Nursing is more than a career, it’s a calling. Help your community and earn a rewarding career with our Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program. Our dedicated faculty will provide you with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to make a difference in people’s lives.
Upon successful completion of the program, you will earn the Associate of Applied Science Degree and you are qualified to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The program is approved by the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) and the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Association (NLN CNEA). After passing, you will be prepared to practice as a Registered Nurse in various settings. If you wish to earn your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), you can do so by transferring to a four-year university.
Find more information, including wages and education requirements, on Career Coach!
Associate Degree Nursing Program:
36 Hours General Education Courses Excluded
Total Estimate for Two Years:
Associate of Applied Science Degree:
24 Hours General Education Courses Excluded
Total Estimate for One Year:
Ms. Davis received her Master's degree in Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, in May 1997. She began her nursing career as a registered nurse in 1986 in Medical Surgical after graduating from Alcorn State University. She has 28 years of clinical experience in various clinical areas, including Med-Surgical Units and Women's Health. She taught in various Associate Degree Nursing programs throughout Mississippi before joining Wharton County Junior College in January 2014. She is one of five Coahoma Community College Associate Degree program charter members. She assisted with writing, getting initial accreditation, and starting the first class there. She worked full-time at Wharton County Junior College as a Level 1 instructor and assumed the director position in August 2022. She is also the director of the CNA program at Wharton County Junior College Continue Education program.
Office: Wharton Campus
Phone: (979) 532-6404
Email: daviss@wcjc.edu
Ms. Fletcher has been in nursing for over 18 years and has been a nursing instructor for the last eight years. She taught nursing at Temple College and Blinn College before joining Wharton County Junior College in Fall 2022. Her nursing experience includes working for Baylor Scott & White Healthcare for 17 years as a charge and staff nurse for the Med-Surg Unit. Ms. Fletcher has enjoyed all the teaching and learning experiences in nursing education and is excited to continue working and learning with students in both the classroom and clinical settings.
Office: Wharton Campus
Phone: (979) 532-6471
Email: fletcherl@wcjc.edu
Ms. Korenek received her Master of Science from Texas Woman's University, Houston, Texas. She began her nursing career as Licensed Vocational Nurse after receiving her Wharton County Junior College certificate. Ms. Korenek obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas, Austin, Texas. She has worked in various areas like Medical/Surgical, Oncology, Obstetrics, and Nursing Administration. In addition, she also received her certificate as a Woman's Health Nurse Practitioner from The University Southwest Medical School, Dallas, Texas. She was a Nurse Practitioner for several years, providing Prenatal, Postpartum, and Gynecologic care. Ms. Korenek began her teaching career with Wharton County Junior College in 2011. She has been an instructor in Level 3 and LVN-ADN transition.
Office: Wharton Campus
Phone: (979) 532-6549
Email: korenekp@wcjc.edu
Ms. Pendergraft attended Texas A&M University before receiving her BSN from UTMB in 1996. She worked for Harris County Hospital District for several years as an ICU nurse before receiving her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner at TWU-HSC. Her other work experiences include employment at Texas Children's Hospital as a PICU/NICU nurse, women's health, home health, hospice care, and medical-legal consulting. Mrs. Pendergraft has taught nursing at TWU-HSC as well as Blinn College Station. She joined the WCJC associate degree nursing faculty in 2014.
Office: Wharton Campus
Phone: (979) 532-6464
Email: pendergrafta@wcjc.edu
Ms. Potter received her Associate of Nursing degree from the College of the Mainland in 2017. She went on to attend Texas Woman's University RN-MSN program, where she received her MSN in nursing education. She began her nursing career in Rio Grande Valley, where she worked as a post-surgical/medical nurse. Her other work experiences include working in Sugar Land, TX as a rehab nurse for multiple years. She has worked contracts for St. Luke's CHI Baylor in Houston's Medical Center as a traveling R.N. Ms. Potter joined the WCJC associate degree nursing faculty in the fall of 2022.
