Network: September/October 2009
— Sentara Graduates First Distance Learning Nursing Students
Nearly two years after launching its Distance Learning program for nursing students, the Sentara College of Health Sciences graduated its first distance learning registered nursing class of 10 students in June. In the fall of 2007, the college began offering its program on the Peninsula via a distance learning site at the Old Dominion University Peninsula Higher Education Center in Hampton, Va. Smaller class size and proximity were some of the benefits that appealed to distance learning students Sonia Pritchett and Anjali Desai, both Peninsula residents, and Valerie Wallace from north Suffolk.
Sentara Offers Baccalaureate Nursing Degree —
When The Sentara School of Health Professions received approval from its accrediting agency and the Virginia Board of Nursing to offer a bachelor of science in nursing degree (BSN) in July, the school also changed its name to the Sentara College of Health Sciences to better reflect the academic level. Even in this tough economic climate, nursing is one of the fastest growing professions and this change is designed to keep pace with the professional needs of the healthcare industry. Offering a BSN degree reflects the direction of the nursing profession and the workplace demands for baccalaureate prepared nurses. Graduates will be eligible to enter any graduate nursing program if they choose to further their career.