Faculty Matters (Dean and Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Arkansas at Monticello‪)‬

PAMELA GOUNER, MSN, MEd, RN, is dean and assistant professor of nursing at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) School of Nursing, an associate degree and baccalaureate program with 100 active nursing students and 350 students who have declared nursing as their major. The program is integrated, with four con cepts in nursing care courses taught across the lifespan using the Roy Adaptation Model. Certain areas, such as obstetrics and maternal/child health, are compartmentalized, while others, such pediatrics and psychiatric nursing, are woven throughout the curriculum. Eight full-time faculty team-teach their specialties and provide a bridge between classroom content and nursing care by accompanying students into clinical settings. Clinical rotations take place in hospitals within a 100-mile radius. Eighty percent of the students represent the first generation of their families to attend college, and an equal number remain in the area. Pam, who is in the dissertation phase of a PhD in nursing program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, plans to establish the school as a major learning center for all health care providers in the community--past, present, and future. Housed in a newly renovated building, the school now has sufficient funds to complete its technology plan, established two years ago, and will lay the foundation for several projects, including a wireless laptop testing center and a state-of-the-art simulation lab. "The lair will help us meet the clinical teaching/learning needs for our students, establish another clinical site for faculty and students, and provide a learning site for nurses wishing to return to the profession and those requiring certification in certain areas. Acquiring resources is a challenge, but I am persistent, and we are on our way."