Utah State University - » Uintah Basin colleges team up to give more options to student nurses

Uintah Basin colleges team up to give more options to student nurses

January 26th, 2016 Posted in USU Statewide

By Boden Lamb

Utah State University Uintah Basin and the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College will be conducting joint open houses to explain to students how they can take advantage of a new program that will allow them to work on both a licensed practical nurse certificate and a registered nurse degree concurrently.

The first open house will be at 5 p.m. on Feb 9. in Vernal; the second open house will be held at 5 p.m. Feb 10. in Roosevelt.

The open house will explain the changes that have been made to nursing education in northeastern Utah. The main changes are the LPN certificate that the UBATC offers and the RN degree offered by the USU Uintah Basin have been accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

According to Susan Rasmussen, a nursing professor at USU Uintah Basin, the new program represents a heightened level of continuity between the UBATC and USU Uintah Basin.

“We have needed this type of educational cooperation for a long time in the Uintah Basin,” Rasmussen said. “There will be less overlap and less redundancy as a result fewer classes to take and an easier road to success for students.”

According to David Law, an associate dean of USU Uintah Basin, one of the biggest upsides of the new nursing program is that students do not have to worry about moving to a new city to complete their education. He said that people are more motivated to learn something new when they know they do not have to uproot and move when they want to further their nursing education.

“We want to make the path as easy as possible for anyone who wants to become a nurse,” Law said.

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-mdl