Trevecca Nazarene University is pleased to announce that it has joined Belmont University and Tri-Star/HCA in the Partners in Nursing Consortium, a long-term partnership that has been formed in order to address the shortage of trained nurses in Tennessee. Through this consortium Trevecca students who earn acceptance into the program will divide their time between the Trevecca and Belmont campuses and will take their professional nursing training in Belmont’s new $21-million Gordon E. Inman Health Sciences Building, now under construction. For their clinical experiences students in this program will have the opportunity to apply for those positions at Tri-Star/HCA hospitals.

This addition to Trevecca’s educational offerings is part of the university’s continuing efforts to provide education that meets the needs—needs of society and students. Acting on the findings of the task force of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) which issued a January 2004 report, “Securing Tennessee’s Future: Increasing Educational Capacity in Nursing,” Trevecca, a member- institution of TICUA, began exploring ways that it could address a projected shortage of 9,500 nurses in Tennessee by 2020. The formation of the Partners in Nursing Consortium offered a way for Trevecca to add a nursing program that will address the anticipated nursing shortage through a program that promises top-quality training for students.

Trevecca President Millard Reed says, “The opportunity for Trevecca to become a participant in the Partners in Nursing Consortium is very promising. We at Trevecca are pleased to be a partner with Belmont University and Tri-Star HCA in this innovative program. The addition of a nursing program is a natural step for Trevecca with this school’s emphasis upon service.”

"We welcome Trevecca Nazarene University to this important and unique Partners in Nursing Consortium  as we combine our two universities' efforts along with industry partner Tri Star/HCA to help meet the growing need for nurses and other health care professionals," said Dr. Robert Fisher, president of Belmont University. "Ours is the most  ambitious effort yet taken by any Tennessee university to address the state's growing shortage of nurses – a shortage that is growing toward crisis proportions."
"With this new partnership and health sciences building, we'll have the opportunity to impact nursing education in this region for the next 50 years and beyond," Dr. Debra Wollaber, dean of the College of Health Sciences at Belmont, said.
The Trevecca Nursing Program is designed specifically for traditional students who want a career in nursing. Trevecca students will be able to apply for entrance into the nursing program during the spring semester of their freshman year and will be officially accepted following the successful completion of that year. They will begin their professional training during their sophomore year, but will continue to take classes at Trevecca while they complete their nursing training.