School of Nursing Nursing Department Celebrates 10th Year - School Develops Outstanding Program In a brief lO-year span, a baccalaureatedegree program in nursing was begun and developed into a professionally-accredited program with a chapter of Sigma Theta Tau , national college honor society in nursing. In the spring of 1975 , when Harding was undergOing its cyclic IO-year reaccreditation visit by the on-site North Central Association team, the program had not yet begun - only preparations were being made via hiring of faculty and planning the curriculum. Only the Department Chairman had been employed and she was dOing"double duty" attempting to complete the doctorate while searching for faculty members and working on a curriculum. One member of the visitation team tried hard to discourage the administration from proceeding with plans to develop the program because of adverse experiences he had encountered at "his" institution with a nursing program. The dean emeritus of Goshen College , a personal friend of Dr . Joseph E. Pryor , then the chief academic officer of Harding , stated that half of his time was taken by the nursing program and the other ha lf was given to remaining academic programs. The administration of Harding did not waver , however , in its determination to establish a strong nursing program with a strong emphasis on missions. In the fall of 1975 , the first class enro ll ed 54 students and 47 B.S.N. degrees were granted in May of 1977. All 47 graduates passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses in July of 1977 . Since the concept of the baccalaureate nursing program was undergoing many changes nationally , the program at Harding was in constant flux as changes were made to meet changing accreditation requirements. H arding received National League for Nursing accreditation in 1979 and the Epsilon Omicron Chapter of Sigma Theta T au was chartered on Februa ry 9 , 1982. Dr. Cathleen Smith Shultz, Dean of the School of Nursing, took a leave of absence for 1984-85 to be with her husband , Dr . Sam Schultz, a pediatrician wi th the Arkansas State Board of Health, who worked toward a Master' s degree in Public Health at San Diego State University . In the fall, Dean Shultz was selected as an accreditation site visitor for the National League for Nursing. Although Dean Shultz returned to campus for a brief visit about two times each semester, Dr. Nancy Clark served as Acting Dean for the year. Dr. Clark received the Ph .D. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1984 after successfu l defense of her dissertation , "Clinical Practice Activities of Clinical Nurse SpeCialists: Conflicts and Professionalism in Bureaucracy." New faculty members for 1984-85 were April Brasher , M. S. N. , Kathy Marcussen , Louise Bradford. RN. MSN - Assoc . Professor April Brasher. RN . MSN - Asst. Professor Jim Citty. MD. FAAFP - Adjunct Professor Cheryl Clark. RN. MSN - A~st. Professor 198 School of Nursing Nancy Clark. RN. PhD - Assoc. Professor & Acting Dean Nancy Fretland. RN. BSN - Assoc. Instructor Tina Godwin, RN. BSN - Assoc . Instructor Helen Lambert. RN. MSN - Ass!. Professor Kathy Marcussen. RN. MSN - Ass!. Professor Elissa Miller . RN. MSN - Assoc . Professor Jerry Myhan. RN. MSN - Ass!. Professor Carol Nicholson . RN. MSN - Ass!. Professor M.S.N. and Carol Nicholson , M.S.N. , Assistant Professors, and Elissa Lane Miller, M.S.N., Associate Professor. Mrs. Brasher was a graduate of the Harding program and Mrs. Miller was a former fa culty member who returned lacking only the dissertation for the Ph .D. degree. Louise Bradford resumed full-time teaching after completing course work for the doctorate. The School continued to study the curriculum and to make modifications in the program in keeping with national trends in the baccalaureate education of nurses. Greater emphasis was placed on the clinical experiences and on research pro~ jects. During 1983-84, senior nursing majors completed 35 health-related research projects. A computer program was developed for use of students in the research course. The faculty offered the American Journal of Nursing Review Board Course on campus for graduating seniors and any other B.S.N. graduate who needed to sit for the state licensure examination. There were 24 B.S.N. graduates in May and 23 of the group passed the examination in JuIy. More than 98 percent of the 336 graduates of the School of Nursing through 1984 have passed the examination and become registered nurses. Efforts were made to give the program greater exposure to the public as well as to
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