Two nursing faculty members at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College have completed benchmark accomplishments in their field of study.
 
Dr. Jaibun Earp, Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, said Assistant Professor Rhonda Lewis has passed the Certified Nurse Educator examination from the National League for Nursing, and Dr. Zacharey Powell, also an assistant professor, completed the Advanced Trauma Life Support course sponsored by the American College of Surgeons.
 
“The CNE certification recognizes the academic nurse educator’s specialized knowledge, skills, abilities, and excellence in nursing education practice,” Earp said.  “The ATLS program involves a systematic, concise approach in the care of a trauma patient.”
 
Now in its 10th year, the CNE certification establishes nursing education as a specialty area of practice and creates a means for faculty to demonstrate their expertise in this role. The School of Nursing and Health Sciences now has three CNEs on its faculty, Lewis, Earp and Dr. Jeffrey Ross.
 
Developed by the ACS Committee on Trauma and first introduced in the United States and abroad in 1980, the ATLS program provides a safe and reliable method for immediate management of injured patients.
 
The course includes how to assess patients’ conditions, how to resuscitate and stabilize them, and how to determine if their needs exceed a facility’s capacity. It also covers how to arrange for patients’ inter-hospital transfer and assure that optimum care is provided throughout the process. Powell is the first ABAC nursing faculty member to receive this certification.