Office: Sugar Land Campus
Phone: (281) 243-8562
Email: potterp@wcjc.edu
Ms. Sawyer started her medical career in the U.S. Navy. After ten weeks of basic training, she went to Hospital Corpsman school in Chicago, Illinois, and then to Operating Room Technician school in Portsmouth, Virginia. Mrs. Sawyer served six years in the Navy and then received her Associate in Applied Science in Nursing degree at Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her first nursing job was in the Emergency Department in Portsmouth, Virginia. She moved to Texas after six years in the E.D. and worked on a med/surg/tele unit in Kingwood, Texas, for seven years. Her next nursing job was in Sugar Land, Texas, on another busy med/surg/tele unit. Throughout her career, Ms. Sawyer loved teaching, from the brand new nursing student to the seasoned nurse needing a brief orientation on the unit. Ms. Sawyer is excited to start her first year as a Wharton County Junior College nursing instructor.
Office: Wharton Campus
Phone: (979) 532-6403
Email: sawyera@wcjc.edu
Dr. Shropshire graduated from The University of Texas School of Nursing in Houston, TX, with a BSN in 2004. She began her nursing career as an oncology nurse at the Northwest Cancer Center. She continued working part-time for the cancer center after accepting a school nurse position. With a passion for oncology and research, she moved to U.T. MD Anderson Cancer Center as a breast cancer research nurse. She graduated from Chamberlain College of Nursing with an MSN specializing as a nurse educator in 2013. Dr. Shropshire began part-time at WCJC in 2014 and accepted a full-time position in the fall of 2014. Dr. Shropshire received her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2016, specializing in healthcare systems management. Dr. Shropshire also served as a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy from 1993-1998 and was honorably discharged. Her military experience included medical/surgical nursing, emergency medicine, dermatology, field medicine, and Persian Gulf illness. Dr. Shropshire was the director of the ADN program from 2017-2022.
Office: Sugar Land Campus
Phone: (281) 243-8564
Email: shrophsirea@wcjc.edu
Ms. Usman graduated with her BSN and MSN from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB) with a medical background. She is practicing as a Family Nurse Practitioner in a clinical setting. She also has worked as a registered nurse and a vascular ultrasound technologist. She has taught as a Clinical Instructor Anatomy and Physiology to sonography students. In addition, she also acted as a Clinical Instructor for Chamberlain School of Nursing. She joined Wharton County Junior College as an Associate Degree Nursing Instructor in the fall of 2020.
Office: Sugar Land Campus
Phone: (281) 243-8569
Email: usmans@wcjc.edu
Archived Administrative Master Syllabi
Mission Statement
The mission of the Wharton County Junior College Associate Degree Nursing Program is to prepare graduate professional nurses to use clinical judgment to provide safe, evidence-based, and patient-centered care for the benefit of the community.
Philosophy
The WCJC ADN program supports the mission of WCJC by providing a quality nursing program in a learning-centered environment to meet the educational needs of students in our service and surrounding areas. Successful completion of the associate of applied science degree curriculum leads to the acquisition of the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for employment, thereby helping to meet the healthcare needs of the diverse community served by WCJC. The faculty is committed to promoting the development of qualified students prepared for the professional role of a registered nurse at the entry-level. The faculty places a high level of importance on strategies designed to increase graduation, employment, and licensure rates of its program’s graduates.
Nursing is a theory-guided, evidenced-based discipline that builds on a foundation of knowledge from the biological, social, and behavioral sciences. The curriculum is concept-based and directed toward the competencies needed to provide patient-centered care for an aging and diverse population in complex environments that increasingly require interdisciplinary teamwork, leadership, quality improvement, informatics, and technology. The graduate of the WCJC ADN program is prepared to meet the differentiated essential competencies (DECs) at the associate degree level as defined by the Texas Board of Nursing in four major roles: a member of the profession, provider of patient-centered care, patient safety advocate, and member of the health care team. Core values of caring, ethics, and integrity support the program’s integrating concepts (patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics) and lead to the main program goals of quality of life, clinical judgment, professional identity, and spirit of inquiry.
