Mullins named director of Northwest's Practical Nursing program

Senatobia, MS (10/23/2017) — Dr. Stephanie Mullins, a nurse practitioner from Oxford, has been named the new director of Northwest Mississippi Community College's Practical Nursing Program.

In her new role, Mullins will be in charge of the college's programs, which are located on the Senatobia, Oxford, DeSoto and Ashland campuses. According to Mullins, the program is currently gathering data and preparing for a site visit for re-accreditation.

"We are accredited through the Mississippi Community College Board (MCCB) and have to go through re-accreditation every eight years. All of the programs on our four campuses use the same curricula with standards established by the MCCB," Mullins said.

She is working with practical nursing faculty to make the curricula seamless and universal throughout the college. Faculty from all campuses are serving on committees together and team building with each other, according to Mullins. "We want to make sure that we are providing the best education we can for our practical nursing students and I think we have some great faculty on board. They have a heart for nursing, education and for the community," Mullins said.

Mullins earned her nursing diploma from Baptist Memorial School of Nursing in Memphis in 1993, and her Bachelor's in Nursing Science from Union University in 1995. She received a Master's of Nursing Science from Arkansas State University in 1997. She earned a doctorate of Nursing Science and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from the University of Tennessee, Health Sciences in 2006.

Mullins was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society at Union University and in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society at Arkansas State University, earning the Academic Achievement Award. Her professional affiliations include secretary for the Greater Memphis Area Chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, Eligibility Committee chair for Baptist College of Health Sciences Nursing Honor Society and Study Nurse liaison for the Baptist Nursing Fellowship. Her honors include the Service First award for Professionalism in Nursing at the Baptist Health Care Corporation, the Elinor Reed Award for clinical excellence in the care of long-term patients and Top 40 under 40 in Memphis from the Memphis Business Journal. She was elected as one of the Top 100 Nurses in Shelby County and Fayette County for Celebrate Nursing in 2002.

She was employed at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis from 1992-2004 in the Critical Care Unit and in clinical research and served as a clinical instructor from 1998-2000 and assistant professor at the Baptist College of Health Sciences in Memphis from 2000-2003. Mullins was an assistant professor at the University of Memphis from 2003-2006 and served as adjunct faculty in 2007-2008 at Union University. She served as the director of Cardiovascular Services at the Memphis Heart Clinic from 2006-2010, and as a nurse practitioner at a doctor's office in Clarksdale from 2010-2012 and in an internal medicine practice in Oxford from 2012 until the time she came to Northwest.

Mullins hopes to work closely with the Division of Nursing over the coming years and is excited about the program's new space in the Health Sciences facility in the Gary Lee Spears Center for Nursing and Health Sciences. "The nursing workforce in Mississippi is heavily weighted with practical nurses. Many students will study practical nursing because it will help them to get a skill that will make them employable in a shorter span of time. Sometimes practical nursing is a stepping stone for the RN program. The Nursing Division has already opened the door to me, and that is why we want a strong connection with them," Mullins said.

"Dr. Mullins is a highly-qualified leader of our practical nursing program. From her first day in her new position, she has worked tirelessly on the reaccreditation process and improving our program. She has demonstrated excellent leadership skills with our great practical nursing instructors at all of our college locations," said David Campbell, district dean of career, technical and workforce education.

Mullins looks forward to working with faculty to provide the best education possible for Northwest's practical nursing students. "Nursing education is different from general education. I truly believe in the 'art' of nursing. Florence Nightingale spoke about the art of nursing enveloping the caring, compassion, science, knowledge and critical thinking. Our role as nurse educators should be to promote the nursing profession, so you have to have all of these areas. Our ultimate outcome is to provide our students with the best education we possibly can to help them be successful in the nursing profession. I want people to be glad they hired a Northwest-educated practical nurse," Mullins said.

The Practical Nursing program at Northwest prepares an individual for general nursing care. This care requires basic knowledge of the biological, physical, behavioral, psychological and sociological sciences, which is provided under the direction of a registered nurse, licensed physician or a dentist. Graduates of the one-year program receive a career certificate and meet the requirements for application to the Mississippi Board of Nursing to take the National Council Licensure Examination- PN for licensure.

For more information, visit the college's website at northwestms.edu or call the Career-Technical Workforce Office at 662.562.3361.

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