TWC ARCHES Spring 2013

Innovation & Excellence
Fort Sanders Nursing Department
plans for strong future
O
pening its doors in January of 2000, TWC’s Fort Sanders Nursing
Department has grown to become a leader in higher education in the
healthcare field. Fort Sanders has graduated more than 400 nurses throughout
the last decade, educating its students using innovated teaching strategies and
thorough clinical experience that allow students to provide hands-on patient
care while working toward their degrees.
“Having taught at Fort Sanders since the program’s inception, I am
honored to work with faculty that continue to engage with students both
in classroom and clinical settings, helping students to draw correlations
and link theory with practice on a day-to-day basis,” said Lisa Kirkland,
TWC associate professor of nursing.
“This particular teaching model is becoming increasingly rare whereby
many programs now utilize adjunct faculty for clinical experiences while fulltime
professors remain on campus assuming other responsibilities. At TWC-
FSN, faculty serve as role models and students see firsthand the dedication and
passion to quality nursing care. The relationships forged between faculty and
student serve to create a positive and challenging learning environment where
each one can learn from the other.”
The Fort Sanders program’s innovative clinical program has access to clinical
sites in Knoxville, Tenn., and other surrounding areas including the facilities
of Covenant Health and various comprehensive integrated healthcare
delivery systems. Other clinical facilities include East Tennessee Children’s
Hospital, as well as community health and nursing home sites.
“We are not only preparing our students to become nurses but we are preparing
them to become leaders in the nursing career field and within the local
community,” said Dr. Robert Cornette, TWC associate dean and professor for
nursing. “I believe we have one of the best nursing programs in the state. Our
graduates are often sought by healthcare employers because of the focus on
clinical ‘real life’ experience they receive from their Fort Sanders education.”
The Fort Sanders Nursing Department uses a variety of teaching strategies
to facilitate the active participation of the student in the learning process. A
completely online RN to BSN degree recently joined the college’s traditional
BSN program to offer a flexible learning environment to nursing students
who are already working and are looking to continue their education while
maintaining their career responsibilities.
“As the TWC Fort Sanders program looks to the future, I am excited about
the growth opportunity within the TWC online RN-BSN program,” said Jean
Bernard, TWC associate professor of nursing. “By offering online classes, TWC-
FSN is well positioned to help meet the national drive to have more bachelor’sprepared
nurses at the bedside. The emphasis in both the new online program
and the traditional program is lifelong learning and providing our local and
global communities with quality, future nursing leaders.”
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