Nursing expands to Blue Ridge Campus

Silas Campbell, a junior from Blue Ridge, Georgia, wanted to be a physical therapist for a long time before his goals shifted during high school. He plans to be a flight nurse or a wound care nurse.

"My sister has special needs, and I have watched how nurses take good care of her," Campbell said. "I can't pay that back, but I can try to pay it forward."

The nursing faculty members in Blue Ridge are also grateful for the nursing program's new campus. Dr. Cynthia Wagner lives in Blue Ridge and Dr. Julia Ueltzen in Blairsville.

"It is life-changing for our students," said Wagner, an assistant professor and BSN coordinator at the Blue Ridge Campus. "I believe this has given some of the students an opportunity to achieve their goals that would not be possible without the program being on this campus near their homes."

Ueltzen, an assistant professor, echoed that sentiment.

"Having the program in Blue Ridge makes a higher level of nursing education feel realistic and attainable for students in communities like Union, Towns and Fannin counties," Ueltzen said. "Students can see that they do not necessarily have to leave their community to pursue a BSN - they can begin building their education, careers and futures right here in north Georgia."

As this first cohort is in the early steps of the BSN journey, the faculty members are already impressed with what they are seeing from the students.

"They celebrate each other's successes, recognize when someone is struggling and are learning early that nursing is not something we do alone," Ueltzen said.