School of Nursing News

Teacher of the Month!
Radio Station KISS-FM presented Lab Coordinator Michelle Rosano with a well-deserved Teacher of the Month Award. Michelle was nominated by fourth level Student Tiffany Rodriguez for going above and beyond on behalf of students in the simulation lab. This is the first time the award has been given to someone in higher education. The prize included a three day stay in Panama City, Florida.

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

White Coat Ceremony
Before working with patients in clinicals, our students are honored with the White Coat Ceremony. Congratulations to all of our new nurses who participated in the January ceremony!

DNP Intensive
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.

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. We look forward to working with these talented individuals!

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 haved 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.

Collen Moss, DNP student 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 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!


Congratulations to our new DNP graduates, pictured here along with faculty! View the video of the Honors and Recognition Ceremony held for BSN and DNP graduates at St. Paul's church on December 14.


The 2018 NightinGala was a grand success! See the full photo album. Although the event is complete, you can still contribute by becoming a member of the 1973 Society.
Hospital Dolls Visit School of Nursing




An FNP class was the lucky recipient of by a visit by Dean and Mary Jane Heavener, who displayed antique "hospital dolls" used for training nurses and doctors. The "Mrs. Chase" mannequin, one of the very first dolls ever created specifically for medical simulation, was crafted in 1914. Click on any photo to view the gallery.