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Delta State’s Robert E. Smith School of Nursing receives donation

By July 8, 2011General

(left-right) Sam Miller, RN, Chief Operating Officer North Sunflower Medical Center; Billy Marlow, Chief Executive Officer North Sunflower Medical Center; Dr. Lizabeth Carlson, RNC, Dean of the Delta State Robert E. Smith School of Nursing.

The Delta State University Robert E. Smith School of Nursing recently received a donation of approximately $59,600 from North Sunflower Medical Center to fund its student navigator position. The student navigator is a master’s-prepared counselor who works with nursing (and pre-nursing) students on study, test taking, and time management skills, as well as with personal counseling and referrals when appropriate.

Since implementing the student navigator position in 2005, the nursing student retention rate has increased from 57 percent to more than 85 percent. The position has been grant-funded for the past five years but was in danger of being lost when grant funding ended this year. That is when North Sunflower Medical Center offered to fund the full cost of the navigator position.

"Being able to provide funding to assist the Robert E. Smith School of Nursing is part of North Sunflower’s continued commitment to raising the bar for quality health care in the Delta by supporting quality nursing educations," said North Sunflower Medical Center CEO Bill Marlow.

Dean of the Robert E. Smith School of Nursing Dr. Lizabeth Carlson, expressed her gratitude stating, “We are truly grateful to North Sunflower Medical Center for funding the Student Navigator position. This will help us to continue graduating more of the highly qualified nurses Delta State is known for. This donation exemplifies the dedication of North Sunflower Medical Center to offering high quality health care to Delta residents."

For more information on the Robert E. Smith School of Nursing, call 662-846-4255, or visit nursing@deltastate.edu.