Fortune 500 / CNN Money Article

It’s a Buyer’s Market

Well in real estate now a days it’s a buyers markets.  There are deals to be had out there.  But, if you are a seller you may not be able to get top dollar for your home.  The job market has a current parallel right now.  Employers are the buyers and job seekers are the [...]

Basics of Behavioral Based Interviews.

What is a behavioral based interview?  It is an interview that asks open ended questions looking for specific examples or behaviors.  It is often a tool used in the selection process to help make decisions on the skills you bring to the table.  It is usually a question that asks, “Tell me about a time [...]

Western Governors University to Launch Nation’s First Competency-Based B.S. in Nursing Leading to RN Licensure

I was wowed reading below article on referenced pilot. Glad my company is participating & am hoping for it to be successful & hopefully being offered soon nationwide. Read on & happy Easter!

SALT LAKE CITY, April 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Last year, more than50,000 applicants to nursing schools were turned away, despite a nationwide shortage of registered nurses. To address this crisis in U.S. healthcare, Western Governors University, www.wgu.edu, has joined with state workforce agencies as well as healthcare institutions to develop the first national, accredited, online competency-based bachelor’s degree program aimed at preparing students for initial licensure as registered nurses.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081030/DC42901LOGO)

The program, which is called the Multi-State Approach to the Preparation of Registered Nurses, or MAP-RN, received unanimous approval by the California Board of Registered Nursing earlier this month, and the pilot program is slated to begin in July at three Southern California hospitals. This innovative program combines WGU’s online, competency-based academic approach with intensive clinical simulations and clinical practice at partner hospitals supervised by onsite clinical coaches serving as WGU adjunct faculty.This innovative new approach to nursing education is a partnership among WGU, the Governor’s Task Force for the California Nurse Education Initiative Workforce and Labor Development Agency, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Texas Workforce and Labor Development Agency, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Catholic Healthcare West, Hospital Corporation of America, Kaiser Permanente,Tenet Healthcare, and Universal Health Services. For more information regarding this program, go to www.wgu.edu/rn.”This partnership is a great example of our healthcare providers,educators, and the state working together to alleviate our nursing shortage and get more Californians to work,” said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This new competency-based program is a win-win for California by making nursing programs more accessible to people interested in pursuing this career path and helping to fill critically needed jobs throughout the state.” (To read the release issued by the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, go tohttp://www.labor.ca.gov/pdf/nwsrel09-08.pdf.)”Prospective nurses will now have access to a high quality degree program that will enable them to earn a B.S. and prepare for their RN license flexibly and affordably,” said WGU President Robert Mendenhall.”The B.S. in Nursing leading to initial licensure program complements WGU’s other bachelor’s and master’s degree nursing programs for already-licensed RNs and supports our mission to provide educational opportunities and degree programs to meet the needs of underserved populations and employers with critical workforce needs.”About Western Governors University (WGU)”[WGU is] the best relatively cheap university you’ve never heard of.”- TIME magazine (Nov. 2008)WGU is the only accredited online university in the U.S. offering competency-based degree programs. The private non-profit university has been a leader in online education for more than 10 years. WGU is the recipient of the USDLA 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning for 2008, awarded in recognition of WGU’s success in expanding access to higher education. WGU has been honored as one of the 2008 Top 20Military Friendly College sand Universities by Military Advanced Education magazine. WGU sponsors the Online Student Survival Guide, a blog that addresses many of the questions and daily concerns online students from any online college or university face.Now serving more than 12,000 students, WGU was founded by 19 U.S.governors, and is supported by more than 20 leading corporations and foundations. They include institutions such as AT&T, Bearing Point,Dell, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, HCA,Microsoft, Oracle, Qwest, SunGard Higher Education, Sun Microsystems,and Zions Bank. WGU offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business,information technology, teacher education, and health professions, with students in all 50 states. More information is available atwww.wgu.edu.Contact for enrollment information:866-225-5948Contact for media inquiries: Joan Mitchell - Director of PR801-428-5463jmitchell@wgu.edu SOURCE Western Governors University

Article copied from http://www.itnewsonline.com/showprnstory.php?storyid=40651

Blake’s Return to work RN Program

Just stumbled across an online article about our return to work program Blake’s spearheading for our Division. To read the full article, please visit nursezone.com’s website.

Spring Break

I’m taking a few days off to enjoy Spring Break with my family.  The weather here in sunny Florida is gorgeous right now.  So, we’ve planned a lot of outdoor activities.  See you next week!

Set Yourself Apart

Over the last few days, I’ve attended a few job fairs at local community colleges for nursing students.  A few of the nursing students who will be graduating in about a month were asking advice on how to go about searching for their first job in the real world.  I thought it would be an interesting [...]