Lenoir-Rhyne’s nursing program continued to demonstrate its excellence when it was re-approved by the North Carolina Board of Nursing in November for the maximum term of five years – with no recommendations for improvement. While L-R’s nursing department has usually been re-approved for the maximum five-year period, this is the first time the program has received the exceptional "no recommendations" rating.

The department documented its excellence through a self-study that addressed 81 criteria sorted into six categories: administration, faculty, students, curriculum, facilities, and records and reports. Judith Rahm, MS, RN, associate director for education with the N.C. Board of Nursing, who reviewed L-R’s nursing program, said, "L-R has a fine nursing program and certainly deserves accolades. The leadership of the program is great and in evidence in the findings from the program’s review and self-study."

"One of our strengths is that our faculty are exceptionally capable in the clinical areas," said Dr. Linda Reece, professor of nursing and department chair. "Our faculty members do their own teaching and move with our students into clinical areas, which provides a high level of congruence between classes and clinical sessions. At larger universities, graduate students or teaching assistants often perform these duties. In addition, our faculty includes doctoral level professionals, and our clinical faculty are masters’-prepared at a minimum. Our faculty are making presentations to national professional associations and submitting articles to national publications.

"We’re always concerned that our facilities are a match to the high quality of our faculty and curriculum, as it is important that our students be educated on the kind of equipment they will find upon entering their jobs. We were pleased to be able to show the McCrorie Center plans as a part of our inspection. The new teaching facilities and opportunities to collaborate with occupational therapy and sports medicine as a health-care team in the McCrorie Center will continue our tradition of excellence," Reece noted.

L-R’s program, accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, also answers the national demand for baccalaureate nurses whose programs emphasize leadership, health promotion, disease prevention, case management and care across a variety of acute-care and outpatient settings. The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, an advisory body to the federal Division of Nursing, urges that at least two-thirds of the basic nurse workforce hold baccalaureate or higher degrees in nursing by 2010. Only about 40 percent do so now. Experts warn that the health system’s complexity requires nurses who are capable of more independent clinical decision-making in less-structured environments; these traits are at the heart of L-R’s nursing program.

Senior OT students Sharon Barlow (right) and Lee Ann Stowers practice facilitating upper-extremity weight shifts on a bolster swing

The average score of the class was 11 points higher than the total mean score of all candidates nationwide. In addition, 100 percent of L-R’s occupational therapy majors who sought jobs after graduation found them.

"Demand is steady for our graduates in hospitals, public schools, early intervention programs, skilled nursing facilities, community mental health, and private practice clinics," said Dr. Susan Stallings-Sahler, chair of the L-R Department of Occupational Therapy. "We are especially proud of our graduates both this year and in past years, because they have always exceeded the national passage rates for the NBCOT examination."

The department, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, is eager to move into its new home in the McCrorie Center, which is under construction.

"When we occupy the McCrorie Center in fall 2002, we will have the technology that will enhance our students’ learning process and the teaching facilities that will support our high quality faculty and OT curriculum," Stallings-Sahler added. "The anatomy lab and special clinical labs, in particular, will provide much-needed facilities to support an educational experience of the highest caliber. And being able to collaborate and interact on a daily basis with our other health care faculty and students in nursing and sports medicine will better duplicate the health-team model that our graduates will find in the workplace."

This year is particularly noteworthy for two reasons. First, the NBCOT has revised the test blueprint to make it more reflective of current best practice. And second, because the NBCOT raised the bar to make the test more difficult to pass.

"LRC graduates’ scores suggest that we are educating our students according to models of best practice in the profession," said Stallings-Sahler. "And despite the increase in test difficulty, our students still exceeded both the national and North Carolina group averages."

Furthermore, the NBCOT has tapped Stallings-Sahler to chair its Program Directors Advisory Council. The council is comprised of 12 OT program chairs from across the U.S. Its purpose is to help guide policies and procedures of the board regarding the certification examination’s design and administration to OT graduates.