Nursing News 2019

DNP Intensive 2019
Congratulations to all those presenting at the Doctor of Nursing program 2019 Intensive. DNP candidates presented their projects and displayed posters in a professional atmosphere of interest and discussion.
Photos are available on our Flickr page.

Williams Joins BCBS Senior Management
A round of applause to Becky Williams, a graduate of UTC's Gateway RN-BSN program, who was recently named Director of Medicare Advantage Health Services by BlueCross BlueShield.

DNP Orientation
An enthusiastic cohort of nurses began their journey towards earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice with a three day orientation session in December, 2019. We look forward to working with these talented individuals!

Project Bloom
Dr. Susan Davidson is helping to initiate Project Bloom, a new service partnership with the Chattanooga Community Kitchen. Alyssa Melendez and Annah Hutchison of UTC Panhellenic brought donations of feminine hygiene products that RN-BSN Gateway students will distribute the during their Community Health clinicals. Thank you to all the ladies of Panhellenic!

NightinGala 2019
NightinGala 2019, complete with food, drink, music, and dancing, was a big success! Be sure to view the video of the evening. Photos are available on our Flickr page.

NPs: Perfect Pass Rate
Congratulations to our May 2019 FNP and ACNP-AG graduates, who had a 100% first-time pass rate on their respective licensure exams!

Alumni Spotlight
Out congratulations go to Bailey Davenport, who recently accepted a position as the Assistant Director of Nursing at Focus Treatment Center!

DNP Students Excel
Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and DNP student Colleen Moss has been honored with a 2019 Manuscript of Exceptional Merit award. Her article, "Mentoring new graduate nurse practitioners," appeared in Neonatal Network.

Welcome to New Faculty!
Please welcome a very strong and talented group of nurses who have joined us as instructors and clinical faculty this fall! The group is pictured above during an orientation session in August.

The Power of We
BSN student Chyna Germany is one of three recipients of the $10,000 Power of We Scholarship awarded to minority college students studying for a career in healthcare in Tennessee. The scholarship is funded by the Bluecross Blueshield of Tennessee Health Foundation along with the NAHSE (National Association of Health Service Executives) Memphis Chapter.

RN-BSN Gateway Top-Ranked
The 100% online RN-BSN Gateway program has been ranked #2 in Tennessee by RegisteredNursing.org. Pictured is our 18th cohort of registered nurses working toward Bachelor's degrees.

On June 10, participants lined up to make difficult decisions about how to spend their limited time and resources at the Community Action Poverty Simulation, an interactive immersion experience dealing with the realities of poverty.
Sponsored by CANDL, the event included training for facilitators the following day.

Hats off to School of Nursing Director, Dr. Chris Smith and Nick Lambert, CRNA, for winning top honors at the 2019 UTC Faculty Awards! Dr. Smith took home the Carolyn Thompson and Roger Brown Community Engagement Award. Nick won the UTC Outstanding Adjunct award.

All of the December 2018 graduating traditional BSN class passed NCLEX on the first attempt. This accomplishment is due to the dedication and strong work from the School of Nursing undergraduate faculty and students. Congratulations to all!

It was a busy two days at the CANDL Chronic Pain Conference, with over 120 attendees. The conference was the culmination of a series of seminars on chronic pain and the opioid epidemic. Thanks to all who made the event such a great success!

Congratulations to Rosebelle Peters (left), Cherry Guinn (middle), and Amy Levy (right), who have been named Outstanding Faculty for 2018-19 in the College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies.

Senior DNP student Susan Hammond spent the day with Maryland State Senator, J.B. Jennings. She visited the Senate floor, committee meetings, and discussed changes being proposed in the Maryland Healthcare Cost Review Commission. She also met with Maryland’s Governor.

Dr. Jamie Russell, 2018 DNP graduate, presented her project in a poster and podium format, “Sexual Assault Education on a College Campus: A Trauma-Sensitive Approach,” at the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Research conference in New Orleans.

DNP student Colleen Moss visited the Tennessee House of Representatives. to speak about APRN practice in Tennessee and the role of the DNP in health care.

Congratulations to Kristi Wick, Vicky Gregg Chair in Gerontology, seen here with Amber Roache, NP Program Coordinator, for receiving a $9,100 grant from the Alliance of Women Philanthropists for a standardized patient program for students across all health profession disciplines. The grant will fund curriculum development and standardized patient training.

Members of the grant's interdisciplinary team include Amy Doolittle and Cathy Scott- Social Work, Mark Stoutenberg MPH, Deborah Mullen College of Business - Healthcare Management and Erin Melhorn - OT. Not pictured are Lisa Harrison - PT and Jill Shelton Psychology.

Michelle Rosano, the School of Nursing’s simulation and Skills Lab Specialist, was presented the Blue Ribbon Award for March. Michelle was nominated by faculty member Tessa Mullinax Baker in recognition of Michelle’s dedication to our students. Congratulations, Michelle, on this well deserved honor!



The RN-BSN Gateway program has been named one of the best Online Colleges for Bachelor's in Nursing for 2019. Congratulations to the faculty, students, and staff who made this recognition possible!