1103 - Into the Hollers: Bringing Nursing Education to Rural West Virginia

West Virginia Junior College started an ambitious hybrid ADN program, where students do their course work asynchronously online and go to a regional hospital for laboratory learning and clinical rotations. To achieve the goals of a stellar nursing education experience, nursing faculty have been innovative to overcome numerous challenges.

WVJC provides an accelerated 18-month ADN program geared towards students who continue to work. West Virginia has a significant shortage of registered nurses, especially in the rural areas and southern part of the state. WVJC was awarded the Governor's Emergency Education Relief fund to provide access to nursing education for rural communities in West Virginia. WVJC started an ambitious hybrid ADN program, where students do their course work asynchronously online and go to a regional hospital for laboratory learning and clinical rotations. A mobile nursing simulation lab travels to the regions to provide those learning opportunities. However, to achieve the goals of a stellar nursing education experience, several challenges existed. Curriculum designed to be taught didactically required revisions to meet best practices for online learning education and incorporate the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Next Generation NCLEX.

Additionally, the nursing leadership had to recruit and mentor individuals who were hired as Regional Coordinators, Lab Faculty, and Clinical Faculty and meet the West Virginia Board of Nursing requirements to be educators. Online faculty needed to be educated on how to deliver asynchronous nursing education and provide time to mentor and support students in their learning. This new way of delivering nursing education required the nursing leadership to develop new systems, policies, and strategies to support bringing education to students instead of students coming to education.