The University of Iowa College of Nursing has created an online curriculum for newly licensed RNs to help prepare new nurses for real-life care settings.
The certificate program is the first of its kind in the nation to be offered totally online. The program started last August and 254 nurse residents from nine states have enrolled.
"Making an online nurse residency program accessible to employers of new graduate nurses provides a means to facilitate their professional development from novice to experienced nurse," Rita Frantz, dean of UI's College of Nursing, said.
The Online Nurse Residency Program involves 13 modules designed to help new nurses build skills for the job and culminates in a research project to solve a problem in the field. The university is expected to seek accreditation of the program from the American Nurses Credentialing Center after the year-long waiting period that is required expires.