Mission and History

Class of 1986

Mission

The mission of the Division of Nursing is to prepare graduates who deliver, manage and lead nursing care in a variety of health-care settings, and who participate in personal and professional development.

About the Division

The Division of Nursing is the largest of the six health professions divisions organized under the School of Health Professions at Shenandoah University.

Although history reflects that a "medical" curriculum was offered at Shenandoah as early as 1889 at the Dayton, Va., campus, the current nursing program at Shenandoah University originated in 1962 when the Winchester Memorial Hospital (now Winchester Medical Center) decided to transfer its diploma nursing program into an academic setting. The program began as a two-year, Associate of Science (ASN) degree with a major in nursing.

In 1981, based on a specific community need for nurses educationally prepared at a more advanced level, the Division of Nursing initiated a post-Registered Nurse (RN) baccalaureate nursing program. Based on the assessed need for nurses prepared at the baccalaureate level, a traditional four year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program was introduced in the fall of 2000, and the ASN program was phased out in 2001.

In 1996, the Division of Nursing initiated the first graduate nursing programs in the Northern Shenandoah Valley with the goal of meeting the upper Shenandoah Valley's need for advanced practice nurses. Four tracks were developed and today, include family nurse practitioner, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, nurse-midwifery, and health systems management. The midwifery program remains the first and only midwifery program in the state of Virginia and the 51st in the country.

In 2008, Shenandoah University admitted its first class in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree program, the first doctoral nursing degree offered in the Northern Shenandoah Valley. The DNP curriculum provides nurses who hold either a BSN or a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with the opportunity to earn a terminal degree in nursing practice; this option applies only for the family nurse practitioner and psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner/clinical nurse specialist.

In addition to programs offered in Winchester, Shenandoah University has offered nursing programs at its Northern Virginia Campus in Leesburg, Va., since 2003.

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