An accelerated year to remember: UTC’s first ABSN cohort celebrates graduation and new beginnings

The first cohort of the UTC ABSN program, including (from left) Taniya Nichols, Katelyn Nash and Addison Holt, attended a pinning ceremony at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Photo by Angela Foster.

Having conquered a rigorous three-semester, 59-credit-hour curriculum in just one year, the inaugural cohort of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program has officially crossed the finish line.

During a late-afternoon Honors and Recognition Ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 8, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, 15 ABSN students and four new graduates of the RN-BSN Gateway program—registered nurses who returned to school to earn their BSN—participated in the traditional pinning event symbolizing the completion of their UTC School of Nursing program.

For the 15 ABSN students, the ceremony marked their transition from students to professional nurses.

“We all understand that this is monumental for our School of Nursing. These 15 individuals represent a significant milestone for us,” School of Nursing Director Chris Smith said in her welcoming remarks. “Needless to say, these students sitting here have experienced something that we weren’t quite sure what it was going to be like.”

Dr. Chris Smith provides welcome remarks

Announced in February 2023—with a first class beginning with the start of the fall 2023 semester—the UTC ABSN program stems from a critical nursing shortage impacting health care nationwide.

The ABSN program was created for individuals who already hold bachelor’s degrees in other fields who wanted to transition into nursing careers. The program allows these students to bypass the prerequisites, general education and elective courses required for traditional full-time nursing undergraduates.

The ABSN students took 19, 20, and 20 credit hours during the three semesters; in contrast, Smith said the typical undergraduate course load is 12 to 13 hours each semester.

“They’ve completed more than 950 clinical hours in three semesters,” she continued. “These students have been in class an average of eight hours a day when they are in clinical or the community facility—and 12-hour clinical experiences once and maybe sometimes twice a week.”

Smith lauded the first cohort for being a tight-knit group “lifting each other up in any way they could” because they were committed to everyone being successful.

“The saying, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats,’ is extremely true for this class. All were lifted because each and every one wanted the same thing,” she said.

Smith said that the RN predictor suggests that all 15 will pass their licensure exam on the first attempt.

“You are the first, and future cohorts will be different. The challenges will be different,” she told the ABSN graduates. “(Your) legacy has been set. All others most likely will be measured against you.”

Sierra Davis, left, and Dr. Brooke Epperson

ABSN graduate Sierra Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from UTC in 2021. She said she worked in a pediatric outpatient clinic for two years and “fell in love with the medical profession. I decided I wanted to go to nursing school.”

After looking at accelerated programs around the country last year, she learned that UTC was launching a program of its own.

“I applied for it and I was like, ‘This is perfect. I’m used to UTC and I love it here,” said Davis, a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who is set to begin working in the pediatric intensive care unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

The year, she said, was wild and very hectic and “went by super fast.”

“I feel like my cohort has gotten so close, and the professors have been such great supporters,” Davis said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without us coming together as a cohesive unit.

“It was crazy, but it was a really good year full of great learning opportunities.”

Katelyn Nash, the cohort’s class representative in addressing the audience, is a graduate of Gordon Lee High School in nearby Chickamauga, Georgia. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology with an emphasis on pre-med from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix in 2018—where she was a member of the school’s basketball team.

Katelyn Nash

After her time in Arizona, she earned a Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Vanguard University in California.

“I then went and worked a year in a hospital to try to figure out what avenue I wanted to take into medicine; I didn’t want to make a rush decision,” Nash said of her time as a tech at CHI Memorial. She then worked for two years in Unum’s short-term disability department.

When she heard about the launching of the ABSN program, “it was a game changer for me,” she recalled. “I knew I wanted to go into nursing and (my husband) was very supportive of me going wherever I needed to go to get the best degree possible. But I was a little bit set on a one-year program. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

“So when this program opened up, it was honestly life-changing for me because I knew I didn’t have to move. It allowed me to stay with my family. It allowed me to keep stability while also getting a really quality education that I would say would rival the best in the nation.”

In September, Nash starts her residency in Erlanger’s surgical ICU.

“Honestly, it was hard work, but everything in life that’s worth anything is hard work,” she said in summarizing her last year. “Incredible people are surrounding you here, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

The accelerated program accepts and enrolls a new cohort of students each semester—fall, spring and summer—creating a continual admission and graduation cycle. When UTC’s fall 2024 semester commences on Monday, Aug. 19, the ABSN program will introduce its fourth cohort of students.

“I really don’t have the words to describe how excited I am right now,” Dr. Jason Peter—the ABSN program coordinator and Mary B. Jackson assistant professor—said before the ceremony began. “This cohort has just done so well throughout the entire program. I know that every one of them is going to make an incredible nurse and they’re really going to be there to combat the nursing shortage that we’re experiencing here in this country and in this city. They’re just wonderful.”

Named the top Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in the country by Nurse.org, the UTC School of Nursing program boasts a 100% employment rate and a five-year average pass rate of 97% on the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates.