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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

2026 MAGAZINE

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

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LETTER FROM THE DEAN NEW FACULT Y MEMBERS REMEMBERING MARTHA BUTTERFIELD CREATING A NEW CENTER FOR COLLABOR ATION PALLIATIVE CARE: PREPARING NURSES FOR LIFE’S MOST MEANINGFUL MOMENTS

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CONTENTS

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KENNEDY HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING UPDATE COLLEGE OF NURSING’S FIRST STR ATEGIC PLAN BUILDING THE NURSING WORKFORCE CARE BEYOND BORDERS WORKING TOGETHER FOR COM M UNIT Y HEALTH ALU MNI STORIES + IN MEMORIAM

CONTRIBUTORS D R . C H R I S T I N E B E N Z S M I TH Dean, College of Nursing

CARTER GRAHAM Writer

MEGHAN PHILLIPS Art Director

CHUCK WASSERSTROM Editor

CHARLIE REED Writer

LAURA Mc DE VITT Graphic Designer

PEYTON SCHULTZ Assistant Editor

LAUREN SURMANN Director of Brand & Creative

ANGELA FOS TER Photographer

CONTACT 615 McCallie Avenue Dept. 1051 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403 utc.edu/nursing

@utccollegeofnursing

@utc_collegeofnursing @utcnursing 2

UTC is a comprehensive, community-engaged campus of the UT System. UTC is an EEO/AA/Titles VI & IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution. 2011886-27

THERE IS A LOT TO BE EXCITED ABOUT IN THE COLLEGE OF NURSING

“THE SPIRIT OF LOOKING AHEAD IS EVIDENT IN HOW THE COLLEGE OPERATES TODAY. OUR STUDENTS AND FACULTY ARE TAKING THEIR WORK FAR BEYOND THE CLASSROOM DOOR.”

LETTER FROM THE DEAN

CHRISTINE BENZ SMITH P H.D., A P R N , F N P - B C Dean, College of Nursing Chief Health Affairs Officer

We are preparing to move into the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building, a new space that will give us room to welcome more students into the nursing profession and continue preparing excellent nurses to serve our communities. The spirit of looking ahead is evident in how the College operates today. Our students and faculty are taking their work far beyond the classroom door. They are collaborating across healthcare disciplines, advancing palliative care and addressing significant workforce needs in our region and beyond. As an independent college, our strategic plan helps guide where we go from here. It is an exciting position to be in, but we would not be here without the women who laid the foundation before us. In August, we lost Martha Butterfield, one of the College’s greatest champions. Martha and Mary B. Jackson, the first director of the UTC School of Nursing, were instrumental in building our nursing program and shaping what it would become. Martha remained involved throughout her life, and I am grateful she was able to see us become an independent College of Nursing and attend the groundbreaking for our new home. We have a responsibility to carry their vision forward. This magazine marks two milestones for us. It is our first issue as the College of Nursing and our last before we move into the Kennedy Health Sciences Building. I cannot think of a better time to celebrate how far we have come while looking ahead to where we are going. I am excited for what comes next.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

MEET THE COLLEGE OF NURSING’S NEWEST FACES Two faculty members and an advancement leader bring experience in military medicine, mental healthcare and philanthropy to their new roles.

DR. ADOLFO “A J” DAVIS

T E ACHING AREA Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program

E D UCATION BSN, Chamberlain University DNP, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

H O METOWN Habersham County, Georgia

Military service introduced Dr. Adolfo “AJ” Davis to healthcare. After serving as an Army medic, he became a nurse and built a career in emergency nursing, flight nursing, rapid response and critical care. Today, he balances critical care at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga with teaching at UTC, drawing on each role to inform the other. Davis wants students to accept uncertainty in acute care. He teaches them to understand the physiology, recognize patterns and keep testing whether an intervention is working. “In acute care, you rarely have every piece of information you would like before you need to act.”

JENNIFER MILLER, MSN, PMHNP-BC

T E A C H I N G AREA Psychiatric Nursing

EDUCATION

B.S. Psychology and BSN, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

MSN, Vanderbilt University

HOMETOWN Chattanooga, Tennessee

Before becoming a nurse, Jennifer Miller worked with people experiencing severe mental illness, recognizing the creativity, personality and strengths beneath their symptoms. She carried that perspective into two years of inpatient psychiatric work in Chicago and a decade of outpatient practice in underserved Tennessee communities. In 2021, Miller brought that clinical experience into the classroom at Chattanooga State Community College. Now teaching psychiatric nursing yearround at UTC, she asks students to begin with the person, not the diagnosis. “I hope that they are able to look beyond symptoms of the mental illness and see the human being beneath.”

BRIT TNEY (HOLDER) BURKS Brittney (Holder) Burks grew up believing education was something no one could take away. That conviction has guided her career in higher education philanthropy and, since July 2022, her work leading fundraising for the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building.

ROLE Senior Director of Advancement, College of Nursing | Honors College

EDUCATION B.A. Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

M.A. Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University (in progress)

HOMETOWN Hendersonville, North Carolina

Burks saw how support for one nursing student benefits future patients and communities. She’s interested in experiences that inspire donors, from experiencing nursing care themselves to seeing education change lives. “The most important part of my role is listening, learning about their experiences and passions, and helping identify opportunities where their involvement and philanthropy can make a lasting impact.”

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

REMEMBERING

Martha Butterfield MARTHA BUTTERFIELD LOVED NURSING. IT WAS THAT SIMPLE. The phrase surfaced repeatedly as longtime colleagues remembered the woman who became the first full-time faculty member for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s nursing program, helped build it from its earliest days and spent the rest of her life pushing it—and the profession itself— to be better. “She truly, truly loved nursing,” said Dr. Susan Davidson, a professor now in her 38th year at UTC and director of the RN-BSN Gateway Program. “I think that’s kind of the capsule of her life, and it drove her to do all the many things that she did and all the many things she was involved in to promote nursing.” Professor Emeritus Martha Everhart Butterfield, who retired as a Mary B. Jackson Associate Professor in 1998 and whose influence remains visible across UTC’s College of Nursing, died Aug. 6, 2026. She was 91. Her legacy lives in the habits of graduates taught to be prepared, to ask questions and to understand that nursing requires more than following orders.

