The Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, housed at East Tennessee State University, held a celebratory luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 12, to mark the inaugural graduates of the center’s Nurse Leadership Program – a weeks-long online course designed to hone the skills of nurse leaders across the state and region.
In partnership with OpusVi, the center hosted more than a dozen nurse leaders from across the state to sharpen and enhance their leadership skills by engaging in an instructor-led, asynchronous online course designed to nurture future nurse leaders.
The 15 participants in the program represented eight health care organizations from Johnson City to Memphis, including five from Ballad Health, highlighting the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement’s commitment to strengthening the nursing workforce.
“The Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement is charged with empowering nurses and bolstering our state’s nursing pipeline, and a lot of that work starts at the top with nurse leadership,” said Dr. Roslyn Robinson, interim director of the center and ETSU’s associate dean of Practice and Community Partnerships in the College of Nursing.
“We are committed to finding new and innovative ways to support nurses in Tennessee and across our region, and this program was a great opportunity for us to do just that,” Robinson said.
The Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, established in October 2021, serves as a pivotal statewide and regional resource focused on integrating academic nursing, clinical practice and educational systems. Its mission is to expand opportunities for aspiring nurses and enhance the overall supply of nurses and nursing support throughout Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
“ETSU is dedicated to enhancing and strengthening the nursing pipeline in Tennessee, both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Dr. Debbie Byrd, interim dean for the ETSU College of Nursing. “Not only is our college sending more nurses into the workforce than any other college in Tennessee, we also are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to support our nurses, whether that’s in Mountain City, Memphis or anywhere in between.”
To learn more about the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, visit etsu.edu/nursing/ahgrownurses/.
