Dr. Laurie Anne Ferguson named Founding Dean of new School of Nursing at Emory & Henry College
Dr. Ferguson brings extensive experience in the nursing profession in both education and clinical work. Most recently, Dr. Ferguson served as Dean of the College of Nursing and Health and Director of the School of Nursing at Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“We are excited to have Dr. Ferguson join the College as Founding Dean of the School of Nursing at Emory & Henry,” says Dr. Lou Fincher, Vice President and Dean of School of Health Sciences at Emory & Henry College. “She brings strong leadership skills and a record of building innovative nursing programs that will position E&H to make a positive impact on the nursing shortage in this region. Dr. Ferguson also has extensive clinical experience in treating underserved populations in a rural healthcare setting. I look forward to working with her and members of the team that will develop and create the School of Nursing to serve our region’s nursing workforce needs.”
Emory & Henry plans to launch a new School of Nursing in the Spring of 2021. Plans are underway to develop multiple nursing programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. The first group of interested students in Fall 2021 would be working on pre-requisite classes to determine admittance into the program their sophomore year. Healthcare in Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and beyond are in need of nurses who are highly educated and have a passion to provide service within their own communities.
“When the World Health Organization declared 2020, the year of the nurse and the midwife, no one envisioned a worldwide pandemic which has highlighted the extraordinary care given by frontline workers, especially nurses,” says Dr. Ferguson. “I am humbled and excited to be a part of Emory & Henry’s vision to increase access to nursing education in Southwest Virginia and beyond.”
Dr. Ferguson brings more than 36 years of experience practicing as a Nurse Practitioner. She is certified as an Adult, Family and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and has practiced in a variety of clinical settings in the Nurse Practitioner role including Emergency Room, Occupational Health and Primary Care. She has been a nursing educator since 1991 and maintained an active clinical practice in rural Louisiana caring for patients of all ages. Dr. Ferguson is recognized for her leadership in the nursing profession and is a fellow both in the National Academies of Practice (NAP) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). She was elected to and is currently serving on the executive committee of the Fellows of AANP.
Emory & Henry College launched an RN- BSN online program in 2018 under the direction of Abingdon resident and program director, Dr. Saundra Farmer.
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I am humbled and excited to be a part of Emory & Henry’s vision to increase access to nursing education in Southwest Virginia and beyond.
- Dr. Ferguson