Letter from the Dean: February, 2020

Dear friends,

This spring is particularly special at the College of Nursing as we celebrate the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife” and prepare for our 60th anniversary in the fall.

For the 18th year in a row, Americans have rated the honesty and ethics of nurses highest among a list of professions in the annual Gallup poll. The World Health Organization designated 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife,” in honor of the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. This recognition further enhances the image of nursing as a profession throughout the world. Plans for celebration are in place worldwide to celebrate this special year. The College of Nursing has already begun to celebrate and will continue throughout the year.

We currently have 1,320 students enrolled for spring semester 2020—a record spring enrollment! A Lamp of Learning ceremony was held on Jan. 23 to welcome our new traditional pre-licensure and accelerated 2nd degree BSN students to the college and introduce them to the nursing profession. On Feb. 6, we had a very special event to celebrate Black History Month with keynote speaker, Dr. Sharona Johnson (MSN ’05, PhD ’17), and a round table discussion with six of our alumni and the College of Nursing Director of Student Development & Counseling. The participating alumni were Mecca Bowser (BSN ’16), Dr. Daphne Brewington (BSN ’90, MSN ’98, PhD ’13), Felicia Collins (BSN ’94, MSN ’06), Dr. Kimberly Hardy (BSN ’91, MSN ’01, DNP ’17) and Courtney Warner (BSN ’19).

There are many more opportunities for celebrating in the upcoming months:

• The inaugural Horns Interprofessional Education Leadership Lecture will be held Feb. 28 with Dr. Meg Zomorodi, Assistant Provost for Interprofessional Education at UNC-Chapel Hill as the speaker. This event will be held annually in honor of Dr. Horns’ many contributions and service to the university and will focus on strategies to enhance interprofessional education.
• Collaborative Research Day will be held on March 27 from 8 a.m.-noon at the East Carolina Heart Institute, followed by our annual Hall of Fame induction that evening at the Greenville Hilton at 6 p.m. where we will be inducting 10 new members into the College of Nursing Hall of Fame and recognizing our 2019-20 Distinguished Alumni, Dr. Mary Chatman.
• The annual Elaine Scott Lectureship will be held on April 9 with Dr. Teresa Stephens speaking on building a resilient culture in nursing.
• To end the academic year, a very special celebration is graduation, which will occur on May 8.

Beyond these great events, there is even more to celebrate. The college was recently ranked 17th in the nation for online master’s programs in nursing by U.S. News & World Report, and was ranked in the top 10 in several specialty categories. Additionally, we are looking forward to observing the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the nursing school. The first ECU nursing students began in fall 1960. Stay tuned as we plan a BIG celebration during Homecoming to celebrate our 60 years. This is definitely the Year of the Nurse and Midwife not only globally, but locally.

Thank you for your interest in the College of Nursing. I hope to see you at some of the events and celebrations that we have planned. Please follow us on social media for updates and please stay in touch.

Warmest regards,

Sylvia T. Brown, EdD, RN, CNE, ANEF
Dean & Professor