It lives in the faculty members she encouraged, the students she guided through hard moments, and an expanding College of Nursing that—from its beginnings in two rooms in Race Hall—is preparing to move into the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building. She could be formidable. She could be direct. She could hold a student or a colleague to a standard that left no room for an easy answer. But those who worked alongside her said the firmness came from deep care: for students, patients and the nursing program she helped shape. “At first, I thought she was intimidating,” Davidson said. “Her presence, I mean, she was a tall, large woman, and the way she spoke … she always looked you directly in the eye.” That first impression did not last long. “What I learned about Martha was that she may come across as intimidating,” Davidson said, “but once you got past that initial impression, she was a great support.” Dr. Cherry Guinn, who retired in 2025 after 41 years at UTC, had a similar view. She chose a different word for Butterfield—passionate.

“She saw herself as a leader, and she was very good at wanting things done and getting them done,” Guinn said. “She loved nursing and she invested herself in making the UTC program— even in her retirement—the very best it could be.” Said Dr. Barbara Norwood, who spent 44 years on the UTC faculty before retiring in 2018: “Martha really cared to the root of her soul about nursing, starting with the students going to the school and certainly then to the University. She cared.” In 1967, the Butterfields—Martha and her husband, the Rev. Dr. William “Bill” Butterfield, a longtime UTC professor of education—came to Chattanooga.

Martha, who had earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from The Ohio State University, arrived in a region with a sharply different healthcare landscape. At the time, Tennessee had only two baccalaureate nursing programs. Chattanooga did not yet have an ambulance service; funeral homes deployed vehicles to accident scenes. In a 2022 interview for a story marking the UTC nursing program’s 50th anniversary, Butterfield recalled that advanced nursing degrees were uncommon in Chattanooga in the late 1960s—and that employers often did not know what to do with someone holding a master’s degree.

“Martha really cared to the root of her soul about nursing, starting with the students going to the school and certainly then to the University. She cared.” — DR. BARBARA NORWOOD Historical photo of UTC Campus, courtesy of the UTC Library Digital Archives.

Historical photo promoting the UTC nursing program, courtesy of the UTC Library Digital Archives.

Dr. Chris Smith and Martha Butterfield at the Kennedy Health Sciences Building groundbreaking in 2024.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

She joined the faculty at Baroness Erlanger Hospital School of Nursing. There, she and other nurses began working to bring a baccalaureate nursing program to UTC and the Southeast Tennessee region. The work required persistence. Butterfield recalled that prospective students wanted the degree but did not want to drive more than 30 miles to earn it. She and two other local nurses worked with professional organizations, University leaders and legislators. “We kept pushing,” she said in the interview. “It took us several years.” The idea of a baccalaureate degree as the entry point to nursing had been unfamiliar in Tennessee, Butterfield later recalled, and many people were skeptical. UTC faculty and students, she said, “had to be good.” The UTC program was established in 1973. In 1974, Mary B. Jackson—the first director of the School of Nursing—hired Butterfield as the program’s first full-time faculty member. State approval followed in 1976. The first graduating class completed the program in 1977, followed by national accreditation in 1978. The beginning was not glamorous. “We were the stepchildren of the University,” Butterfield recalled. “We started out with a couple of rooms in Race Hall, then we moved to Brock Hall—and we were kicked out because the people in power didn’t want nursing in that building.” Norwood first met Butterfield at Baroness Erlanger Hospital School of Nursing. Knowing Norwood was completing her bachelor’s degree, Butterfield recommended her for the fledgling UTC program. Jackson interviewed Norwood, who joined the UTC faculty one month after Butterfield.

Norwood said Butterfield never let her forget that distinction. “I had not quite made it up to the pinnacle yet,” Norwood said with a laugh. “She would remind me of that when I just got too big for my britches. And she would also remind me that she was from ‘The Ohio State University.’” The department had few resources, but it had people who were willing to fight for it. Butterfield was one of them. “She could stand toe to toe with anybody verbally,” Norwood said. When the school faced resistance or needed support, Butterfield did not sit quietly. She had strong opinions, Norwood said, and was not afraid to press University leaders, state officials or legislators.

“Nurses have ideas and good thoughts, are bright and can ask good questions. We can have input into the care that patients receive. That was not around before.” — MARTHA BUTTERFIELD

Guinn remembered her as president of the Faculty Senate who “was not intimidated talking to anybody at the state level. She would talk to anyone. It didn’t matter.” Guinn said Butterfield’s willingness to speak plainly gave other faculty members room to do the same. “She was going to speak first,” Guinn said, “and open the door for others.” Dr. Kay Chitty, who served on the UTC faculty from 1984 to 1995 and as director of the School of Nursing from 1989 to 1993, saw Butterfield as a leader whose influence did not depend on a title. “Martha was a real leader of the faculty,” Chitty said. “She mentored a lot of younger faculty as well as many students who found out how valuable she was as an information source.” Historical photo promoting the UTC nursing program, courtesy of the UTC Library Digital Archives.

Butterfield’s advocacy came from her belief that nursing needed respect and a seat at the table. In her early years as a nurse, she recalled a profession in which nurses were expected to do as they were told, defer to physicians, and “push bedpans.” She helped to encourage a different future. “I’ve seen a great change in the whole healthcare scene,” Butterfield said in a 2018 interview. “Nurses have ideas and good thoughts, are bright and can ask good questions. We can have input into the care that patients receive. That was not around before.” Davidson said that vision is now fundamental to how nursing is taught and practiced. “Nursing has become much more of a collaborative profession, and we actually teach about interprofessional collaboration. That’s what Martha was all about,” Davidson said. “We need to be respected and have dignity and take our place at the table. That was her premise about it.” She brought that lesson to the classroom. Chitty saw that side of Butterfield firsthand after her tenure as a faculty member when she pursued nurse practitioner preparation. She recalled being a student in one of Butterfield’s courses and getting “to see her from a very different perspective.” “She was in front of the classroom and I was in a seat watching her and listening to her and experiencing how students might really appreciate the depth of her knowledge,” Chitty said. “I just thought she did a great job. She was a really excellent teacher.” Butterfield taught medical-surgical nursing and pathophysiology. She expected students to read, prepare and understand why they were doing what they were doing. Guinn said students needed to be ready when Butterfield started asking questions about the pathophysiology behind a disease or a patient’s condition. “You better have read, you better be prepared, you better be able to ask questions,” Guinn said. “She was passionate about them connecting the dots and making sense and then owning their role in what a nurse is.” The approach could be intimidating. It was also instruction rooted in patient safety. “She didn’t want to make errors and she was passionate about patient care,” Guinn said.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

“ Martha wasn’t just a professor, but she was your friend too.” — THERESA COKER

Martha Butterfield at the Kennedy Health Sciences Building groundbreaking in 2024.

Martha Butterfield (bottom, center).

Davidson remembered Butterfield as strict but attentive. If a student came to her with a problem or did not understand an assignment, Butterfield would give the student the time needed to get through it. “She had two sides to her,” Davidson said. “She really cared, but she didn’t let you know it when she was quizzing you on stuff. But she wanted you to own the material.” Theresa Coker, who earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1979 as a member of the program’s third graduating class, remembered the same combination of high expectations and steady encouragement. “She was always committed to the nursing students,” Coker said, “and I always felt like she had our back. She wanted us to succeed because she was this star member of the school.” Coker went on to a nursing career of more than 20 years, working in hospitals, schools, with the Red Cross and on medical missions in Central America and Haiti. She credits Butterfield and UTC’s early faculty with giving students the grounding to keep learning after graduation. Butterfield told them that “becoming a nurse did not mean knowing everything,” Coker said. “It meant knowing when to ask someone or go to a book.” After students graduated, Coker said Butterfield continued to take an interest in their lives and work. At reunions, she would ask what they had been doing and offer encouragement. “We’re supposed to pass on our knowledge, our help, our spiritual knowledge,” Coker said. “She was just a very encouraging professor and friend. You got to know that Martha wasn’t just a professor, but she was your friend too.” Butterfield took pride in seeing the program add graduate education, nurse anesthesia and, eventually, doctoral preparation. She also understood that nursing education had to keep changing. In 1989, she secured the School of Nursing’s first gift to bring technology into the classroom: 10 Macintosh computers for student use.

Norwood remembered Butterfield’s early insistence that the school could not fall behind on technology. The computers may have been “big old clunky Macs,” but Butterfield saw what was coming and worked to prepare students for it. At a time when few faculty members knew how to use computers, Butterfield told them students would need to know how, Norwood said. That forward-looking impulse stayed with her in retirement. Guinn recalled Butterfield visiting the nursing school’s simulation facilities and watching students practice with manikins that simulated real-life patients with vital signs. “She would just almost wiggle,” Guinn said with a laugh. “She’d be so excited.” For all the stories of her directness, there were just as many about her humor and generosity. Butterfield could be a fierce advocate and a demanding teacher, then turn around and invite someone to lunch, ask about their family or insist a younger colleague consider graduate school. When Davidson had doubts about entering a doctoral program, Butterfield did not let the doubt settle in. “She said, ‘You’re young. You can do it,’” Davidson recalled. “And it gave me the confidence that I was lacking at the time.” Butterfield did not build UTC nursing alone, but alongside Jackson and the other early faculty members, she helped establish its expectations: that nursing education should be rigorous, that nurses should have a voice and that students should be ready to care for people when it mattered most. How would she want to be remembered? “She would want to be known for her love for nursing and the profession as a whole,” Norwood said. “I think that would please her more than anything.” Guinn added three more words: “Her uncompromising standards.”

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

Creating a New Center for Collaboration C O MP L E X P R O B L E M S C A N ’ T BE S O LV E D B Y A S I N G L E P E R SON OR A S I N G L E I D E A ; they require experts from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to identify the best solution. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing recognizes the value of cross-industry collaboration and has made interprofessional education a priority. Once the new Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building is complete, it will include a dedicated space for the Interprofessional Center of Excellence. The center will be a place where students and faculty from across campus can gather to explore ideas, develop solutions and collaborate across disciplines. “Nursing has always been at the forefront of interprofessional education,” said Dr. Chris Smith, dean of the College of Nursing. “We have been for a long time, and now to have a dedicated space in our new building that will serve as a collaborative space for this has enabled us to achieve yet another goal.” While housed in the health sciences building, the center will serve students and faculty across the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Gary W. Rollins College of Business, Honors College and Graduate School. Assistant Professor of Practice Meagan Oslund has laid the groundwork for the center’s founding principles. She also serves as the interprofessional education and practice coordinator for the nursing program’s ROAD MAP grant. “My vision is that the interprofessional education center on campus will create a place where every student, regardless of their major or discipline, can learn to collaborate, innovate and lead alongside professionals from other fields,” Oslund said, “and ultimately, it will produce

graduates who are ready to transform their communities and the world.” An example of interprofessional collaboration is the MobileMOC outreach health clinic, launched by the nursing program in 2025 as part of its ROAD MAP initiative with support from a $2.6 million Tennessee Department of Health grant. Designed to meet the needs of older adults where they are, the project brings essential health services directly to rural communities that often face barriers to consistent care. The program’s interprofessional team includes faculty and students from nursing, occupational therapy, social work, nutrition and dietetics and business/finance. MobileMOC offers a working example of what interprofessional education can look like in practice. The Interprofessional Center of Excellence is intended to build on that model by creating a campuswide home for students and faculty to form partnerships, share expertise and develop projects that connect disciplines in new ways. Oslund highlighted the importance of providing a physical space for students across campus to collaborate and the benefits it offers. “There hasn’t been a coordinated effort on campus to bring all of these different programs together,” she said. “On this project, knowing who to connect with is going to be part of the new center’s role.” The center’s three main goals are to educate students about interprofessional collaboration through virtual badges earned by completing online modules; host campus events that introduce students and faculty members to professions and areas of study beyond their own while providing community outreach; and strengthen UTC’s research profile as the University works toward Carnegie R2 classification. “I’m working on interviewing faculty members across campus about their research interests, their

experiential learning opportunities, grants they’re interested in applying for, their big dreams,” she said. “Then working to connect them in order to make some of these projects happen, make us more competitive for grants, make our visibility greater, and connect our knowledge and our resources to do cool things.” Oslund wants to find “champions” of interprofessional education so they can start collaborating once the center is in place. “Once we get that funding, I really feel like we can take off with the goals of the center,” she said. “For now, it’s laying the groundwork.” Oslund explained how interprofessional work will benefit researchers. “By doing research interprofessionally, we’re diversifying external funding for research and engaging interdisciplinary faculty to maximize grant potential and expand the opportunities for publication and dissemination,” she said. “Research supports and helps faculty and also provides education opportunities for students.” The center’s events will offer students learning opportunities while reaching the community. “For example, in September, students from

nutrition, nursing and occupational therapy, along with Chattanooga Therapeutic Recreation Services, held a family fun field day for kids with special needs,” Oslund said. “We created stations so they were working together and learning about what other professions can do for that kind of population. Activities like that where students can come together and use their expertise to do something fun for the community are an amazing opportunity.” In order to participate in these events and research, students needed to complete online modules based on existing units from the MobileMOC student requirements. MobileMOC was developed through an interprofessional vision: faculty, students and practitioners from across health disciplines working side-by-side to improve health outcomes while building a stronger rural healthcare workforce. “Students who come out on MobileMOC actually complete modules before they come,” Oslund said. “Some are healthcare-related, about how to take care of older adults and what mobile health means, but there are also modules about how to collaborate as interprofessionals for a common purpose. “

