P6
August 2012
S
hanna Cunningham
gets affirmation
almost daily on her decision to attend
GCU and start a second career as
a nurse.
Sometimes it comes from the classes she takes
or the faculty members she comes in contact
with. Sometimes it’s in the Scriptures that are
scattered about the College of Nursing building.
Sometimes it’s in her dealings with health-care
professionals at local hospitals.
And sometimes it even comes when she’s working
part time as a waitress at Babbo’s Italian Eatery in
north Phoenix.
“When I’m just talking to customers and I tell them
where I go to school, they’re like, ‘Ooh and aah,
that’s a good school. You’re not going to have
any problem getting a job,’” said Cunningham,
42, a mother of four who previously worked
as a manager in a law firm. “And people in the
medical field, they know and respect GCU for
putting out good nurses.”
The statistics bear out Cunningham’s experiences.
In 2011, GCU nursing graduates achieved
a 95.79 percent pass rate on the National
Council Licensure Examinations (NCLEX), which
are required in order to be licensed by the
National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
That was the best showing among bachelor’s
degree programs in the state – better than the
University of Arizona (95.59 percent), Arizona
State University (90.09) and Northern Arizona
University (88.69 percent). It also far exceeded
the nationwide pass rate of 87.9 percent.
In the first quarter of 2012, that number rose even
higher for GCU, to 98.51 percent (again, highest
among four-year schools in the state). In other
words, 67 nursing graduates took the NCLEX in
the first quarter, and only one did not pass.
Those are extraordinary numbers, even for
a school that has long prided itself on its
nursing program.
“The score just shows how robust our bachelor’s
of nursing degree program is and the great pride
we take in the success of our students,” said
Dr. Anne McNamara
, dean of the College of
Nursing. “With the addition of our state-of-the-
art simulation training lab and partnerships with
highly respected health systems, GCU nursing
graduates are among the best-prepared and
sought-after job candidates.”
In addition to the main campus, GCU’s nursing
program has satellite campuses at Scottsdale
Healthcare, AT Still University in Mesa and
St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, and others in
Albuquerque, N.M., and Tucson.
In all of them, two things stand out:
• A strong faculty-student relationship
borne through a private education
setting in a smaller environment.
• A Christian worldview perspective that
is prevalent throughout the program.
“I think that’s what makes us different, I really
do,” said
Dr. Cheryl Roat
, associate dean
for the College of Nursing. “We have a great-
quality program and fairly small classes. But
the Christian environment, that’s why some
students choose to come to Grand Canyon. We
don’t try to indoctrinate students necessarily,
but we integrate spirituality into every course
that we teach so that they can provide relevant,
pertinent spiritual care to their patients.”
CarolynWilder
, a 44-year-old mother of five, is
one such student.
“Tome,nursinggoeshandinhandwithChristianity
and caring for others before yourself. I really
Shanna Cunningham (right) and Carolyn Wilder are
the president and vice president of GCU’s Student
Nurses Association.
liked that about the school,” said Wilder, who could
have attended any state school with a presidential
scholarship. “We are able to respond to patients
on a spiritual level as well as an emotional and
physical level.
“There’s something about the personal nature of
the program that helps students feel like they
can succeed. And having that spiritual guidance
… whether you believe in God or not, just having
people around you who are willing to help means
a lot.”
Graduates of the GCU nursing program had a
95.79 percent pass rate on the NCLEX test in 2011
– the best showing among four-year universities
in Arizona.
