New hybrid online nursing program available at West Virginia Junior College

A new hybrid online nursing program has been opened at West Virginia Junior College as part of a partnership with Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. The program was created to address the issues facing rural education disparities and healthcare worker shortages. 

The program is accelerated and will take a year and a half of online classes and in person lab and clinical lessons during weekends and evenings during the week. The program will also seek, through its partnership with Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, to integrate nursing students into hospitals. 

CEO of West Virginia Junior College Chad Callen was quoted in a news release posted on Greenbrier Valley Medical Center’s website as saying, “This collaboration will aid in creating new career opportunities in healthcare for those in our rural communities for years to come while bringing critical healthcare services to the areas of West Virginia that need it the most. This delivery model and the tools we are implementing are essential to creating access to education for non-traditional students who cannot put life on hold to go to school.”

A 38 foot Recreational Vehicle has been fitted with two simulated hospital rooms for use by students. The RV will allow students the opportunity to put into practice the information they are learning in the online portion of the class with hands on learning using high fidelity simulations. 

Callen also spoke on the RV and the importance of meeting students where they are. “Our mobile nursing labs will travel around the state to supplement training and provide access to technology not normally available in rural communities. This improves the student learning experience, creates a pathway for more nurses in our rural communities, and helps our hospitals address burnout and other workforce issues.”

Greenbrier Valley Medical Center CEO, Tim Bess spoke on the partnership in the wake of the nationwide labor shortage. “The nursing shortage has affected our rural communities most drastically. This collaboration will be crucial in helping us by training students right here at the facility where they will eventually be employed, on the equipment they will use and with the people they will work with on a daily basis.”

Greenbrier Valley Medical Center is located at 1320 Maplewood Ave, Ronceverte, WV 24970, and has 122 beds. It offers both inpatient and outpatient care and is also a teaching facility to West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

West Virginia Junior college has seven campuses in Beckley, Bridgeport, Charleston, Huntington, Martinsburg, Morgantown, and Parkersburg, as well as offering online classes. Information on accreditations, programs, financial aid, and more can be found on their website here.