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on March 25, 2025, to mark the official launch of MobileMOC.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

MobileMOC brings UTC students and faculty together across disciplines to deliver care, learn from one another and strengthen health outcomes.

It overlaps and that training is already out there being used,” Oslund continued. “We’ve run escape rooms focused on interprofessional collaboration. “ Along with the existing work at the College of Nursing, Oslund explained why nursing is an appropriate home for the center, using business as an example. “It indirectly relates back to nursing, which is why I think nursing is a good place for it to live,” she said. “Not all projects or focuses have to be directly related to health to be part of the center. “If a business is doing well financially, then it is providing stable incomes for their employees and families that impact their financial health, their emotional health and their social health and wellness.”

Oslund described the center as “more than just health.” It is a way to educate the next generation of students to collaborate across disciplines, develop innovative research and help better the surrounding community. “We want business, engineering, mathematics and other disciplines involved in projects that collaborate,” Oslund said, “because at the end of the day, for every project out there, you’re not going to just work with engineers or mathematicians for the rest of your life. You’re going to have to know how to talk to people in business. You’re going to have to talk to clients who are in different fields and know how to collaborate with those people.”

The interprofessional MobileMOC health clinic unites UTC students and faculty from varied fields to provide care, share expertise and improve health outcomes.

Dr. Kristi Wick (left) is the leader of UTC’s MobileMOC health unit efforts.

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Palliative Care

Preparing Nurses for Life’s Most Meaningful Moments

Illustration by Laura McDevitt.

ccording to Dr. Laurel Rhyne, students rarely finish a clinical shift in the intensive care unit without at least one patient death. Though emotionally difficult, it is an experience they will continually encounter throughout their careers. As an associate lecturer in UTC’s College of Nursing, Rhyne said students often think about saving lives, but they don’t always consider what happens when a patient dies. “As they get into it, all of a sudden people are dying,” Rhyne said. “They didn’t expect to be on that side. “Part of my educational journey with them is to help them learn how to do that—to learn how to be present in critical illness, in life-ending illness, to be with families in that situation and to stay whole themselves so they are resilient to the burnout that happens from that cumulative loss of people.” For 36 years, Rhyne worked as an acute care nurse. She joined the UTC faculty in 2012 and has taught classes in leadership, critical care and palliative care. Rhyne is also an end-of-life doula and a board member for the Tennessee End of Life Partnership—a nonprofit organization that educates families on palliative care and promotes

policies for end-of-life care across the state. Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, she started an end-of-life simulation so students could experience difficult conversations while still in the classroom. They practiced decision-making with “patients” who had terminal illnesses and calling codes, or declaring an emergency in which a patient needs CPR. “Everyone talks about that,” Rhyne said. “We all practice, but when you’re really doing CPR on someone, what does it feel like physically? And then what is the emotional tax that is on you? “When you do the last compression, that last touch, we’re calling a time of death. So you’re the last touch on a person while they’re alive and now they’re deemed dead. What do we do with all of that emotion?” This awareness is woven into instruction throughout the entire program. It’s not always centered on death. Palliative care looks different depending on the needs of the patient and their family, which can include physical, emotional, spiritual and financial distress “It’s not all necessarily medical,” said Katie Parker, a lecturer in the College of Nursing who

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has spent most of her career in pediatric and adult oncology palliative care. “It could be getting to see their grandchild get married or making it to a specific birthday or going on a trip. “It’s how to help people live better and then help them be more accepting whenever that transition occurs. It’s really more about life than it is death.” Dr. Kristen Singletary is a clinical associate professor, director of the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program and a three-time UTC alum. She teaches fundamental courses where she “introduces the students to nursing entirely.” Singletary explained that nursing education involves much more than teaching science. “Science is a huge part of it, but caring is as well,” Singletary said. “Looking at that whole picture for the patient is what a nurse does. Palliative care for nurses is really just an extension of what we already do in providing holistic support, education, guidance, making a plan for the patient and inquiring about what the patient wants.” Sometimes, making plans for a patient means considering how invasive surgery or a lifelimiting illness will affect their daily life, and how circumstances at home may contribute. “We are very strong on the palliative care and hospice issues that face our patients and the socioeconomic issues they face,” Singletary said. Parker, who teaches pediatric classes, said her

students learn about communicating symptom burden and reduction with children. “In kids, that may or may not always be as overt,” Parker said. “Eliminating that stress really helps reduce that symptom.” Parker also worked alongside nursing lecturer Mallory Eves to build a palliative care curriculum for third-semester ABSN students. Students complete online modules through the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium that give them the “building blocks” for understanding palliative care. At the end of the semester, students roleplay “tough conversations and things they might encounter in the hospital or their practice area.” “Am I dying?” Parker provided as an example. “There’s not one great, ‘Well, you just need to replicate this every time and you’ll be good to go.’” Singletary said faculty sometimes use pop culture examples to connect with students and show how characters from their favorite books, movies or TV shows handle patient interactions. “We try to interweave all of that into the whole program,” Singletary said. “We all talk about communication and about patient-centered or family-centered thought process and how to communicate.” Communication, she said, is one of the most important skills nursing students can build. Not only

does it help students treat patients, but it also helps them to feel more confident in themselves as providers. Like Rhyne, Singletary said that feeling uncomfortable or unsure how to navigate difficult conversations can contribute to burnout. “Most of them aren’t familiar with chronically ill patients or the thought of dying. They’re scared of it. It’s very daunting for them to go into practice without having ever practiced talking or seeing what that might look like,” Singletary said. Parker said it is completely normal for students to feel some level of discomfort. “It is teaching them how to sit in the uncomfortable,” Parker said. “We can teach skills to anyone. We can teach anyone how to put in an IV or change a dressing. In the same way, we hope we’re teaching them soft skills.” Rhyne tells her students that before entering a room with a patient, they should “leave their shoes at the door” so they can fully support the patient’s belief system.

