Nese College of Nursing

Penn State launches Accelerated RN to B.S. in Nursing at four sites

Program can be completed in 10.5 months, one day a week, through the Penn State Video Learning Network at Penn State Fayette, Greater Allegheny and DuBois campuses and Penn State Lewistown Center.

In 2010, the Institute of Medicine recommended 80 percent of the nursing workforce hold at least a bachelor's degree by 2020 to meet the demands of an ever-changing health care system. To help Pennsylvania nurses achieve this education goal, Penn State is offering an Accelerated RN to B.S. in Nursing program at four locations this fall.

"Many hospitals today are requiring nurses to have advanced degrees," said Melissa Miner, campus coordinator for nursing programs at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, and director of the new program. "Finding time for education while working and caring for their families is a challenge. Our hybrid program has condensed content delivered on Fridays, with online out-of-class assignments."

The program, offered by Penn State's School of Nursing, will originate from Penn State Fayette and will be broadcast live to students in Video Learning Network classrooms at Penn State Greater Allegheny, Penn State DuBois and Penn State Learning Center in Lewistown, Pa.

"A bachelor's degree in nursing is essential for RNs who want to be supervisors," said Paula Milone-Nuzzo, dean and professor of the School of Nursing. "Delivering our program through the Video Learning Network will make it easier for nurses to attain this important credential for career advancement."

This is the first bachelor's degree to be offered through the Penn State Video Learning Network, a network of 19 Penn State classrooms equipped with a videoconferencing system that enables real-time communication at multiple sites.

For professional registered nurse Christina Kelley of Verona, Pa., taking classes at Penn State Greater Allegheny will be "convenient and close to home. I like that it's an accelerated program, so I can maintain my full-time job status while I go to school," said Kelley, a single mother of a teenage daughter who works at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, St. Margaret, a 249-bed acute care and teaching hospital in Pittsburgh. "My goal is to expand my knowledge of nursing so I can provide patients with the best quality of care."

Classes start Aug. 31. To apply, visit the website online.

Penn State Continuing Education offers a venue for adults to return to the classroom on their own terms. Continuing Education is part of Penn State Outreach, which serves more than 5 million people each year, in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, all 50 states and more than 100 countries worldwide. 

Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated April 8, 2013

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