1. Distance education first began in 1852 with the Pitman Shorthand Training Program. Women learned shorthand at home and corresponded with instructors through the United States Post Office.
2. By the late 1800’s, International Correspondence Schools trained secretaries, miners, iron, and railroad workers through postal correspondence.
3. In 1934, the colleges and universities began broadcasting courses by television, creating the Public Broadcast System (PBS).
4. With the invention of the World Wide Web in 1991, colleges and universities began offering courses over the internet.
5. By 1993, the first completely online university received accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission.
6. The U.S. Department of Education created the Distance Learning Education Demonstration in 1999, which developed statutory and regulatory requirements to monitor fraud and abuse, and provide federal financial aid to online learners.
7. By 2006, over 96% of all United States colleges and universities were offering online courses and/or entire degree programs, which had 3.2 million enrolled students.
8. In 2008, there were 4.6 million students enrolled in online classes.
9. Today, online learners may attend class virtually through web-cams and video streaming or view recorded lectures on their ipod, cell phone, or computer.
10. The majority of online college and university instructors hold a doctoral level degree, while the majority “traditional” college and university instructors have a master’s level degree.
11. More than half of all college and university faculty have recommended online courses to students.
12. Colleges and universities say that improved student access is the number one reason they offer online courses and degree programs.
13. The number of blended courses is decreasing, while the number of 100% online courses is increasing.
14. Nearly two thirds of all public schools, grades Kindergarten through twelve, are now offering online classes to students.
15. The majority of online students are females, who have children and work full-time. Their average age is 38-39 years old.
16. Online college enrollment is increasing, while “traditional” student enrollment is decreasing. By 2018, the majority of graduating college students will have earned their degree through distance education.
17. The majority of people in academic leadership positions report that online learning outcomes are equal or superior to “traditional” learning outcomes.
18. Distance education is more cost effective due to its ability to accommodate a large number of students without the added expense of physical space.
19. Online learning promotes a green environment due to the decrease in paper material needs and commuting costs.
20. Many large businesses and hospitals are creating online “Corporate Universities” as a way to train and continually educate their employees.
21. Distance education provides instant access to all course materials and proves accommodating for people with disabilities.
22. Online degree programs have been well respected throughout European countries for years, with the majority of people graduating from a distance education institution.
23. Distance education promotes skills in technology, autonomy, and self-discipline.
24. Online courses promote student participation with weekly discussion boards, instant messaging, and social networking.
25. Students report increased personal interactions with online college and university instructors through e-mail and phone conversations.

*Statistical information is from the Sloan Consortium.

Are you ready to earn your RN degree online?

Apart from the salary or hourly pay though, a traveling nurse is also entitled to some pretty sweet perks and incentives. So if you are looking at this profession in terms of the number of zeros that are added to your pay check, then you also need to consider the incentives and perk that you are going to get. Remember benefits make up for a lot of your expenses which otherwise would have to coughed up by you.

Statistics reveal that the travelling nurses are paid very high salaries and when compared with the salaries of the regular RNs, we have found that travelling nurses earn 10% to 15 % more. If we take a look at the hourly rates, we find that the travelling nurses could receive anything between $30 and $40. But here lies a catch - all the travelling nurses are put on contract, so if you have a contract you earn some cool dollars but if you do not have one then you would fail to earn even a single dollar. If you are really an efficient travelling nurse and are in the good books of the agency, then it is more likely that the agency would pay you a certain amount - agreed by both you and your agency - during the period you are not working. This is very common with most of the agencies that hire travelling RNs for their clients.

Some other pay benefits of travelling nurses include health and professional insurance, thus not only providing you a health cover but also saving you from the lawsuits that can be filed in case something untowardly happens while you are on duty. These insurances would generally cost you something between $50 and $100 but being a traveling nurse, you would be able to save the same by getting into a contract with the agency that provides these pay benefits.

