Demand for nurses nationwide is on the rise, and the story is no different in Southwest Virginia.
An aging population needing greater access to health care has fueled calls for more highly trained nurses.
Emory & Henry College intends to help meet that need. The liberal-arts college has begun a program, called RN to BSN, in which registered nurses can return to school to earn bachelor’s degrees in nursing.
Under the program, the college’s School of Health Sciences will provide nurses who have earned associate degrees or diplomas in nursing additional training through online and hybrid-format courses.
In 2010, the National Academy of Medicine set a goal of having 80% of nurses with bachelor’s degrees by 2020. Emory & Henry felt “it was only natural that we would offer this kind of program,” says Saundra Farmer, the program’s director.
