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Twenty-four registered nurses from hospitals all across Providence Health & Services are on their way to receiving bachelor's degrees thanks to a unique program at the University of Great Falls in Montana.
The University of Great Falls partnered with Providence Health & Services to develop a primarily long-distance bachelor's degree in nursing for registered nurses already working in their field.
The program got under way the first week of August. The 24 RNs working with Providence Health and Services completed a two-week, intensive on-campus session of coursework before heading back out into the field. Their first long-distance class took place August 27.
"The most critical thing is the way a program starts," said University of Great Falls President Eugene J. McAllister. "For us getting to know the 24 nurses and them getting to know us and each other is absolutely critical to the process."
Providence Health & Services approached University of Great Falls about hosting the program to give nurses who already have their associate's degree or RN certificate the chance to get a leg up, according to Deborah Burton, PhD, newly appointed Chief Nursing Officer of Providence Health & Services.
There are more than 16,000 nurses working with Providence Health & Services across five states, Dr. Burton said, but less than half of them have their bachelor's degree in nursing. As standards in healthcare continue to increase, Dr. Burton said it's going to become essential for nurses to get more training.
"I wanted to establish this program as soon as the reunification of Providence Health System and Providence Services finished and I knew we had a Catholic liberal arts college as a resource that could help us develop a curriculum that can steep students in the history of Providence and Mission of the Sisters of Providence," Dr. Burton said.
Dr. Burton said the nursing students start out at University of Great Falls in the summer taking two weeks worth of courses. Then, depending on the coursework that each student needs, it could take between 18 months and two years to complete their bachelor's degree.
The long-distance courses will be taught by a combination of University of Great Falls professors and professors associated with Providence Health & Services. The bachelor's degrees will be awarded through University of Great Falls.
The long-distance learning takes advantage of the videoconferencing technology available from Providence Health & Services. Students and instructors from California, Washington, Oregon and Montana get the benefit of interactive class discussions and activities. "At any giving moment we have nine sites connected," said Dr. Burton.
The connections are made possible by a session border controller – a cost savings device that grants direct access via the internet to University of Great Falls said Dennis Wilbert, videoconferencing program manager at PH&S. "This device is a significant leap in our videoconferencing abilities," he said. The long-distance concept emerged from conversations between Dr. Burton, UFG and John Kenagy, PhD, Chief Information Officer for Providence. It went from an idea last summer to fruition this past August.
"A timeline of a year to research and implement a new videoconferencing network that includes outside participants and creating a Bachelor of Science nursing program at University of Great Falls is impressive," said Mr. Wilbert.
Classes meet each Wednesday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. In a truly interactive environment, students are able to ask questions and participate in projects in real time with tools like Blackboard, PowerPoint, microphones and a document camera, all connected across thousands of miles through the videoconferencing technology.
The 24 nurses are from Little Company of Mary Torrance, Little Company of Mary San Pedro, Providence Medford Medical Center, Providence Seaside Hospital, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Providence Portland Medical Center and Providence Milwaukie Hospital. Though there are only 24 students enrolled right now, Dr. Burton said she hopes to ratchet that up quickly to 66 students next summer and more than 200 by the following summer; including registered nurses from other hospitals and ministries throughout Providence Health & Services. "This is both a huge recruitment and retention program for Providence Health & Services," she said.
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