. We have honored the past as we celebrated the retirement of Dr. Cherry Guinn. Recently, Dr. Guinn, Professor Emeritus Martha Butterfield and Dr. Barbara Norwood, also Professor Emeritus spent time reminiscing about the founding of the School of Nursing. Please view the link and hear first-hand from these three professors who have been associated with the School for more than 40 years.
We have celebrated the present as our Community Outreach been very successful. With the launch of the Mobile MOC, and our student experiences in the Hamilton County Detention Center, undergraduate and graduate students have provided care in these new areas. The Mobile MOC is providing interprofessional care involving many different disciplines on this campus who are now an integral part of caring for the aging adults in our 10 surrounding counties. As we look to the future, we graduate another traditional BSN cohort, an accelerated BSN cohort, and our first DNP: Family Nurse Practitioner and Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner students.
We are reminded that our graduates are representing us well as they head into a future in nursing. We recently heard from 2nd Lt, US Army Arabella Durby, who is stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Oncology Services. In expressing her thoughts about her education in the School of Nursing and her career goals, we are reminded that she is one of our thousands of graduates who are making a difference in the lives of the people for whom they care.
Our fundraising goal for the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences building is close to being achieved. Before we know it, new students will be arriving, and we will start the process yet again of educating them to be practice ready nurses. The excitement continues here at UTC. Please feel free to stop by and see first-hand how our students experience the joy of learning.
Christine Benz Smith, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC
UC Foundation Professor
Director, School of Nursing
Chief Health Affairs Officer
The baccalaureate degree in nursing, master's degree in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice and post-graduate APRN certificate at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.
We celebrate the retirement of Dr. Cherry Guinn, EdD, RN who has faithfully been faculty in the School of Nursing since 1984. Dr. Guinn joined the faculty as a Pediatric and Obstetrics instructor. Her research using the Lasater Clinical Judgement Rubric for nursing education evaluating and assessing clinical judgment in simulation scenarios and other clinical experiences has been foundational for our faculty. The tool scores and assesses a student's performance in four phases, providing a clear and objective measure of clinical judgment skills. Dr. Guinn has presented her findings at international conferences as well as publishing findings in peer reviewed journals. Always with a smile and kind word, we will remember the impact she had on all with whom she came in contact. Enjoy your retirement, Cherry. It is well deserved!
UTC to launch Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program this Fall. News article here!