You can even expect to pursue higher education, in case you wish to, as there are some agencies that provide educational assistance too as well as housing and vacation accrual. So bottom line is, earning your RN degree and becoming a Registered Nurse opens more doors than just working in a hospital.  Being a travel RN might be something to look into.

Sound appealing?  Start earning your RN degree from home!

This is an excerpt from the story that the Kenya Empowerment (a national print newspaper) featured about rnbridgeprogram.com!

“The problem with conventional distance learning programs though is the lack of support that the students get. Up until very recently it’s pretty much been a solitary process to earn your RN degree through a distance learning program,” says Viktoria Lindskog, President and co‐founder of RNBridgeprogram.com. “Incorporating all the technological advancements into distance learning gives students the same support of a traditional program but on a schedule that fits the student’s life,” adds Ms. Lindskog.

Although presented in a different format, the academics are the same for both traditional and non‐traditional nursing programs. With the explosion of live streaming video on the internet though nursing students can access their lectures from their computer or even from their mobile devices. It won’t be long before nursing students will be able to view their live streaming video lectures from the comfort of their living room on their TV’s.

Having to attend onsite classes on a full‐time basis is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Simply put, without the conveniences nontraditional nursing programs offer students, many former students could not have followed their dreams of becoming a graduate of an accredited nursing program. It’s clear that the most feasible solution to the national RN crisis is to produce more nurses and it’s the pending upsurge of internet based nursing education that’s going to accommodate that demand.”

Read the full story here.

Reading an article on CNN.com I found it interesting that 7 of the top 30 jobs needing the most workers in the next decade were within the healthcare field.  No surprise though to see that Registered Nurses were number one on the list!

Registered nurses
2008 employment: 2.62 million
2018 employment: 3.2 million
Minimum education or training: Associate degree

Home health aides
2008 employment: 922,000
2018 employment: 1.38 million
Minimum education or training: Short-term on-the-job training

Personal and home care aides
2008 employment: 817,000
2018 employment: 1.19 million
Minimum education or training: Short-term on-the-job training

Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants
2008 employment: 1.47 million
2018 employment: 1.75 million
Minimum education or training: Post-secondary vocational award

Medical assistants
2008 employment: 484,000
2018 employment: 648,000
Minimum education or training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Licensed practical and vocational nurses
2008 employment: 754,000
2018 employment: 909,000
Minimum education or training: Post-secondary vocational award

Physicians and surgeons
2008 employment: 661,000
2018 employment: 806,000
Minimum education or training: First professional degree

Read the full story here

RNBP is a video based learning system that helps nontraditional, or distance learning, nursing students earn their ASN-RN degree from home.

Instead of grinding through hundreds of pages of text books at the end of a long day in the medical field we have created a balanced combination of video lessons and live interactive lecture that virtually eliminates the need for reading textbooks and study guides.  It’s all the structure, support and live lecture of a traditional program but all from home!  Getting your RN degree doesn’t have to mean quitting your job or neglecting your family and friends.

With RNBP you can earn your accredited RN degree in as a little as 7 months by watching just 5 hours of video a week!

Here’s a freebie so you can see for yourself.

211-2 Heart-Blood Vessel Impairments - This video focuses on blood vessel impairment problems such as peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, gangrene, arteriosclerotic heart disease, and angina pectoris.  Nursing theory for these problems will include description, signs and symptoms, factors influencing these problems, risk factors, treatments both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, the nursing process with specific nursing interventions.  Click here to view more videos!

