UC College of Nursing Now Offers Online Option for RN to BSN Degree

The UC College of Nursing is now offering all courses in the RN to BSN program online for both full and part time students, with applications being accepted for classes to begin fall 2012. The online program is being offered in addition to the traditional, on-site RN to BSN program.

 "We have the advanced technology now to really handle this online program, so that even though it’s online it can still be interactive and students can have access to the professors,” says Jan Dyehouse, PhD, director of the college’s RN to BSN mobility program.

The online RN to BSN program was developed to accommodate working adults who need to maintain their employment position while they are going to school, she says, adding that "it provides an element of flexibility.”
 
As with its on-site counterpart, the online option offers RNs (Registered Nurses) looking to advance to a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree which takes four additional years of training) the choice of participating either full or part-time; however, both programs have a semester devoted to a clinical practicum, which takes place near the end of the program in an approved community agency in the Tristate area.
 
The program consists of 121 total undergraduate semester credits. 

The decision to branch out to a distance learning component with the RN to BSN degree, says Dyehouse, is fueled by both the economy and the demands of the health care industry: Employers are seeking more nurses with the BSN degree as they apply for Magnet Status which is a national recognition of outstanding nursing care provided by their hospital. 

Professional organizations, such as the Institute of Medicine, are also recommending that there be more bachelor’s-prepared nurses at the bedside, she says.  

For more information, contact the RN to BSN program advisor Angela Fisher at 513-558-5354, angela.fisher@uc.edu, or visit the UC College of Nursing website at nursing.uc.edu.