To do that, she said, it is important for nurses to think about their own beliefs. “What do you believe about death and dying spiritually, logically?” Rhyne said. “Until you think about how you are going to die, what you will miss if you die and journeys that you didn’t get to go on, relationships you didn’t have, things you wished you hadn’t said. “Until you think about that from your own personal perspective, can you actually look at someone else and understand what their journey and walk might look like?” Though she loves teaching and her students, Rhyne said her work as an educator is about ensuring that future patients get the best care possible. That is why the biggest lesson in nursing, she said, is simply about having empathy. “It’s about making the end of everyone’s story as beautiful as the life they lived,” Rhyne said. “If you are going to be a part of the end of the story, what are you bringing to their story as a nurse?”

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

KENNEDY HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING UPDATE UTC celebrates building’s progress with topping-off ceremony

THE DOROTHY AND JIM KENNEDY HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING is quickly taking shape at the corner of Palmetto and East 3rd streets, bringing the College of Nursing closer to moving into its new home. The approximately 90,000-square-foot facility will give the College room to expand enrollment capacity to 150% of its current level while providing more opportunities for simulation and hands-on learning. The building is scheduled to be completed in 2027. That growth is critical, especially for a region facing a continuous need for highly trained healthcare professionals. “With this new facility, we will significantly expand our capacity to graduate practiceready nurses,” said Dr. Chris Smith, dean of the College of Nursing and UTC’s chief health affairs officer. “Equipped with the latest technology and immersive, hands-on learning experiences, our graduates will be well prepared to deliver care at the highest level.” Inside, the building will feature classrooms and an advanced simulation environment where students can practice clinical skills and encounter realistic patient scenarios before facing real patients.

“Early and consistent exposure to simulation ensures they develop critical clinical skills that many in the field previously had to learn on the job,” Smith said. “Through a strong emphasis on competencybased education, our program will produce nurses who are ready to make an immediate impact and strengthen the healthcare workforce across Chattanooga and beyond.” In April 2026, faculty, staff, students, donors and members of the construction team gathered to mark the building’s progress. Before the building’s highest structural beam was lifted into place, members of the UTC community covered it with their signatures. The topping-out ceremony offered a chance to celebrate how far the project has come since construction began in 2024 and the many people who have helped make it possible.

UTC College of Nursing Dean Chris Smith (left), Molly Kennedy and Chancellor Lori Bruce stand outside of the soon-to-be Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building.

The $77 million facility is being funded through a combination of state resources and private support, with a building campaign goal of $21 million. Among those who helped set the project in motion was the Kennedy Foundation, Inc., which made an $8 million gift to UTC in 2023. The gift, the largest in the history of UTC’s nursing program, named the building in honor of Dorothy and Jim Kennedy, parents of Kennedy Foundation trustees Jim Kennedy III, Elizabeth Kennedy Spratlin and Molly Kennedy. The building will become the first on UTC’s campus to highlight a woman and alumna. Dorothy Kennedy received a bachelor’s degree from UTC in English and American Language

and Literature; during the same May 3, 1982, commencement ceremony, Molly Kennedy received a psychology degree. “The Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building represents far more than new space—it signals who we are becoming as a University,” UTC Chancellor Lori Mann Bruce said at the topping-out ceremony. “It creates a bold gateway to campus and reflects the energy and momentum driving UTC forward. “With this facility, we will expand access, grow enrollment and strengthen our ability to meet the evolving workforce needs of the healthcare industry. This project is a direct expression of our 2030 strategic plan—advancing student success, deepening community partnerships and preparing the workforce of the future.”

Construction crews place a signed beam atop the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building during a topping off ceremony on April 30, 2026.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

THE COLLEGE OF NURSING’S FIRST STRATEGIC PLAN UTC’s College of Nursing developed its first strategic plan around a straightforward charge to prepare more nurses and make a greater difference in Chattanooga and the region. For Dr. Brooke Epperson, UC Foundation Associate Professor, H. Clay Evans Johnson Professor and associate dean, the plan allowed the College to build on its new identity and make its own mark. “Being the College of Nursing’s first strategic plan and really building off of the University’s strategic plan and that momentum, the hope was that we could set our own course as a standalone college and really be able to put our stamp on it,” said Epperson, who chaired the strategic planning committee.

Rendering of the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building.

The plan aligned with UTC’s institutional strategic plan, but Epperson said the committee’s work was not about producing a document for a shelf. Its five pillars—academic excellence and student outcomes; support for faculty and staff; research; operational excellence; and community engagement and impact—carried timelines and measurable outcomes. They set expectations for enrollment, student success, faculty development, research, fundraising and partnerships. The committee brought together representatives from undergraduate and graduate programs, helping the College identify common goals. “As a newer faculty member working across both undergraduate and graduate programs, I have been able to view the College of Nursing as one interconnected entity rather than as separate programs,” said Dr. Chris Doneski, assistant professor and adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner program director. “This perspective has revealed meaningful opportunities to align priorities, share faculty expertise and resources, and build stronger connections across the student experience.” The plan called for expanded enrollment, new microcredentials and continuing education offerings, more scholarships and stronger RN-to-BSN pathways. But growth had to be paired with the room and support to do it well. The new Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building, scheduled to open in 2027, will provide space for more students, expanded simulation capacity, microcredential programs and collaboration. “We can’t grow without the building,” Epperson said. “I think having the space to be able to host things, such as the classes for micro-credentialing, is a huge piece of being able to hit the goals that we want by 2030.” The plan also called for a workplace that recognizes and supports faculty and staff.

DNP acute care and CRNA student’s assessment class practice performing ultrasounds on June 3, 2026.

