VUSN Breaks Records

Pre-specialty nursing students Audrey Pyle, left, and Brittany Powell are among VUSN’s incoming class for Fall 2011. Photo by Susan Urmy.

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing welcomed its largest class ever – 486 students who are pursuing master’s, Doctor of Nurse Practice or PhD degrees.

The incoming class of master’s students includes 254 students with associate’s or bachelor’s degrees who are pursuing their masters in the science of Nursing degrees and 155 non-nurses who are participating in VUSN’s bridge program by taking three semesters of pre-specialty classes before beginning their formal master’s education. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program has 65 new students and the PhD program has 12 incoming students.

“We treasure every single one of you,” said Colleen Conway-Welch, PhD, CNM, dean of the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, addressing the pre-specialty students last week. “You are choosing an extraordinarily rewarding career and you each bring your own experience and perspective to the school and to nursing.”