EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a story from the spring 2007 edition of the College of Nursing publication, Advances. This and other stories from the publication will run in UNMC Today in commemoration of the college’s 90th anniversary. Click here to see the entire Advances newsletter online.
In 1917, 13 students became the founding class of a new school of nursing in Omaha.
Over the years, the school would endure many trials and eventually evolve into the UNMC College of Nursing. Today, 90 years later, the college is home to one of the top-ranked nursing programs in the country.
Across a 500-mile, statewide campus, the College of Nursing is now the largest school in the UNMC system and the largest nursing school in Nebraska, with an enrollment of more than 1,000 students in its Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney and Scottsbluff divisions.
Six deans have led the College since 1917. Over the next few weeks, we will hear from the three most recent deans as they share their reflections on the occasion of the college’s 90th Anniversary.
Today, we look back with Rosalee Yeaworth, Ph.D., professor emeritus and dean emeritus of the UNMC College of Nursing, who served as dean from 1979 to 1994.
Dr. Yeaworth was recruited to UNMC in 1979 from the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health, where she was assistant dean for graduate programs.
“I was excited by what I saw here,” she said. “The baccalaureate degree was offered across the state, there was a two-way television connection to Lincoln, and I liked the faculty, its friendliness and its obvious concern for people.”
Faculty development was one of her top priorities.
“When I arrived in Omaha, one-third of the faculty didn’t have master’s degrees,” Dr. Yeaworth said. “I told them that if I could find someone with a master’s degree, I would hire them.”
Dr. Yeaworth further encouraged master’s level faculty to pursue doctoral degrees.
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Rosalee Yeaworth, Ph.D. |
In 1989, she achieved one of her primary goals by the launching the college’s own doctoral program.
A published author of more than 50 pieces, Dr. Yeaworth was also a strong proponent of research during her tenure. She recruited key research faculty who helped the College of Nursing become one of the top 15 schools in the country in research funding.
She remembers stressful days in the early 1980s when survival of the Lincoln division was at risk.
“Budget reductions threatened the Lincoln division but high levels of community support helped prevent closure,” she said. “And, as the state’s need to educate and retain nurses grew, the College expanded with additional campuses.”
Dr. Yeaworth opened the Western Nebraska Division in Scottsbluff in 1986, brought the Kearney State College Department of Nursing into the NU system in 1991, introduced new electronic learning technologies, and initiated nurse practitioner services, including the Family Health Care Center and the Mobile Nursing Center.
“We got things accomplished because we had creative people and administrative support,” Dr. Yeaworth said. And, with a smile, she added, “my master’s degree in psychiatric nursing was also handy.”
Looking back on her 15 years as dean, Dr. Yeaworth said she misses how the job allowed her to form relationships with faculty and students.
“I also miss the graduations,” she said.
Last spring, she again donned her cap and gown and marched to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” as she had many times before.
This time, she was especially proud. She was there to see her granddaughter receive her bachelor’s degree from the UNMC College of Nursing. Her granddaughter plans to focus in two areas that Dr. Yeaworth championed during her tenure as dean — research and nurse practitioner services.