“Everyone brought their talents to the table for the strategic plan,” said Dr. Kristen Singletary, clinical associate professor and accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program director. “By using everyone’s strengths, we were really able to create a plan that promotes sustainable growth for our future as a college.” Dr. Bernadette DePrez, associate professor and DNP Nursing Administration Systems program director, said the process began with the College’s existing strengths and connected its specific initiatives to UTC’s larger strategic vision. “College of Nursing leadership, faculty, staff and student success are interrelated; each plays a vital role in achieving academic excellence, a supportive work environment, and community engagement,” DePrez said. “Communicating progress and celebrating achievements related to strategic goals will be important to keep the strategic plan relevant and further engage stakeholders.” Dr. Angel Collier, associate professor, brought experience from the School of Nursing’s earlier plans. “Having worked on previous strategic plans as a School of Nursing, we thoughtfully reflected on what has worked well while also identifying opportunities for growth and improvement,” Collier said. “Now, as a College of Nursing, we have an exciting opportunity to build on the tradition of excellence and envision what is possible for the future.” The plan also reached beyond campus, calling for expanded partnerships, a representative advisory board, community health events and a community impact dashboard. Dr. Hannah Barger, lecturer and traditional BSN program director, said that focus connected the College’s growth to the people its graduates would serve.

“I see this strategic plan as an opportunity to grow our students, strengthen our partnerships and expand our impact in both the campus and surrounding communities,” Barger said. “I am hopeful that this work will showcase the dedication of our students and faculty while preparing more nurses to provide compassionate, high-quality care to the patients and communities they serve.”

“ The hope was that we could set our own course as a standalone college and really be able to put our stamp on it.” — DR. BROOKE EPPERSON April Anderson, BSN program support and academic nursing advisor, had seen several strategic plans since coming to UTC in 1999. This one, she said, came from a different place. “Earlier plans helped guide our growth and transformation. This plan is being developed from a position of strength,” Anderson said. “As someone who has witnessed the College’s growth firsthand, I’ve seen how thoughtful planning can help bring people together around common goals and priorities.” Epperson said the measure of success by 2030 will be whether the College follows through on the plan. “If we can hit those points and leave the end of the strategic plan cycle feeling like we’ve accomplished those things,” she said, “then I think we will be able to call it a win.”

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

BUILDING THE NURSING WORKFORCE

As healthcare employers face persistent workforce shortages, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing is expanding pathways to prepare nurses for careers in Chattanooga, across Tennessee and beyond. UTC Executive Director of Economic and Workforce Development Jermaine Freeman described how the University is playing a “critical role” in meeting workforce needs. “We have a healthy and robust hospital system here in Chattanooga between Erlanger, CommonSpirit and Park Ridge,” Freeman said. “If you go up the road to Nashville, which has a really significant and strong healthcare ecosystem, there are lots “The growth of the UTC College of opportunities in healthcare or adjacent to of Nursing is, quite simply, a vital healthcare. You have the UT Health Sciences Center out in Memphis. investment in our community’s “As a state, we are growing our healthcare health infrastructure,” ecosystem. UT Chattanooga plays a significant role as a source of talent for that ecosystem. — P ET R A G R E E N , C O M M O N S PIRIT There will be lots of jobs in healthcare and nursing M E M O R I A L H O S P I T A L C H ATTANOOGA in particular. It’s great that we are stepping into the gap.” Freeman said that means providing programming that trains and equips future nurses for workforce demands. Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Matt Matthews said workforce needs were among the first topics he discussed with Dr. Chris Smith, dean of the College of Nursing, after he assumed his position in July 2026. He recalled her saying, “Matt, we need more nurses. My DNP program needs to grow. How can we grow the number of graduates? How do we expand our workforce?” Matthews called it “super exciting” to hear a dean so focused on service. The conversation then turned to programmatic opportunities for the College, including a proposal to reinstate a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program. “Our College of Nursing is hard at work right now on making the proposal to reopen its MSN and expand the pipeline of students we have headed into the workforce,” Matthews said. “Many of those will already have a BSN, but this is adding additional practice, additional expertise beyond the bachelor’s degree,

The same is true for two-time UTC alumna Deborah Deal, chief nurse executive at Parkridge Health System. “To now have the opportunity to support and work alongside the next generation of UTC nurses makes that connection especially meaningful,” Deal said. “Beyond my own experience, I believe UTC has an important role in the future of nursing across Tennessee. The need for skilled, compassionate nurses extends well beyond any one hospital or community. By educating nurses who go on to serve as clinicians, advanced practice providers, educators and leaders, UTC has an impact that reaches throughout our region and across the state.” UTC nursing students from different programs and disciplines get hands-on experience and clinical practice.

which means that people who have special medical needs will have the nurses they need to help meet those needs. “That’s really the most exciting thing I’ve seen is that Chris and her colleagues in the College of Nursing were like, ‘Yes, we absolutely can offer that to the people of Tennessee,’ and they’re hard at work on making it happen.” Freeman explained that forecasts project growth in registered nurse and nurse practitioner jobs over the next five years, underscoring the importance of master’s and doctoral-level programs. “When you look at workforce data about nursing in particular, once people graduate from the nursing program, you tend to see them moving upward in their careers,” he said. “A lot of registered nurses will go on to become nurse practitioners and nursing managers. “That’s powerful from a workforce development perspective because it shows that people are pursuing upward mobility.” The transition to a College of Nursing and the development of the new Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building have drawn attention from local healthcare leaders. “The growth of the UTC College of Nursing is, quite simply, a vital investment in our community’s health infrastructure,” said Petra Green, interim chief nursing officer at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga. “In an era where nursing shortages are a national challenge, the expansion of their program provides us with a sustainable, long-term solution. It allows us to stabilize our workforce and reduce our reliance on temporary staffing. When the College grows, it signals that we have a robust pipeline of talent right here in our backyard, which allows our hospital to focus more on long-term clinical innovation and patient outcomes rather than just filling vacancies.” The growth is a point of pride for Erlanger Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Rachel Harris, a UTC alumna. “UTC gave me more than just a nursing degree. It gave me a foundation, a professional identity and a commitment to serve others. It taught me that nursing is not just a job—it is a profession that requires knowledge, clinical judgment, compassion, leadership and a willingness to learn continually,” Harris said.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

Care Beyond Borders

Karent Gresbrink (left), Kelly Jourdan, Chyna Germany and Dr. Kate McKinney pose at Machu Picchu.

