APSU’s School of Nursing is ranked in the top percentile of nursing programs in the nation. NurseJournal.org conducted a survey evaluating 1,189 schools and APSU came in at 32, beating out well-known universities like Johns Hopkins, Yale and North Carolina.

“Being ranked 32 out of 1,189 schools in the eastern region of the U.S. by NurseJournal.org brings APSU’s School of Nursing into the forefront of the nursing education community,” said APSU’s President of the Student Nurses Association Ashlee Dover. “This is just the boost we needed to show off our program.”

APSU’s School of Nursing is particular of who they let into the program. Students require a 3.6 GPA or higher to be selected.

“The program only accepts about 52 students per semester, our highly selective process ensures that the school has the cream of the crop to work with and mold throughout the next five semesters,” Dover said.

Faculty also plays a large role in the success of the students.

“Our faculty are excellent in teaching our students to critically think and problem solve at a very high level in order to correctly assess and intervene for patients, resulting in significant improvement in the patient’s health status,” said APSU professor and occupant of the Lenora C. Reuther Chair of Excellence in Nursing Patty Orr.

According to Dover, for the students and faculty to continue their success, staying committed to their hard earned efforts and working on new ways to expand the program is a must.

“The faculty is steadily working on getting the School of Nursing more national accreditations,” Dover said. “The students play a major role in this excellence by striving for more than just passing grades each semester, as shown by our 99 percent NCLEX-RN passing rate.”

According to Dover, though numbers show success, the main concentration of the program is on the patients.

“That is the main reason why we continue to excel,” Dover said. “We keep our focus on the patients.”