Equipped with two patient beds, a worn mannequin donated by a local church, and hearts
for Christ, newly recruited faculty gathered in May 1975 to begin teaching APU’s first
nursing courses. With around 50 baccalaureate students, housed in a round building
aptly nicknamed the Yurt, the School of Nursing quickly turned into
a tight-knit community, quite unlike any other.
“What caught me about APU’s nursing program in those early days was the infusion of Christian values, how they look at nursing as a calling, not just a job,” said Aja Lesh, PhD, RN, former dean of the School of Nursing. “I became committed to ensuring that this faith foundation was fully embedded in the nursing program, partnered with—but never outgrown by—research-based practice.”
This is exactly what she, and the other leaders of the school, have done. Little did they imagine the reach and impact this mission would have in the years to come. Today, with 2,300 students across numerous graduate and undergraduate programs, the School of Nursing is highly regarded for the caliber of its faculty and program offerings and the success of its graduates, who go on to work in some of the top hospitals in Southern California and around the world. In 2024, College Factual ranked APU’s nursing programs in the top 5% of the nation. Money’s Best Graduate School Programs 2025 includes APU’s graduate nursing offerings based on program outcomes, including high return on investment and employability. Over the last 50 years, nearly 10,000 APU graduates have launched into the nursing workforce.
“The School of Nursing is thrilled to be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary,” said Renee Pozza, PhD, RN, CNS, FNP-BC, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. “An anniversary provides a space to reflect on all of God’s many blessings to the School of Nursing and its faculty, students, staff, and alumni, as we celebrate a wonderful legacy and history steeped in the Christian faith. This Christ-centered foundation propels us forward to where we are today.”
APU’s Rise on the International Stage
“I desired that my students develop a global perspective on health care, to take them
overseas,” Lesh said. So, when serving as a professor in 1993, she took a group of
10 nursing students to Burma. Several years later, another small team ventured to
Thailand. Those early trips marked the start of the School of Nursing’s widespread
international presence and global opportunities for students.
“Not only did we start bringing our nurses to the world, but we created an exchange program that brought nurses to us,” said Lesh. “These students from across the globe were able to experience Christ and how our nurses, and programs, are different.”
Today, the School of Nursing offers a diverse array of global experiences in Vietnam, Norway, China, Thailand, Kenya, and Uganda—including short-term transcultural trips and entire study-away semesters specific to nurses. Undergraduate students may also decide to pursue a minor in international health nursing, developing perspectives that enhance their practice for years to come.
For Lianna Namanya ’16, like many others, the wealth of global nursing opportunities drew her to APU and helped reveal God’s calling on her life. “APU confirmed my desire to be a part of global health and grew my relationship with Jesus, which is closely integrated in my practice today,” said Namanya, who studied in Kenya, China, and Costa Rica during her undergraduate career, achieving a minor in international health nursing along with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
While in Kenya, God’s calling became even clearer when she volunteered at Juli (McGowan ’01) Boit’s palliative care organization, Living Room Ministries. There, she witnessed the transformative impact of tender and compassionate care for those with chronic or life-threatening diseases, and God placed a distinct calling on her future. She answered, and in 2021 she became the founder and director of Kabale Christian Care, a nonprofit in Uganda dedicated to providing free palliative care to those in need. With a team of 11 nurses, social workers, and medical clinical officers, the organization has cared for more than 300 patients—from a young boy with throat cancer to a woman suffering from HIV—providing Christ-inspired care in their most challenging times.
The Spread of Community Impact
As nursing students began making an impact across the globe, they also poured into their neighbors surrounding the APU campus. From clinical rotations in local hospitals to providing health care to Azusa residents, students invested in the well-being of their community with compassion.
In the early 2000s, APU president Jon Wallace developed a vision to extend this presence to communities across Southern California, beginning the School of Nursing’s expansion to regional campuses. Over the next 10 years, nursing programs launched in Monrovia, Inland Empire, San Diego, High Desert, and San Bernardino, bringing with them a deepening commitment to serve and love our neighbors.
I’ve always envisioned that each program area would become the students’ community: that they would develop a commitment to the people who live there.Aja Lesh
By 2019, the school’s numbers reached an all-time high—2,300 students spread over several campuses. Today, longstanding academic partnerships with nationally acclaimed hospitals, top-ranked medical centers, community agencies, churches, and school districts bolster student learning and impact. Whether treating wounds in emergency rooms or tending to patients in children’s hospitals, students bring and experience transformation within their surrounding area.
“We instill the ‘why’ into our practice,” said Pozza. “If our students view nursing as a calling and ministry, they gain a commitment to the profession for the sake of improving the lives of the patients, families, and the communities in which they serve.”
With a heart for their community, along with invaluable local connections, APU nurses continue to make a difference in California long after graduation. As of last year, around 90 percent of graduates stay in California, and 100 percent are employed within three months of graduation—which means that right around 500 newly licensed APU nurses per year continue serving in the community they’ve grown to love.
Pathways for Every Nurse
“Our expansion has always been tied to God’s vision and mission,” said Lesh. “We grow to deliver the impact and nurses needed by our communities.” This sentiment rang true when a shortage of nurses burdened the nation around 2005. In response, APU developed an innovative pathway—the first of its kind in Los Angeles County—that allowed individuals with degrees in other disciplines to complete a specialty nursing track. Now known as the Entry-Level Master of Science in Nursing, this program began a cascade of unique nursing pathways for students from all backgrounds, whether undergraduates studying at a partnered community college or working professionals with families.
