UNCW School of Nursing celebrates 40 years of service

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Forty years ago, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union, the first mobile phone call was made in the UK, and UNCW’s School of Nursing was founded. The school is now celebrating four decades of service. 

On Tuesday, the school held a celebration in the Warwick Center, bringing together teachers, students, and alumni. 

The event also featured a student competition for the best thesis or dissertation poster. The program started in the 1960s, with the first bachelor’s class graduating in 1987. 

At that time only ten students were in the program, but today, around 120 nurses graduate from the school each year. Dr. Patricia Suplee is the school’s director. 

She said as the surrounding community continues to grow, so too will the need for nurses. 

“There is a great need. Obviously, the populations have changed, we are seeing much more of an aging population for example, which is wonderful, and we are trying to meet that need,” Suplee said. “We are definitely graduating leaders here, not just staff nurses but leaders,” 

Although the university didn’t start welcoming bachelor’s degree students until 1985, the school of nursing has roots going back to 1949, when what was then Wilmington College added a 2-year program for pre-nursing.