Volume 12, Number 2, 2003
A registered nurse who wants to return to school--to earn a bachelor's degree, for example, or with an eye to an advanced degree--often faces a number of obstacles, according to Madeline Lambrecht, director of special programs for the College of Health and Nursing Sciences.
With such demands on their time as shift work, family responsibilities or military obligations, nurses can find it impossible to attend traditional classes that meet on a fixed schedule. And, Lambrecht says, the national shortage of registered nurses has only added to those obstacles.
"Nurses today have even less flexibility in their work schedules than they once did," she says. "Asking an employer for a certain shift or certain days off to attend class just isn't possible in many workplaces that are experiencing significant staff shortages."
To address these problems, the Department of Nursing and the CHNS Division of Special Programs work collaboratively to deliver a Baccalaureate for the Registered Nurse (BRN) program, in which classes are offered solely in a distance-learning format. The distance-delivery program began in 1993 but was revised and streamlined this fall. Another recent change is that the entire curriculum now is web-based, with students viewing lectures online or via CD-ROM rather than via the videotapes that formerly were used.
"The key is that the students can do everything, from viewing lectures to having online discussions with their professors and other students, at any time, from any location," Karen Avino, the faculty member who coordinates the BRN program, says. "They have the flexibility to do the coursework according to whatever schedule best fits their life at any given moment."
Avino emphasizes that the program is not independent study but that students follow a semester-based framework that requires them to take courses according to a predetermined schedule. However, unlike traditional students, they can complete each semester's courses by viewing lectures and completing assignments in the middle of the night and contributing to discussion groups on Sunday afternoons, for example. Another difference is that--aside from two weekend sessions on campus--they can complete the program wherever they happen to live.
The typical BRN student, Avino says, is about 35 years old and well into her or his nursing career. Most graduated from hospital-based diploma programs or associate degree nursing programs, met the licensure requirements to be a registered nurse but did not earn a four-year bachelor's degree. In the 120-credit BRN program, these students take the additional courses they need for that degree.
After admission, students work closely with their advisers to review their transfer credits, determine what courses they still need for the BRN and develop a schedule for completing the program. They can spend as little as 12 months or up to five years to finish.
"In the early 1990s, our students were mainly diploma nurses who didn't have many college credits, but now, the vast majority of BRN students come in with 60 or more credits from two-year programs," Lambrecht says. "We also find that students are going through the program more quickly, often in 12-24 months. They want to finish as soon as they can, so they can begin graduate studies."
One student in that situation is Stacy Gehm, a registered nurse who works part time and manages a busy household that includes her toddler, Stephen, in Binghamton, N.Y. Gehm earned her associate degree in nursing in 1995 and works three days a week as an operating room nurse. She says she decided to pursue a bachelor's degree with the eventual goal of earning a master's degree and becoming a nurse-anesthetist.
"The State University of New York has a campus in Binghamton, and it has an excellent nursing program, but it just doesn't work around my schedule," Gehm says. "They don't give lectures at 10 o'clock at night, and that's often when I'm ready to do them. I also looked at an independent-study program, where you read and then take tests when you're ready, but I wanted to have a little more discipline and structure than that."
She says she then researched distance-learning options and found that UD, although farther from home than she initially would have liked, offered the best fit for her schedule, lifestyle and finances. She attended a weekend orientation session on campus in August and now views lectures from home, usually after putting Stephen to bed at 8 p.m. She's come up with a schedule that will enable her to graduate in winter or spring of 2005.
"The course load I've mapped out is a little heavy, but I'm very highly motivated," Gehm says. "And, since I can see the lectures and do the other work at my convenience, I really think it's going to work out well."
Another nurse for whom the program worked well is Elizabeth Melnik, who at May Commencement was singled out as the oldest member of UD's Class of 2003. After Melnik earned her registered nurse credentials in 1951, frequent moves and family responsibilities prevented her from pursuing a bachelor's degree until the 1990s. She took classes at a community college to prepare and then enrolled in the BRN program.
"I was surprised that the program was all online, but it's actually an easy way to do it because you can fit it into your schedule and take as much time as you need," Melnik says. "It encourages you to succeed."