Learning is continuous when the individual is challenged and motivated to enhance personal knowledge. Teaching and learning are interactive processes between faculty and students. The responsibility of the faculty is to facilitate the student’s development of clinical judgment skills through the design and evaluation of learning experiences and access and use of resources. The nursing student is responsible for actively participating in learning experiences, assuming responsibility for their own learning, and being accountable for their actions. Learning is a dynamic process based on life experiences, readiness, and the ability to learn. Students apply what they learn in theory to their client situations and gain new insights. Faculty incorporate evidence-based teaching such as; increased contact between students and faculty, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, high expectations, and respect for diverse learning styles. Experiences in simulation with a strong debriefing component complement clinical education and allow students to experience high-risk, low-volume situations in a safe environment.
The curriculum is conceptually based and founded on adult and collaborative learning principles. The curriculum emphasizes a deep understanding of the discipline’s most central concepts rather than content, leading to the student’s ability to develop thought and pattern recognition habits. The student develops a deeper understanding of prevalent healthcare conditions and situations across the lifespan. Learning activities designed by faculty promote student engagement, self-assessment, and self-directed learning. They are developing clinical judgment results from understanding both professional and healthcare concepts. Reflective practice, evidence-based practice, ethical practice, cultural competence, interprofessional collaboration, and therapeutic communication and relationship skills are essential to clinical learning. Opportunities are provided for students to engage in interactive and collaborative activities with their peers that contribute to better learning outcomes and develop higher-order thinking skills.
The faculty values lifelong learning by offering multiple entry points into the ADN program and encouraging progression to the BSN and MSN levels. The faculty is committed to removing barriers to academic advancement and making pathways seamless, building on previous knowledge and competencies already achieved. Graduates are encouraged to continue their personal growth by continuing their professional education. The faculty strives to establish and maintain articulation agreements with higher education institutions to facilitate a smooth transition to higher education.
The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by members of the family of Patrick Barnes. He was 33 years old and died of complications of the auto-immune disease ITP. Like many families that go through this kind of horrific loss, the Barnes family wanted to do something positive to honor the exceptional man Patrick was. So, right after Pat's death, they came up with DAISY - an acronym for Diseases Attaching the Immune System. As they brainstormed what The DAISY Foundation would do, they kept returning to the one positive thing they held onto during Pat's eight-week illness: the extraordinary care he and they received from Pat's nurses. The family was very impressed by Pat's nurses' clinical care, but what overwhelmed them was the compassion and kindness that his nurses brought to Pat's day in and day out. Pat's family created The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses to honor nurses who go above and beyond and make extraordinary differences in patients' and families' experience in healthcare. There are other ways the foundation says thank you to nurses, including recognizing and celebrating nursing students who exemplify the delivery of clinical care extraordinarily and compassionately to patients and their families as they learn. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students is designed to remind students, even on their most challenging days in nursing school, why they want to be a nurse. We are very proud to partner with DAISY as we have extraordinary nursing students at Wharton County Junior College.
The Wharton County Junior College Associate Degree Nursing program is proud to be
a member of The Consortium for Advancing Baccalaureate Nursing Education in Texas
(CABNET).
"The Consortium for Advancing Baccalaureate Nursing Education in Texas (CABNET) is
a group of universities and community colleges committed to increasing nursing academic
progression through articulation agreements that provide clear pathways for students
to achieve a BSN."
More information about the CABNET program can be found at:
Resources:
WCJC Associate Degree in Nursing Program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (NLN CNEA) located at:
Address:
2600 Virginia Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 909-2526
Our program is approved through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and has full approval from the Texas Board of Nursing.