IN JUNE, A WOMAN IN RURAL PERU WALKED FIVE HOURS TO RECEIVE A PAP SMEAR AT A HEALTH CLINIC. Those treating the woman—and others like her—included University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Doctor of Nursing Practice students Karent Gresbrink, Chyna Germany and Kelly Jourdan, alongside faculty member Dr. Kate McKinney, the Kay K. Chitty assistant professor in UTC’s College of Nursing. “Through my undergraduate nursing school, I went and worked with an organization in Peru, Cervi Cusco, providing women’s health services in rural areas, and it’s still around,” McKinney said. “I reached out and asked them, ‘Now that I’m in an instructor role, could I bring students?’ “They were very excited to have us come and help out.” The three students, all members of UTC’s Family Nurse Practitioner Class of 2027, spent over a week providing primary and preventive care in Cusco, Peru. At their hotel, the students lived in close quarters, sharing a dormitory-style room. Early each morning, they boarded buses for a two-hour drive to their clinic sites, where they set up in makeshift tents or auditoriums. “In the family nurse practitioner program, we really emphasize the importance of cultural competency and understanding your patient’s background,” McKinney said. “Knowing where they come from and how that plays into their health is important because it really plays a significant role in how they make their health decisions.” Gresbrink, Germany and Jourdan, who all work in Tennessee hospitals, agreed that healthcare looks different in Peru.

“In the United States, there’s immediate access to care at all times,” said Jourdan, a registered nurse at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga. “You get your results back the same day or within hours. “It’s not like that here.” Germany, a labor and delivery nurse who received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UTC in 2021, described the experience as “rural health on steroids.” “We have problems like that, too, in our rural areas around here,” Germany said, “but seeing it to that magnitude, it was just very eye-opening and made me feel even more excited to be there.” All three students said they noticed differences in the health conditions of rural Peruvian patients compared with those they typically treat in Tennessee hospitals. “The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension wasn’t as common there as it is in the U.S.,” Germany said. Jourdan believes lifestyle plays a role. “They’re much more active—very, very active,” she said. “They don’t eat fast food or highly processed food. They’re making things from scratch. They’re eating at home.” Those observations aligned with Gresbrink’s experience treating patients throughout the week. “When we do health fairs here in America, almost everybody comes with chronic diseases and tons of medication, and there we found people that have no medications at all,” Gresbrink said. Gresbrink, who moved from her home country of Panama to the United States in 2020, began

working as a registered nurse at Erlanger Baroness Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic while taking prerequisite courses at UTC. “I hope more students can have this opportunity because you’re helping people at the same time you’re learning,” Gresbrink said. “It’s a very nice combination of experience.” Germany said the trip strengthened her passion for women’s health and preventive care. “Seeing the difference between our healthcare system and theirs made me have a little bit more appreciation for what we have because it was very different,” Germany said. The group also made time to explore. “We got to go to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu,” Jourdan said. “It was neat learning about the cultural side of things to help connect everything. “We all got along so well. Dr. McKinney was wonderful. She had everything so organized … everybody just had something to contribute, and it made the trip really enjoyable.” As the week came to a close, McKinney watched the students leave with stronger bonds and a renewed sense of why they chose nursing. “We all talk about why we’re in nursing, and it’s that we are service-driven people,” McKinney said. “I think this trip reflects that. Healthcare resources and services are limited in many of the communities we visited, and this experience gave us the opportunity to contribute to patient care while also learning from the people we served. “I think the students found it really rewarding.”

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

WORKING TOGETHER FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH

FOR MANY PEOPLE, a health fair offers a blood pressure reading or a cholesterol check. For UTC Doctor of Nursing Practice students, it is a lesson in clinical skills and trust. At the annual Chattanooga Wellness Expo in August, 18 DNP students worked alongside faculty to offer free screenings for blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol and health indicators. The encounters paired clinical assessment with a conversation: What do the numbers mean? What questions should a person ask? Where can they turn for follow-up care? That combination “makes community-based screening an important learning environment,” said Dr. Amber Roaché, director of UTC’s family nurse practitioner program and an associate professor in the College of Nursing. Students sharpen clinical skills while meeting people where they are and listening to practical concerns that shape health decisions. The experience also shows future providers a reality they will encounter throughout their careers: a screening may be someone’s only contact with a healthcare professional all year. Family nurse practitioner student Nicole Ward, who is scheduled to graduate in May 2027, said reaching people who do not receive regular primary care is meaningful, “because that might be the only chance that they see a provider for the whole year.” For students, that insight extends beyond obtaining a patient’s reading. It requires explaining

a result in plain language, discussing diabetes, hypertension or cholesterol, and helping a person consider the next step. Dr. Kate McKinney, the Kay K. Chitty assistant professor and a family nurse practitioner at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital in Hixson, said health-fair screenings can “help move people into the healthcare system” before problems worsen. The work is relevant to UTC graduates, as more than 90% of the University’s nurse practitioner graduates work in medically underserved areas. Barriers such as insurance coverage, transportation and work schedules can make routine care difficult to obtain. DNP student Trinity Brown, a member of the 2027 cohort, described the Expo as an opportunity to put classroom learning into practice while serving community members. Brown called it “a great time to get connected” through screenings, health promotion and education. For nursing students, the lesson is clear: a conversation at a screening table can be an exercise in clinical judgment and an opening for sustained care. For the people they serve, it can be a first step toward seeking help, finding a provider and acting on information that might otherwise go unnoticed. “It’s just a really great opportunity for students to start connecting their learning and what they are getting taught in class with actual hands-on patient care,” Roaché said.

“ It’s just a really great opportunity for students to start connecting their learning and what they are getting taught in class with actual hands-on patient care,” — DR. AMBER ROACHÉ

UTC DNP students at the August 2026 Chattanooga Wellness Expo in the Wolford Family Athletic Center.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

THROUGH THEIR PRACTICE ALUMNI STORIES

Colleen Reilly Moss DNP, APRN, NNP-BC, C-ELBW, FAANP DNP ’19

Director, Neonatal NP Specialty

Associate Professor, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Associate Nursing Director, American

Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Verification Program

BY THE TIME COLLEEN MOSS arrived at UTC, she had built a career caring for some of the smallest and most vulnerable patients in healthcare. She knew neonatal medicine but discovered how much she wanted to teach it in the University’s nursing program. Moss’ Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) clinical work gave her the opportunity to explore nursing education, and the more time she spent teaching, the more it seemed right. “I remember thinking, yes, I think this is what I really want to do,” she said. Years earlier, Moss had felt that same certainty about neonatal care. Her doctoral work brought the two together. Her DNP project focused on mentoring new graduate neonatal nurse practitioners, examining how to support them as they entered advanced practice.

