Impact of University of Kentucky College of Nursing graduates through science and activism
Since its first class graduated in 1960, the University of
Kentucky College of Nursing has modeled innovation and excellence in
nursing education. The program has prepared thousands of men and women nurses
who have helped lead our county’s health care system as caregivers, executive
leaders, impactful teachers, trail-blazing researchers, policy makers and
community transformers.
The UK College of Nursing strives to empower students and
faculty to reach their full potential in the nursing profession, whether in
health care settings, the board room, classrooms settings or the community.
Undergraduate bachelor's of science in nursing (BSN) students receive a
high-quality education with opportunities for both academic learning and
clinical experience – predominantly at the UK HealthCare. Graduates of
the BSN program have a first-time pass rate of 97 to 100 percent for the NCLEX
(nursing boards), which exceeds national averages.
The program is renowned for offering nurses
advanced-level training, including the nation's first-ever Doctor of Nursing
Practice (DNP) for nurses with aspirations to lead as advanced practice nurses
or at the executive level. Through its Ph.D. in Nursing program, which has been
ranked sixth in the country by the National Research Council since 2010, the
college mentors the next generation of great nursing scientists, educators and
leaders.
In a spirit of collaboration characteristic of the
nursing profession, faculty members in the UK College of Nursing partner with
departments within the university and health care organizations across the
state to work toward solutions to health challenges in Kentucky.
Ranked 21st for NIH funding among all public and private
nursing schools, with a $16 million research portfolio, faculty members and
graduate students explore the most pressing health care issues affecting
Kentuckians, including pre-term births, cancer, tobacco use and cardiovascular
disease.
Dean Janie Heath holds firmly to a vision of raising the
college's status to one of the top tier nursing programs in the country.
“The college is transforming nursing education by
creating innovative learning and practice environments that are collaborative
and team-based to meet the demands of new health care delivery models, and is
affecting policy at the highest level possible. This is not only raising
the status of the college, but is also improving the health and wellbeing of
our patients, our families, our communities, and our country’s health care
systems.”
The following timeline chronicles the development of the
UK College of Nursing:
1956: Kentucky legislators approve the building of a
new medical center on the University of Kentucky Campus.
1957: The creation of a new hospital in a time where
physicians were already hard to come by worsened with the realization that
nurses, too, were in short hand. In Kentucky, only 13 schools offered hospital
diploma programs. Combined, these programs graduated 297 nurses in the 1957
class. Because of this draught, William R. Willard, founding dean of the Albert
B. Chandler Medical center and dean of the UK College of Medicine, proposed the
idea of a College of Nursing. Willard’s college would offer two programs: one
for high school graduates and second for registered nurses.
1958: With the idea of the College of Nursing coming
to fruition, Willard found a dean for the College of Nursing in 35-year-old
Marcia Allene Dake, a doctorate of education student at Columbia University’s
Teacher’s College, would become the nation’s youngest dean of a nursing school.
1959: With the appointment of Dake in 1958 came the
need to hire more faculty members. Three more women, all with master's degrees
in nursing, were appointed within the next year.
1960: In May of 1960, the College of Nursing
enrolled the 35 women that would make up the first class. Of these women, five
were registered nurses while the remaining 30 were just beginning their
education. These women faced many of the same rules University of Kentucky
students in the College of Nursing are subjected to today: white shoes, no nail
polish and no flashy jewelry.
1962: During the next two years, enrollment into
College of Nursing nearly doubled from 40 in 1960 to 74 in 1962. In order to
address the growth of the program, Dake teamed up with Henderson Community
College to establish an associate's degree program. Once the program at
Henderson was established successfully, programs opened at community colleges
in Lexington and spread to Covington and Elizabethtown. In 1967, four years
after the first partnership, more than 30 percent of new nurses in Kentucky had
graduated from one of the associate degree programs.
1964: The College of Nursing graduated its first
class. As an established part of the University of Kentucky Medical Center, the
college was now offering not only an undergraduate program, but also a
continuing education program and the successful associate degree programs.
1965: The College of Nursing was granted full
accreditation from the National League for Nursing (NLN). With the expanding
reach of the College of Nursing and the success of additional associates degree
programs, Dake began the process of creating a graduate program within the
College of Nursing. Her hope was that the graduate program would eventually
produce nurses with the qualifications to become professors.
1969: The first class of graduate students begins
their coursework in September. There were nine students.
1971: Dake resigns her position of Dean of the
College of Nursing. During her tenure as Dean, Dake and her colleagues helped
to establish a new curriculum that would spread nationwide during the 1960s and
1970s.By the time Dr. Dake resigned, the enrollment in the College of Nursing
had grown nearly 350 percent, from 35 women in 1964 to 512 undergraduate
students in 1971.
1972: Marion McKenna is appointed Dean of the
College of Nursing. Aware of the exponential growth the College of Nursing was
facing, McKenna was hired on the condition that a new facility be created to
house her school.
1975: The College of Nursing established nursing
programs at Hazard Community College and Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro
in hopes to make nursing education accessible to nontraditional and rural
students.
1979: McKenna proposes the discontinuation of the
baccalaureate program in order to focus solely on trained registered nurses.
However, the plan was not successful and the original basic baccalaureate
program was reinstated in May 1981.
1980: The Delta Psi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau is
established at University of Kentucky. Later in the year, McKenna begins the
process of establishing a doctoral program in the College of Nursing.
1984: The College of Nursing announces Carolyn
Williams as the new dean. Williams knew the importance of research and
publications and emphasized the idea that it would be required as the college
continued to advance.
1985: In June 1985 Williams’ doctorate program was
approved and in 1987 the first doctoral student enrolled in the program.
1992: The first class of doctorate students graduate
with a Ph.D.
2001: The College of Nursing begins to offer a Doctor
of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program, the first in the nation. The DNP program
prepares nurses for advanced practice, clinical leadership and executive
positions in health care systems. The first class of DNP students graduated in
2005.
2006: Williams resigns as dean and rejoins the
faculty. Jane Kirschling becomes the fourth dean of the College of Nursing.
2006: The Ph.D. program begins its Post-BSN Option,
which builds on the BSN degree and prepares nurses researchers at the doctoral
level.
2007: The first class is inducted into the College
of Nursing Hall of Fame. The College of Nursing successfully doubled
undergraduate student enrollment in the BSN program – from 80 students to 160
students – in an effort to alleviate nursing shortages in Kentucky and across
the nation.
2008: Kirschling and Jay Perman, dean of the College
of Medicine, established a work group to evaluate interest in Interprofessional
Education (IPE) curriculum for the Medical Center – the IPE curriculum was
approved in 2010.
2009: The Masters of Science in Nursing program is
ended, and becomes part of the DNP program. Post Baccalaureate students are now
able to directly enroll in the DNP program.
2010: College celebrates its 50th anniversary and
inducts the second class of the College of Nursing Hall of Fame.
2011: The second class is inducted into the College
of Nursing Hall of Fame.
2012: Patricia Howard is appointed interim dean.
2013: College of Nursing partners with Norton
HealthCare to offer DNP program to practicing nurses.
2014: Janie Heath is appointed as the fifth dean of
the College of Nursing.
MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams,
elizabethadams@uky.edu