Today, APU offers numerous degree programs, specialty tracks, certificates, and pathways. Intentional partnerships with local community colleges offer the quickest, most cost-effective model for nurses, featuring concurrent classes, a seamless pathway into the bachelor’s program, and 100% pass rate on the NCLEX board examination. Those already practicing as registered nurses with an associate’s degree benefit from the online RN to BSN program, ranked the No. 1 RN to BSN program in California by Nurse.org.
“APU is the second-largest school of nursing in California when considering the number of baccalaureate nursing graduates,” said Pozza. “We continue to play a vital role as nursing shortages continue, increasing our number of graduates through innovative and cost-effective pathways.”
Discovering Truth through Research
In March 2025, more than 1,000 individuals—students, faculty, alumni, preceptors, and healthcare professionals—gathered for the 20th annual Nursing Research Symposium. Centered around the theme of gratitude, hope, and the healing of trauma, APU submitted more than 45 scholarly posters, sharing newfound knowledge with the healthcare community.
This symposium reflects the School of Nursing’s long-standing commitment to faith-based truth through research, which can be traced back to the launch of the PhD in Nursing in 2005. The first doctoral program at the university, this program ushered in a new era of student and faculty research.
We value the tension between faith and science, and show our students you can do both with excellence.Aja Lesh
Today, as the future of nursing places an increasing emphasis on data-driven education, students and faculty in the MSN in Nursing Education and both doctorate programs explore highly relevant topics such as the use of genetic markers in care and implementing evidence-based practice, with a special interest in spirituality and health unique to APU.
For graduate Valerie Willis, MSN ’08, with dual APRN specialties as Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Parent-Child Clinical Nurse Specialist, studying at APU helped prepare her to fulfill her calling in one of the most rapidly advancing areas of research in health care: genetics. Upon graduation from APU, she began work as a nurse practitioner in high-risk infant neurodevelopmental follow-up, a natural fit after years as a bedside nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit. “I began to wonder if some of the issues ‘my little friends’ were experiencing after hospital discharge were due to factors beyond prematurity,” said Willis.
This ignited pursuit of a PhD in nursing and health science with an emphasis in genetics and health policy, so that she’d be better equipped to advocate for the children and families she was blessed to serve. “My advisor at APU, Leslie Van Dover, PhD, RN, encouraged me to go on to get my doctorate and planted that seed in me,” said Willis. “I truly don’t think that’s something I would have dreamed for myself.”
Now, Willis works as an adjunct assistant professor, clinical division, at Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics. She has successfully led efforts to develop and implement a postgraduate education and training program to upskill licensed nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide genetics specialty care in inpatient and ambulatory settings. This alleviates the shortfall of genetics providers and improves genetics health equity through greater access to genetics specialty care.
Navigating the Future of Health Care
The early leaders of APU’s School of Nursing had a vision, but never imagined the breadth of its expansion. As its current leaders look once again to the future, it seems as though God is ready to work once again.“I feel like we’re right on that same precipice that we were many years ago,” said Elaine Goehner, PhD, RNC, CPHQ, professor emerita. “The Lord is positioning us with new opportunities, of which we have no complete sense as of yet. He’s not done with us—I think He’s going to continue blessing the School of Nursing in unique ways.”
As the field of health care rapidly changes and increases in complexity, APU advances to meet the demand. In a care system with innovative treatments and advancing technology, nurses of competence and care hold more importance than ever. Not only this, but today’s healthcare workers need the ability to collaborate across disciplines as they care for the multifaceted needs of their communities.
APU recognizes this shift. In 2024, in a realignment of the university’s colleges and schools, APU introduced the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. This has created an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies—partnerships with healthcare disciplines such as physical therapy, kinesiology, child life specialist, and public health—while retaining the high-quality nursing education distinct to APU. “The collaboration and interdisciplinary nature of the newly established College of Nursing and Health Sciences will enhance the educational experiences of our students, strengthen our academic-practice partnerships, and allow APU to develop innovative pathways for programs and research in health care,” said Pozza.
Other developments also seek to address the demands of modern health care, positioning APU as a pivotal difference maker in the field. For example, as the shortage of healthcare workers increases, the aging population only expands, bringing with it more chronic health conditions and age-related complications. In an effort to meet the resulting demands, APU received a nearly $5 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to develop curriculum and provide accessible geriatric education. As 1 of only 41 higher education institutions in the country, and 1 of only 2 in California, to receive this HRSA grant, APU is uniquely positioned to provide age-friendly and dementia-friendly health care to the underserved aging population of San Bernardino County.
“As a distinctly Christian university, we’re training up a workforce that knows how to care for the whole person, not just the physical,” said David Picella, PhD, FNP, CNS, GS-C, CPG, nursing professor and principal investigator of the grant. “For older adults facing spiritual and existential needs, such as those in hospice, this makes all the difference.”
Unwavering Commitment in a Changing World
Lights dim and the audience quiets as newly pinned nurses light the flames of candles—a warm glow spreading throughout the auditorium. Together, the nurses, their families, and faculty sing the opening words of an age-old prayer: “Lord, make us instruments of Your peace.”
This tradition continues year after year at the nursing pinning ceremony, pointing to the central, constant quality of the School of Nursing: a commitment to graduating nurses set apart by their Christ-driven love and care. As the school adapts to changing health care—whether expanding interdisciplinary opportunities or launching new grants—this faith foundation remains strong.
“Given all of the rapidly occurring technological and social changes, it’s vital that faith-inspired care is incorporated in healthcare organizations across the nation,” said Picella. “We’ve become part of this movement as a Christian university. God put us here for a reason.”