Online university gets approval for nursing programs

Online university gets approval for nursing programs

Earlier this week, officials at National American University (NAU) announced that the school has been approved by the South Dakota Board of Nursing to offer a four-year bachelor of science in nursing degree, which is set to begin on March 10. In addition, NAU has launched an online master of science in nursing through its distance learning school.

"Given the current demand for qualified nurses and nurse educators throughout the U.S., we feel that this is a market that will continue to grow and expand," said Julia Bronner, dean of the School of Nursing.

"This is an opportunity for NAU to continue our commitment to meeting the needs of the local healthcare industry and the people of South Dakota," she added.

The BSN program will include a core of general education courses and will progress into clinical nursing study.

Labor Department analysts predict that by 2012, a total of 1 million nurses will be needed to care for the aging population, and some 587,000 new nursing jobs will be created nationwide.

Online education in the healthcare field is growing by nearly 20 percent, making it the fastest growing industry in the online education sector.

By Mark Danson