GWU nursing students Amanda Crawford and Sarah Partlow, both at left, observe instructor Trisha Hines' conversation with student Andrea Galloway, who is playing the role of a patient.

So genuine is the school of nursing's approach to the profession as a form of ministry that a new alliance between the program and the M. Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb will offer a degree in parish nursing beginning in January. The offering is part of a new master of science in nursing degree.

Shirley Toney, dean of the school of nursing, notes that nearly 1,400 alumni of the program are thriving in positions around the world, some even as missionaries.

"It's how the parish nursing degree came about, actually," she said. "Many students choose to attend Gardner-Webb because of its Christian nature, but they have a calling to serve others through healthcare as well. GWU offers a chance to acquire nursing education with a spiritual emphasis."

Toney, who early in life felt she was being led to do missions, said the most significant spiritual impact GWU makes on its nursing students is through the faculty.

"We employ those who believe in and support the Christian faith," she said. "That caring and compassionate attitude shows through in the instruction."

With a parish nursing program now in place, the spiritual side of healthcare can be expounded upon even more greatly, she said.

"Personally, I feel we are a trendsetter with this type of program," Toney said. "But in the greater scheme of things, I feel we are applying God's principles to the nursing profession, which typifies Gardner-Webb's mission as a whole."

Gil Blackburn, GWU's vice president for academic affairs, says the university's freedom to include spiritual teachings alongside nursing concepts is the defining characteristic of the nursing school.

"I believe that we are freer than the secular institutions," Blackburn said. "We have the freedoms that they have under the First Amendment, plus the freedom to fully explore issues that have spiritual implications."

When such questions arise in the classes, instructors at secular institutions have to ask themselves if they are in danger of transgressing the line separating church and state, he said.

"At Gardner-Webb, we have no such apprehensions. In fact, we welcome opportunities to broaden our students' Christian understanding of life's most challenging issues."

Aside from being the only Baptist college or university in North Carolina that offers nursing education, the school of nursing offers a tri-level structure that features the associate degree in nursing (ADN), the bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) and the master of science in nursing.

Few of the tri-level structures exist in the United States, Toney said, noting the nursing school's ADN program is the oldest of 47 in North Carolina. While facts and figures can be impressive, she said, the strength of GWU's School of Nursing is its approach to instruction and its adherence to its mission: "To prepare competent nurses to care for the body, mind and spirit."

In fact, Toney said, nursing alumni and those who have been cared for by students and graduates of the program are perhaps the school of nursing's best advertisements.

Pat Partin, a GWU faculty member, knows firsthand the care that is taught at the school.

After being hospitalized in a Shelby hospital while undergoing knee replacement surgery, she anticipated the day she could return to campus and tell the nursing students of the impact they will have on their future patients.

"Unfortunately, I have had to seek medical assistance many times in my life," Partin said. "So, when I am being cared for by nurses, I have made it a point to ask where they were educated. Invariably the best combination of clinical and personal care I get is from Gardner-Webb nurses."

Her experience working in a hospital setting and knowing what is involved with educating nurses is a plus. Because the focus at more and more programs in the country is shifting to clinical education, the personal, emotional and spiritual aspects of nursing education in general has been de-emphasized.

"Gardner-Webb's program teaches students how to care for the whole person, emphasizing not only clinical education, but emphasizing the personal, emotional and spiritual aspects of nursing," Partin said.

Toney is proud of the approach to nursing education that Gardner-Webb has taken, and she believes her role with the university has been a calling.

"I never formally became a missionary," she said, "but looking back on 37 years as a nursing educator, I feel that because of my contact with 1,400 nursing graduates that perhaps I have been a missionary of sorts after all."