Tusculum College has named Dr. Linda Garrett assistant dean of nursing, health sciences and human services and chair of the graduate nursing program.
At Tusculum College, Dr. Garrett will be responsible for the growth and development of nurse practitioner programs, effective operations within the school and recruitment of students. She will also oversee the faculty in the nurse practitioner program.
“Dr. Garrett has spent most of her life as a leader for nursing in higher education,” said Dr. Lois Ewen, dean of nursing, health sciences and human services. “Her experience in teaching and developing successful nursing programs will help the college grow and address a critical need in the community for quality healthcare.”
Dr. Linda Garrett
As part of her position, Dr. Garrett will develop a nurse practitioner program that is anticipated to begin in Fall 2016, pending the approval of the Tennessee Board of Nursing and the Southern Association of Colleges-Commission on Colleges.
“My vision is to address the need for primary care providers in the community and to provide the folks in this rural community access to good quality care. Also, my goal is to get the nurse practitioner program going and graduating students,” said Dr. Garrett.
With a 40-year background in nursing, she has served in various positions, including nurse practitioner for several facilities, clinical director of the occupational health program at East Tennessee State University, interim chair of family and community nursing at ETSU, director of nurse practitioner specialties at ETSU, director of the family nurse practitioner program at Lincoln Memorial University and chair of graduate nursing programs at LMU, as well as several positions as an instructor and associate professor.
At Lincoln Memorial University, Dr. Garrett developed the strategic plan, evaluation and curriculum for the Master of Science in Nursing program, which was approved by the SACS-COC and implemented in Fall 2014. She prepared the strategic plan and evaluation documents for the graduate nursing program, which was benchmarked by Educational Benchmarking Incorporated, and wrote the curriculum for the Post Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice concentration in the graduate nursing program. In addition, she reviewed, wrote and edited the curriculum portion of the Council on Accreditation for Nurse Anesthesia for reaccreditation of the concentration for LMU, which received the maximum 10 years for accreditation with no follow-up report.
“When I went to Lincoln Memorial, the pass rates were adequate and in the 80 percent range, which each school has to have at least an 83 percent average to stay accredited,” said Dr. Garrett. “The first year I began there, I initiated a comprehensive exam system, which brought the pass rates to 96 percent. The years following that didn’t drop below 98 percent.”
Dr. Garrett began the new cohort of family nurse practitioner students at the Kingsport Higher Education Center, through which the first graduates had 100 percent pass rate on certification.
“My expertise is program development,” she said. “Each program that I have developed has been successful.”
She earned her license in practical nursing from the Kingsport School of Nursing, and later her Bachelor of Science in nursing, Master of Science in nursing and doctorate in nursing from ETSU. She has also received certificates in basic life support, qualitative research, pediatric physical and sexual assault examination, legal nurse consultation, medicolegal death investigation and sexual assault examination.
Dr. Garrett has been published in “Military Medicine,” “American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Journal,” “Journal of American Medical Directors Association,” “Journal of American Association of Nurse Practioners,” “Tennessee Medicine,” “Issues in Mental Health Nursing,” “Social Work in Health Care,” “Women & Health,” “International Library of Poetry” and “Clinician Reviews.”
She is also a member of several organizations, including the Tennessee Nurses Association, Northeast Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Association, National League of Nurses, Tennessee Association of Forensic Nurses, Sigma Theta Tau International (Epsilon Chapter), American Nurses Association and the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children.
For more information on the graduate program in nursing, contact Dr. Garrett at lgarrett@tusculum.edu.
By Stephanie Turner, senior journalism and professional writing major from Shelbyville