NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

May 9, 2007 - May 6 -12, 2007, has been designated as National Nurses Week by the American Nurse Association (ANA). This year’s theme is “Nursing: A Profession and a Passion.”

Nursing is the largest undergraduate department at LMU. The nursing program is offered at the main campus in Harrogate and at five extended sites including Alcoa, Tennessee, at Blount Memorial Hospital; Knoxville, Tennessee, at St. Mary’s Medical Center; West Knoxville, Tennessee, at the LMU building on Hayfield Road, Madisonville, Tennessee, at Hiwassee College; and Corbin, Kentucky, at Baptist Regional Medical Center.

The nursing degree programs offered by LMU are approved by the Tennessee and Kentucky Boards of Nursing and are accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC), which is officially recognized as a national accrediting agency for nursing education by the Council of Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA) and by the U.S. Department of Education. Students finishing the A.S.N. degree are eligible to apply for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and upon successful completion may be licensed as a registered nurse. In addition to the A.S.N. program, LMU also offers an RN-BSN completion program that is designed for working associate degree and diploma nurses who want to complete the Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing and the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program, which offers a concentration for nurse practitioners.

LMU received unanimous Tennessee Board of Nursing (TBN) approval to initiate a master’s degree program in nursing in February 2006 and classes began in the Fall of 2006. The TBN approval follows LMU Board of Trustees and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) approval. The program offers a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) concentration with an emphasis on preparing graduates to provide primary care to individuals in rural Appalachia.

Founded in 1897 as a living memorial to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, the University’s mission is to serve the Appalachian region by providing quality programs in higher education. LMU launched its nursing program in 1974, in part to fight the growing health care crisis across the region. The Appalachian region remains an underserved area today. Since the program’s inception, 5,000 nursing graduates have joined the employment ranks and 68 percent of those graduates live and serve within 75 miles of the main campus.

<< previous page