Moss earned her advanced degree while working, raising two children and helping care for elderly parents. The program’s flexibility allowed her to complete most of her clinical work in Nashville, traveling from her home in Franklin, Tennessee, to Chattanooga for required campus sessions. “There’s never a right time. There’s never a good time,” Moss said. “You just have to figure out how to make it work, and the flexibility of (UTC’s) program was really key for me.” Near the end of her DNP program, a full-time faculty position opened at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing, where Moss earned her undergraduate degree in child development. It was the kind of role she’d begun to imagine for herself at UTC: teaching neonatal nurse practitioners at the graduate level. Moss joined the Vanderbilt faculty after graduating from UTC in 2019. Two years later, Vanderbilt named her director of its Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Specialty. She has since risen to associate professor, too. As teaching led to academic leadership, Moss has carried with her a distinct lesson she learned at UTC. “The way to lead is not through being overpowering, but through being an active listener,”

Moss said. “That was one of the key skills I learned during my time in the program.” Early in her career, Moss said she struggled with imposter syndrome and leaned on a mentor to get past it. Years later, she considers mentoring others part of her responsibility as a teacher and leader. “Ultimately, my goal is to mentor someone for this role because I feel like that’s what I’m supposed to do,” Moss said. “There are people I’m working with right now who I’m helping become educators. I want to be that person in their corner, cheering for them, just like I had.” That approach now has nationwide reach thanks to Moss’ position as associate nursing director of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Neonatal Verification Program, which surveys and verifies level of care in NICUs across the country. But for Moss, caring for infants doesn’t end in the NICU. She sees neonatal nurse practitioners as natural educators, always helping prepare parents and caregivers for what comes after the hospital. Community resources are an integral part of that process, she said. “It’s just a critical piece of helping babies successfully transition to being at home and being cared for by their families,” Moss said.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA COLLEGE OF NURSING

Gary Ward BSN ‘17

MSN ’21

Director of Anesthesia, Cullman

Regional Medical Center

GARY WARD KNOWS HOW TO BRING ORDER TO CHAOS. He learned it during nearly 20 years as a paramedic. He now relies on it as a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). “They say paramedics make great CRNAs,” said Ward, a two-time alum of the UTC College of Nursing. Both roles demand autonomy, quick assessment and the ability to act when a patient’s condition changes. “That background as a paramedic translated more than I initially realized,” he said. Ward grew up near Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and spent most of his early career as a paramedic in northwest Georgia. When years of 24-hour shifts began taking a toll, he enrolled in Chattanooga State Community College’s paramedic-to-RN program. As Ward transitioned into nursing, he began thinking seriously about becoming a CRNA. To get there, he needed intensive care experience and a bachelor’s degree. Ward did both, moving into a trauma intensive care unit and enrolling in UTC’s

Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-BSN) Gateway Program. “The Gateway program was a very good pathway for someone like me because it allowed me to earn the degree while continuing to work,” he said. Ward returned to UTC for nurse anesthesia school in his late 40s, with children in high school and classmates often decades younger. Even with nearly 20 years of experience as a first responder, he wasn’t prepared for the volume and complexity of the material, sometimes spending hours mastering it. “It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I had to just tell myself, ‘You’ve got this,’” Ward said. He said he drew on the discipline he’d developed as a paramedic, trusted what he knew and didn’t let mistakes derail him. He also knew when to lean on the people around him. “We were so hands-on at UTC,” Ward said. “You had relationships with your professors. You could go to them, bounce things off them and learn from their experience. Having that kind of support made a difference, especially for me as a nontraditional student.” That emphasis on connection carries into how Ward approaches his patients. “You’re watching over them when they need it the most,” he said. That responsibility starts with trust. Whether he’s caring for an anxious adult or reassuring the parent of a child going into surgery, Ward said taking time to explain what will happen can make a difference. “You can see the relief when you go in and talk to them, explain what’s going to happen and say, ‘I’m going to be watching over your child the entire time,’” Ward said. Today, Ward is director of anesthesia at Cullman Regional Medical Center in Cullman, Alabama, where CRNA students also train. “When I look back at the pathway that brought me to this level,” Ward said, “it gives me the opportunity now to pass that knowledge on to somebody else.”

Making Their Mark Before Commencement

IN SEPTEMBER 2026, UTC DNP Nurse Anesthesia students (from left) Adam Holt, Leah Major, Amanda Tomlin and Tanner Cary traveled to Guaymaca, Honduras, to provide surgical care during a medical mission. The four will graduate from the 36-month UTC program during fall 2026 commencement.

Leah Major

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In Memoriam UTC College of Nursing remembers two students whose commitment to nursing and to those around them left a lasting impression.

MANUEL A TUTEANU “ELL A” BRESEE Manuela Tuteanu “Ella” Bresee died March 4, 2026. A registered nurse who worked at Erlanger and CHI Memorial in Chattanooga, Ella was pursuing her DNP in UTC’s nurse anesthesia program. She quickly stood out among her peers as a leader and advocate for the profession. During her first semester, Ella attended the Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists’ “Day on the Hill” in Nashville, advocating for Tennessee healthcare and nurse anesthesia providers. She also established herself as a scholar, playing a vital role in a DNP project focused on simulation training for obstetric emergencies. Faculty remember Ella’s resilience and perseverance, her focus on her goals and her dedication to her classmates and the nursing profession. Outside nursing, Ella volunteered with CISV Chattanooga, an organization that promotes global friendship, and was active with Chattanooga Football Club. Her classmates and faculty will remember Ella as a friend, colleague and dedicated nurse.

OLUWAL AYOMI “L AYO” FADERO Oluwalayomi “Layo” Fadero died March 20, 2026. A Fisk University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in business administration, Layo was pursuing her accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing at UTC. At UTC, Layo was known for her kindness, generosity, warm smile and deep commitment to caring for others. Her 15 classmates in the ABSN program and College of Nursing faculty came together after her death in ways faculty described as transformational. Before coming to UTC, Layo was active in the Fisk University community and was a member of the Fisk African Students Association. Layo once shared a belief that reflected her approach to caring for others: “I believe that every human life, no matter how long or short, has a purpose and value.” Her classmates and faculty will remember Layo for the kindness and care she brought to her time at UTC.

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Celebrate the profound impact nurses have on the lives of patients. UTC is a comprehensive, community-engaged campus of the UT System. UTC is an EEO/AA/Titles VI and IX Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution. E041002-007-27

Saturday, April 24, 2027 | 6:00 PM