A big shot business man had to spend a couple of days in the hospital. He was a royal pain to the nurses because he bossed them around just like he did his employees. None of the hospital staff wanted to have anything to do with him. The head registered nurse was the only one who could stand up to him. She came into his room and announced, “I have to take your temperature.” After complaining for several minutes, he finally settled down, crossed his arms and opened his mouth.
“No, I´m sorry, the nurse stated, “but for this reading, I cannot use an oral thermometer.” This started another round of complaining, but eventually he rolled over and bared his rear end. After feeling the nurse insert the thermometer, he heard her announce, “I have to get something. Now you stay JUST LIKE THAT until I get back!” She leaves the door to his room open on her way out. He curses under his breath as he hears people walking past his door laughing. After almost half an hour, the man´s doctor comes into the room. “What´s going on here?” asked the doctor. Angrily, the man answers, “What´s the matter, Doc? Haven´t you ever seen someone having their temperature taken?” After a pause, the doctor confesses, “Well, no. I guess I haven´t. Not with a carnation anyway.” (from http://www.lifetips.com)

Nurses Go To Heaven

Three registered nurses went to heaven, and were waiting turn to plead their case to St. Peter to enter the pearly gates. The first registered nurse said, “I worked in an emergency room. We tried our best to help patients, but occasionally we did lose one. I think I deserve to go to heaven.” St. Peter looks at her file and admits her to heaven. The second registered nurse says, “I worked in an operating room. It´s a very high stress environment and we do our best. Sometimes the patients are too sick and we lose them, but overall we try very hard.” St. Peter looks at her file and admits her to heaven.  The third registered nurse says, “I was a case manager for an HMO.” St. Peter looks at her file. He pulls out a calculator and starts punching away at it furiously, constantly going back to the nurse´s file. After a few minutes St. Peter looks up, smiles, and said, “Congratulations! You´ve been admitted to heaven … for five days!” (from http://www.lifetips.com)

Know any funny (but clean) nursing jokes?  Leave them in the comments section and I’ll add them!

Nurses are the backbone of the U.S. healthcare system–this statement is not an exaggeration, nor is it disputed by experts whose task it is to devise strategies to combat the current nursing shortage, which shows no signs of abating and, in fact, is projected to worsen. By 2020, it is estimated that there will be a shortage of registered nurses in the US surpassing 800,000.

The seemingly simple answer to the question of how to reduce the nursing shortage is to increase the number of nursing school graduates. This, however, has not turned out to be a simple proposition. Why? There are several explanations, but the lack of available faculty and infrastructure to support the graduation of higher numbers of nursing students are the two most common reasons cited.

Lack of Qualified Instructors

The shortage of qualified nursing instructors has been blamed on the lack of perceived support for nurses to complete their education at the master’s level. Low wages make the prospect of becoming an instructor unattractive for those nurses who do have the necessary credentials. Many of those who have the necessary requirements to instruct at the university level are attracted by higher salaries outside academics. Teaching is often compensated at a lower pay rate than the wages earned by nurses working in hospitals.

Colleges Unable to Keep Up with Demand

Nursing colleges have not been able to keep up with the increased demand for nurses, citing lack of funding, lack of space, and lack of governmental funding support. The AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing) has stated that almost 50,000 qualified nursing school applicants were turned away from nursing schools in 2008. Of this number, 6,000 were seeking entry to post-graduate programs, who might have become future instructors of nursing students.

Traditional Universities See the Value of Distance Learning

Many “traditional” universities are beginning to add online courses to their programs in an effort to stay competitive. Today’s students are less concerned with a school’s name or reputation and more cognizant of which school can offer a stellar education for their money. Students are becoming more discerning as to when and where they can pursue their education.

Non-Traditional Student Demographics

Today’s students are often non-traditional; they are older, are working full time and often have to juggle a family as well. A Distance Learning Today Report conducted by USA Today found that more than half of online students enrolled were registered as over 30 years of age, and 18% were over the age of 40. These are adults who want to change or further their career and need greater flexibility regarding when and how they attend classes in order to be able to handle their many responsibilities.

The Future of Nursing Education

It seems obvious that the future of nursing education will be increasingly shifted to the distance learning or online domain. Although there may be some nursing courses which will need to be taken in the traditional form, most courses can be taken online, freeing up space and resources in colleges which will allow for an increase in the number of graduating nurses.

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