On-line education for nurses to be developed

VCampus Corp., a provider of end-to-end, web-based e-Learning solutions, announced yesterday plans to develop and deliver an online curriculum to support the continuing education of the country’s 2.7 million registered nurses and 1 million licensed practical/vocational nurses, including those in the CNMI.

Under the terms of the agreement, VCampus will work with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing—of which the CNMI is a member—to initially develop and deliver three online courses to support RN and LPN/VN continuing education.

The first three courses being developed, “End-of-Life Care and Pain Management,” “Patient Privacy” and “Diversity,” will provide continuing education credits.

The first course, “End-of-Life Care and Pain Management,” focusing on the needs of an aging population, is scheduled to launch in October 2004 and will be available through the NCSBN Learning Extension campus (http://www.learningext.com).

In addition to becoming the latest VCampus Select Partner, NCSBN has also signed a three-year contract renewal allowing VCampus to continue to host and deliver the entire curriculum of online courses that NCSBN has developed.

Currently, VCampus hosts 27 courses on the NCSBN Learning Extension campus. As the United States grapples with a growing nursing shortage, the NCSBN plays a leading role in ensuring that nursing candidates, nursing educators and practicing nurses have access to the tools and information necessary to ensure continued professional development.

Since 1998, nearly 34,000 courses have been taken by people in 120 countries through the NCSBN portal that provides self-paced courses for students, nurses and faculty that can be taken anytime, anywhere with a simple Internet connection.

NCSBN is a not-for-profit organization whose membership comprises the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five United States territories—American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

With increasing attention being focused on the nation’s serious and growing nursing shortage, NCSBN Learning Extension will continue to utilize the VCampus online technology and customer service to make continuing education options which promote safe nursing practices accessible to geographically disparate U.S. nurses and to international nurse candidates seeking licensure in the U.S.

“As our population ages and the need for health care grows, our country’s nursing shortage is only expected to intensify. NCSBN’s current online courses, along with this new continuing education curriculum, will play a significant role toward helping address this shortage,” said Nat Kannan, chairman and CEO of VCampus Corp. “We are truly excited to be expanding our six-year relationship with NCSBN and are delighted that they have chosen to become a Select Partner. It is not only in line with our goal to support the nursing profession, but as the U.S. nursing candidate pool continues to be drawn from abroad, online learning offers the convenience and flexibility of anytime, anywhere access to this important nursing information.”

VCampus Corp. helps organizations that offer professional certifications and credentials unlock the value of their traditional branded course content. Through its innovative Select Partner Program, VCampus repurposes value-added training content for online delivery to enhance and support professional development programs. The Select Partner program includes custom course development, publishing, hosting, e-commerce, reporting and account support and marketing services. With over a decade of e-Learning experience, VCampus has delivered 2.8 million courses to 835,000 desktops/users in associations, non-profits, corporations, government agencies and higher education institutions. VCampus distributes a courseware library of more than 4,500 web-based courses. VCampus Corporation is headquartered in Reston, VA. For more information, call 800-915-9298, or visit the VCampus Web site at www.vcampus.com. (PR)