Dr. Alice Fanning, assistant professor of nursing at Southern Arkansas University, has been selected to the state’s 40 Nurse Leaders Under 40 list, which honors emerging nursing leaders in Arkansas who are younger than 40 years old.
The recognition celebrates and encourages exemplary dedication and leadership in the nursing profession. Fanning was selected through a highly competitive nomination process focusing on excellence, service and outreach within the community.
“When I found out I had been selected, I was just in tears,” Fanning said. “I wanted to share the news with everyone as soon as I could.”
Dr. Becky Parnell, who nominated Fanning, wrote that Fanning’s “consistent continuing education, committee work, and induction into Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and receiving the Outstanding Faculty Member of SAU College of Science and Engineering, demonstrate her commitment to excellence.”
Tara Almand, assistant professor of nursing, also nominated Fanning for the honor. She wrote that Fanning “wants to recruit more students … into nursing and also encourage them to branch out into underserved areas of the state. [She] puts in many hours and very late nights … making sure her classroom content, teaching strategies and department agenda are on target.”
Almand emphasized Fanning’s service on several departmental and University committees including Faculty Senate. Fanning has also demonstrated her commitment to excellence through her leadership skills at the fall 2018 University-wide faculty meeting.
Fanning, who is completing her fourth year in the Nursing Department, and her colleagues teach students that compassion and respect are important to nursing.
“Nursing is a rewarding field but it is also challenging,” she said. “It is not just a job, but a calling. We do whatever it takes to teach our students how to be successful.”
SAU nursing graduates are heavily recruited and able to go to straight to work in a field where there is high demand. By 2020, there will be a shortage in the United States of 1.1 million nurses.
“I love SAU,” Fanning said. “Faculty and students aren’t just a number here and that contributes to the feeling of home.”
This is the fifth year the Arkansas Center for Nursing, Inc., has bestowed this prestigious award. Almand was named to the state list in 2017.
Fanning will attend the recognition ceremony at the Benton Event Center in Benton, Arkansas, on April 30. The list also includes honorees from UAMS, Baptist Health System, CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, Johnson Regional Medical Center, and Conway Regional Health System.
