The Script: New leaders for the School of Nursing

Janel Shoun-Smith | 04/11/2018

“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4:12

In the future, when nursing alumni look back at the development of Lipscomb’s School of Nursing, it is likely they will see 2017-2018 as a definitive academic year.

That’s because it’s the year that brought a trio of new leaders to the program, each of whom fit a specific piece of the puzzle designed to take Lipscomb’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to the next level.

Ruth Corey, nursing research scientist, educator and academic who has earned every academic degree available in the field of nursing, joined the school as executive director. Chelsia Harris, a long-time nursing educator, came to Lipscomb to oversee and advance new program development within the nursing curriculum. And Mary Hesselrode, a member of the nursing faculty since 2010, officially moved into administration to oversee day-to-day operation of the program.

Each was chosen to bring her unique strengths to Lipscomb nursing: to enhance the research conducted by students and faculty, to expand the curriculum to serve as a solid foundation for new programs such as a proposed RN to BSN program, and to bring the wisdom won by working with Lipscomb’s School of Nursing from its earliest stages.

“It’s really a good bridge from the old to the new,” said Roger Davis, dean of the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. “The idea of having this trifecta leading the nursing school is that Chelsia has a strong teaching background and can focus on program development and determining what steps are next for the program.

“Ruth has a great deal of experience from other universities, practical experience and experience in research and grant attainment, a direction we certainly need to go. And Mary has the long-term familiarity with the BSN program and she can speak to what Lipscomb is about and how far Lipscomb nursing has come.”

All three have worked professionally as family nurse practitioners, and all are united in their goal to make Lipscomb’s nursing program one known throughout the nation.

Ruth Corey

If there is anyone who knows nursing, it’s Corey. For more than 35 years, she has held every rank and earned every possible academic degree in nursing.

She was appointed executive director of the School of Nursing in June, coming from her position as director of nursing and academics at Marian University at Saint Thomas Health in Nashville. Among her duties are establishing and implementing policies and procedures, ensuring the school meets accreditation requirements and enhancing research opportunities among students and faculty.

“Her passion for the nursing profession is contagious, and her vision for the Lipscomb nursing program will undoubtedly have an impact not only on our campus but in the Nashville community and beyond,” said Davis.

Corey says she felt “the call of God” to become a nurse when she was a stay-at-home mother of two in Longwood, Florida. “My son and I started school on the same day (in 1981). He started pre-K and I started nursing school!” she said.

Corey completed the Licensed Practical Nursing diploma program, the two-year Registered Nurse/ASN degree program and an Associate of Arts degree from Seminole State College and then a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Central Florida. For 11 of those years, while enrolled in college, Corey worked as an RN at Central Florida Regional Hospital.

She completed her Master of Science in nursing degree at the University of Central Florida, then worked as a family nurse practitioner for six years before joining the faculty at Daytona State College as professor of nursing. She next was appointed department chair and professor of nursing at Seminole State University.

“My experiences have given me a real understanding of what every level of nursing education looks like,” Corry said. “I truly feel very confident that if a student comes to me with a question or a desire to reach a certain level, I will know exactly what they are talking about. I feel like that’s an advantage that I have.”

Corey then had a unique opportunity to be a nursing research scientist at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida. She says she quickly fell in love with the research aspect of nursing. During this time, she returned to the classroom, earning her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Nova Southeastern University.

“I became very excited about research. It gave me an opportunity to look at the gaps in health care. As a practitioner I saw a lot of gaps in health care, and it troubled me,” she said.

Corey says more research opportunities in the nursing program is a key to an even more successful program.

“Those are the pieces that will take us to the next level,” she said. “My goal for this school is to be the gold standard of nursing in Middle Tennessee. We have everything going for us, and there is no reason we can’t be an example for others.

“Nursing is a culture of giving. It never stops. It’s not about getting at all – it’s all about giving,” she said. “This is why I am so excited to be a part of Lipscomb, a university that exemplifies the culture of giving.”

Chelsia Harris

Harris, an Arkansas native, believes she, too, was called by God into the nursing profession. She began her education toward a BSN at 17 and became a registered nurse at age 21.

At that age, she had a dream to attend Vanderbilt University to become a nurse practitioner and open her own clinic to serve disadvantaged patients in Arkansas, but “God’s plan is always better,” she said.

She did attain a nurse practitioner degree from Vanderbilt and did care for the underserved in a rural area near the Arkansas/Missouri state line for a couple of years, but then God intervened when a fellow church member heard her talking about her work and asked if some students from College of the Ozarks could come shadow her at the hospital.

She prayed about it, and agreed, and God took her down a path that has had her teaching nurses ever since at the College of the Ozarks.

“I wanted every single thing I did in my career to bring glory to God and to have an eternal significance,” Harris said.

That motivation led her to pursue her Doctorate at Case Western Reserve University and to write several scholarly articles on compassion fatigue among nurses for peer-reviewed journals.

She joins Lipscomb as the associate director for degree development, the visionary for the school, and will work to enhance professional development for faculty and the professionalism of the student nurses. She will design and carry out new programs for the school, starting with an RN to BSN program.

“As a practicing nurse, I was able to influence my fellow nurses and a small number of student nurses; at College of the Ozarks I was able to influence many more student nurses: but at Lipscomb, now I can influence faculty and student nurses on an even broader scale,” Harris said.

Mary Hesselrode

?Hesselrode, School of Nursing associate executive director for academics, has deep roots in the nursing profession.

Her grandmother was a nurse in Germany during World War II who finished her career in Georgia, and her mother was also a psychiatric nurse. “I was taught very early to love everyone and help those in need. Nursing seemed to be a natural choice for a career,” Hesselrode recalls.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Harding University, a Master of Science from Texas Woman’s University in Dallas and a Doctorate of Education from Lipscomb.

Hesselrode joined the Lipscomb faculty in 2010, when the nursing program transitioned from the Lipscomb/Vanderbilt Partnership (in which the final two years of clinical education were carried out by Vanderbilt University) to a stand-alone school in the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (in which Lipscomb carried out the entire four-year program). In 2012, the school moved into the newly built 24,800-square-foot Nursing and Health Sciences Center.

It was a big change for Lipscomb, and Hesselrode was instrumental in designing and implementing Lipscomb’s new Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum. She chaired both the curriculum committee and academic progression committee.

“The opportunity to work with students who have a passion for caring for people at their weakest most vulnerable moments is a gift,” says Hesselrode. “Lipscomb students embody the spirit of a nurse by seeing all people as created equal and loving all despite the biases of society.”

To learn more about the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences click here.