N EXT- G E N N U RS I NG Michelle Goff Grant Writer Stephanie Stiltner ’10 director of family connections
The University of Pikeville-Elliott School of Nursing (ESON) has made great strides and experienced significant changes this past year. In addition to expanding the two-year associate degree of nursing program to include the school’s largest class, the school of nursing named a new dean and began offering a fully-online RN-BSN program. Karen Damron, Ph.D., who was appointed dean last summer, attributed the successful transition to institutional planning and support. “We had a solid foundation to build on,” Damron said. “Mary Simpson, who had been dean/division chair for 16 years, ran a very successful program. We recently completed a self study as part of our continuing accreditation process for our RN-BSN program. One of our accreditation visitors said it was the best self study she’s ever read, and she’s been doing this for 30 years.” Tauna Gulley, Ph.D., director of the RN-BSN program, added, “The leadership of the provost, the president, and the administration ensured our
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UPIKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018
success. Once we decided to pursue a distance education program that was 100 percent online, we wasted no time writing the prospectus and taking the necessary steps to make it happen.” Gulley noted that offering a fully online RN-BSN program, which this year more than doubled its enrollment from the previous year, made the school of nursing more competitive with programs across the country. “Our RN-BSN students are practicing nurses who are working five and six days a week,” Gulley said. “Distance education is more accommodating to their schedules and they can complete the program in a year.”
