School of Nursing Receives Full Accreditation Only a few days before the fourth graduating class from the School of Nursing has its traditional "pinning" ceremony and the following day received the Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees at the May 10, 1980, commencement, Cathleen M. Smith, Dean of the School of Nursing, received word from the National League of Nurses that the program had received full NLN accreditation for the maximum period of eight years. Intense preparation on the part of faculty and st udents for months had culminated in the selfst udy report submitted in the fall, followed by the on-site visit by the examining team. Accreditation enabled graduates to proceed with Master's degree programs without probationary status and additional course work and opened the door to more responsible health care positions throughout the nation. A $78,080 grant from the W. K. .Kellogg Foundation the previous year enabled extensive faculty development. During the summer of 1980, Dean Smith and Nancy Clark completed course work, passed the comprehensive examinations. and began work on dissertations for the Ed.D. degree in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University. New facu lty ' members for 1980-81 were Kelly Bracken and Geraldine Shrewsberry. Michael Niswander. a member of the first graduating class, did part-time teaching in the spring. In October, Dean Smith was installed as president of the Arkansas State Nurses' Association for 1980-82 having served the previous year as president-elect. She was elected to membership in Phi Delta Kappa, national honor society in nursing, at Vanderbilt University and to honorary membership in Sigma Theta Tau, national honor society in education. All members of the nursing' faculty were members of the Amreican Nurses' Association, Arkansas State Nurses' Association, and the National League for Nurses. They participated in a number of workshops and seminars and spoke frequently on health care for civic clubs and other groups in the area. Clinical facilities for the nursing program were obtained through affiliations with White County Memorial Hospital and Central Arkansas General Hospital in 80 School of Nursing Searcy; Doctors' Hospital, Baptist Medical Center, 5t. Vincent's Infirmary, and the VA Hospital in Little Rock; Baptist Memorial Hospital of North Little Rock; White River Medical Center in Batesville; and other health-care facilities in the area. The program received strong support from the physicians of Searcy, several of whom were Harding alumni. The Harding University Honor Society of Nursing was designed to recognize the outstanding qualities of character, scholarship, leadership and service of Harding's nursing students. Unlike some honor societies, not just outstanding scholarship was acknowledged. Each honor student had to demonstrate admirable character traits and service to others. The student was required to be a well-balanced nurse with leadership abilities in the field. Sigma Theta Tau, the national nursing honor society Harding hopes to join soon, is comJX>sed of students, faculty and community nursing leaders. The qualifications for membership are (I) for students - outstanding scholarship (3.5 nursing, 3.0 overall average). character, leadership and service; (2) for community nursing leaders - a baccalaureate nursing degree and leadership in the nursing practice. Although historically the nursing honor society admitted only students, a recent by-laws change reflected the intent of Sigma Theta Tau, and membership was opened up to faculty and . community leaders . Because of this, a broader membership was inducted during the transition period from the Harding honor society to the national one, Sigma Theta Tau. Sigma Theta Tau requires an established honor society for nursing prior to the opening of a local chapter. Also, the national chapter can only be established on the campus of an NLN accredited school of nursing, which Harding received in ~ · the spring of 1980. Many activities characterized the society. ]n April, a spring workshop was held on the topic of "Abuse." Annually. the society has presented a workshop designed to enhance the quality of health care. The honor society inducted junior and senior members during two ceremonies. It held regular monthly meetings and had various speakers for these meetings. The society members also participated cooperatively with other campus groups to sJX>nsor joint health efforts. - Pat Bradish The Student Nurses Association existed as vice president Daryl Chavez said, "to help nurses prepare for the professional field and to unify pre-nursing majors with those already in the program. " The association, led by - Sl~f Photo NURSING HONOR SOCIETY. Front Row: Manse/, Copeland, Cash, Bradish. Second Row: Smith·sponsor. - Don Holland Cleveland, Dahlstrom, Lapp. Back Row: Gray, Campbell, Myhan, Bumpass. Leslie. Keck.
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