University of Mobile alumna and professor of nursing Dr. Sarah Barnes-Witherspoon has been named interim dean for the School of Nursing in the College of Health Professions.
“University of Mobile has earned an excellent reputation for producing graduates who are outstanding healthcare providers. As both a graduate and faculty member, I love University of Mobile, and I am excited about this new opportunity to expand our impact on improving the quality of healthcare in our region,” Barnes-Witherspoon said.
“This distinctive platform allows me to continue to encourage students, faculty and other professional colleagues to advocate for and provide unsurpassable healthcare services to all patients and their families. From my perspective, every patient is a VIP, regardless of their condition or genealogy,” she added.
Barnes-Witherspoon has a passion for helping students understand that nursing is more than a job with financial security.
“I want students to understand that nursing is a calling that epitomizes compassion and caring. These two characteristics should be innate in nurses,” she said.
Barnes-Witherspoon moves into the leadership role at a time when the university has invested in state-of-the-art healthcare labs and classrooms in the Center for Excellence in Healthcare Practice, added academic programs including Family Nurse Practitioner, and started its first doctoral program in the School of Nursing, the Doctor of Nursing Practice.
The School of Nursing is part of the College of Health Professions, which also includes the School of Health and Sports Science and the School of Allied Health.
The oldest daughter of 11 children, Barnes-Witherspoon is a native of Calvert, Alabama. Her interest in nursing started in high school, but it was her first job as a mental health worker at Searcy Hospital that set the stage for her lifelong career.
“I observed the nurses caring for those patients with both physical and mental health disorders. Those interactions rekindled my spark, and the rest is history,” she said.
She earned both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing from University of Mobile. During a 27-year career at Searcy Hospital, she was shift supervisor and functioned as the only nurse legal consultant.
She joined the UM School of Nursing faculty in 2001 as a nursing instructor and moved up the ranks to serve as professor and director of graduate programs. In 2016 she received a PhD in nursing education and nursing administration from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
For more information about the School of Nursing and College of Health Professions at University of Mobile, visit the website at umobile.edu/healthcare or call Enrollment Services at 251.442.2222. (UM)
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