The UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a variety of activities Saturday, April 13. The division, located on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus in the West Center Building, draws nursing students from a 100-125-mile radius around Kearney.
At 10 a.m., a brunch will be held at the college, where alumnus can tour the renovated facility, see past memorabilia, including photographs, nursing uniforms, and documents, as well as reconnect with classmates and faculty. At 1:30 p.m., national humorist and registered nurse, Terry Foster, will make a presentation.
Evening anniversary activities will start at 6:30 p.m., at the Holiday Inn on South 2nd Ave., with a social hour, followed by dinner, and another presentation by Foster. An awards program will recognize donors and others instrumental in getting the Kearney nursing program started. Along with the 25th anniversary festivities, the college is raising $25,000 for student scholarships.
Celebrating 25 years of growth
Although the physical renovations finished last year at the college will be the most visible to visiting guests, the college has experienced changes over 25 years, which have had a positive impact on health care in central Nebraska.
The first bachelor’s degree in nursing program west of Lincoln and Fremont began at Kearney State College with the 1976 hiring of Judy Billings, Ph.D., assistant dean of the UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division. She said the college is always affected by changes in health care, including the shortage of nurses.
“Health care in and of itself has changed pretty dramatically in 25 years in terms of the technology and kinds of health conditions nurses are dealing with,” Dr. Billings said. “We constantly have to update what we’re teaching just to keep up with what is happening in health care.
“More than half of our graduates live in central Nebraska between the Kansas and South Dakota state lines,” Dr. Billings said. “There is no doubt these nurses have had a considerable impact on the health and health care of people in central Nebraska.”
The college has 14 faculty and three staff, and currently has 126 undergraduate students enrolled.
Nurses with degrees are needed to care for patients and provide leadership in designing health care programs that address the health needs of today, Dr. Billings said, emphasizing patient care in a variety of health-care settings, leadership, patient education and case management.
In 1976, Dr. Billings was hired to work with the director of health programs at Kearney State College, Ole Kolstad, and David Clark, dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences, to develop a baccalaureate program in nursing. The first two faculty members hired were Carol Janda and Sandra Blankenbaker.
In the spring of 1977, the Nebraska State Board of Nursing approved the new nursing program and the first course, a survey of “what is nursing,” was taught that fall to pre-nursing students, Dr. Billings said. This first class of 16 students graduated in May 1980. Since then, the division has graduated more than 650 students. 
In the mid-1980s, the division began offering a bachelor’s degree in nursing tailored for registered nurses, and in the late 1980s, the division launched a special program for licensed practical nurses (LPN) who wanted to earn the degree. According to the National League for Nursing, the program was one of the first in the nation.
In 1991, Kearney’s nursing program was recognized nationally when the Teagle Foundation awarded it a five-year, $685,000 grant to enable students to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from home with the aid of various technologies. It was a program ahead of its time.
“Through different forms of distance technology, graduate nursing programs are now available to nurses in central Nebraska,” Dr. Billings said. “Before the 1990s, nurses had to drive to Omaha for classes.”
In 1983, the number of students applying to the bachelor’s program doubled, Dr. Billings said. To accommodate the increase, the division began accepting students twice a year.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes for the division came in 1991 when Kearney State College became part of the University of Nebraska and the nursing program became part of the Omaha-based UNMC College of Nursing.
“It changed our curriculum fairly dramatically,” Dr. Billings said. “The College of Nursing was also changing its curriculum about the same time. This meant faculty had to teach two different curriculums for several semesters.”
Alumni reminisce
Alumni of the division say the nursing program makes an impact.
Leigh Bertholf, director of resources, care and quality management, Good Samaritan Health Systems in Kearney, graduated from the second nursing class in 1981. Having a nursing program in the community is important, she said.
“It’s critical, especially in a community like Kearney,” Bertholf said. “We need to attract people with roots in the area. If they go away to school, somehow they sever their roots.
“I absolutely loved my undergraduate experience. I attribute my success today to the program. I had outstanding instructors and practitioners who were able to articulate their core values.”
Doug Wulf, chief flight nurse at Good Samaritan Health Systems, graduated in 1992 from the UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division. His job involves providing emergency services on the ground and in the air via helicopter.
Wulf said earning his bachelor’s degree in nursing gave him the education he needed for future opportunities.
“There was a lot of good, basic learning,” said Wulf, a native of Cambridge, Neb. “They also focused on advancing nursing education, whether it was to get a master’s or doctorate, or other advanced nursing training.
“I have more respect for my degree than I did the first couple of years out of school,” Wulf said. “I have a desire to know why and not just the how in taking care of patients. I felt like I received a real good understanding of whys.”
The college has invited more than 650 alumni, former faculty, staff and others to its anniversary celebration.
Photo cutlines in descending order: Three members of the graduating class of 1981. The photo, taken during their capping ceremony on Jan. 28, 1979, features, from top, Marcie Lewandowski, Elisa Anderjaska and Barb Stansbury Foss; Members of the first graduating class at their capping ceremony; Nursing graduates, from left to right: Kate Nichol, assistant professor of nursing, Linda Pearson Royle, Judy Billings, assistant dean of the UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division, Cathy Fidler Broz, and Jo Miller, assistant profssor of nursing.