GBCN’s Incisive and Decisive Plan
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing (GBCN) of Mercer University has created a bold, incisive, and decisive Strategic Plan for 2008 through 2018. In its 106th year of providing superior nursing education, the College of Nursing recognizes that this dynamic, iterative plan will advance the institution’s vision of being “known as a center of academic excellence which fosters the development of nurses committed to practice in evolving global environments” (GBCN Vision Statement).
Both the College of Nursing and the University have spent considerable time crafting the plans that will chart the future of the institutions. Included in the major goals, strategies, and projects within the College of Nursing’s Strategic Plan is the intent to develop doctoral programs {Ph.D. and D.N.P.} in nursing pending approval from appropriate entities. Additionally, the College of Nursing is revising its B.S. N. {including its RN-BSN track} and M.S. N. programs in response to changing health care needs of patients and clients, the complex environments of health care institutions, the escalating nursing shortage crisis, the immense shortage of nurse faculty, and the multiple kinds of learners enrolled in nursing schools in this era.
A critical part of the Strategic Plan is the commitment to continue educating nursing students who are prepared to be part of the fast-paced world of health care at the time of graduation from our program. Georgia Baptist College of Nursing is strongly grounded in its heritage of educating students who are world renown for the superior nursing care they provide.
Additionally, the College of Nursing’s Strategic Plan incorporates the pledge to advance the leadership opportunities afforded to all nursing students. Our College of Nursing is the only nursing program in Georgia and one of the few in the United States that has total undergraduate student membership in the National Students Nurses Association (NSNA). GBCN nursing students are nationally recognized for their leadership and active participation in the local, state, and national nursing student organizations. Over 100 GBCN students attended the 2008 annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Nursing Students! Approximately 25- 65 students each year attend the NSNA annual conventions. It has become a tradition that our students have earned multiple forms of recognition from state and national organizations. We believe that leadership development is vitally important for advancing the nursing profession and in improving patient / client care.
It is an honor to be part of Georgia Baptist College of Nursing as it enacts it bold, incisive, and decisive 2008 – 2018 Strategic Plan and as it achieves it vision for the future.
Susan Sweat Gunby, R.N., Ph.D.
Dean & Professor