DEVELOPING The mission statement of the Harding University Carr College of Nursing was "developing nurses as Christian servants." Dean of the College of Nursing Dr. Cathleen Shultz adopted this as her personal mission statement in her career and life. Shultz spent 35 years building the nursing program at Harding into a beacon for faith-based schools to emulate. "I had a very wise, older Christian woman say to me, 'Cathy, you build things by staying,"' Schultz said. "To build a program it meant staying but making sure I stayed on top of things, which was very difficult being in a rural state, a poverty state. I was at a university that truly supported the nursing program but had never had one before." Shultz had a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of South Carolina, a family nurse practitioner degree from Emory University, and a doctorate degree in nursing from Vanderbilt University. In 2006, she became the first certified nurse educator at Harding and was elected treasurer of the National League for Nursing. She continued to rise in influence and became the president-elect of the National League in 2007 and then president in 2009. "I think the greatest accomplishment has been embedding our faith in our nursing practice in a very active way, and I think each year it's become stronger," Schultz said. Shultz spoke of the faculty in the nursing program as active Christian servants in the classroom and in the mission field, with 80 percent of the faculty having gone on missions abroad, and 100 percent of faculty working as missionaries in the community. Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Johnnetta Kelly was a colleague and friend of Shultz's since she began teaching at Harding in 1995. Kelly taught several courses as a part of the nursing program curriculum including introduction to nursing, maternity and women's health nursing, and the nursing capstone course. She described Shultz as a phenomenal leader, well-respected colleague and dear sister in Christ. "Dr. Shultz has helped shape the character and the practice of nursing through nursing education throughout the United States and abroad," Kelly said. "Touching the human community through teaching, scholarship and research in nursing, Dr. Shultz has authored alone and with colleagues 28 books, published more than 60 articles in professional journals, and offered more than 145 professional presentations to a wide variety of audiences, locally, nationally and internationally." Shultz significantly impacted the faculty of the Carr College of Nursing as well as hundreds of students' lives as they made their way through the program over the past 35 years. Jenna Fox, a senior nursing major, gained more than just a thorough knowledge of the nursing profession. From her time under the instruction of Shultz and other faculty members, Fox gained an understanding of how her Christian faith could influence her career as a nurse. "Her years of experience and credentials aid in the teaching of the students," Fox said. "This wide range of knowledge together with her Christian-based nursing practice teaches the students what the nursing profession is all about: being a Christian servant." Shultz's faith guided her through the entire process of establishing a nursing program at Harding and all the good times and bad times that went along with it. She continued to use her faith as a tool to inspire and influence the faculty and students of the Carr College of Nursing. Marianna Woodruff
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