C.W. Post and North Shore-LIJ Nursing Partnership a Success
Five-year joint venture increases the quality of nursing care on Long Island

Brookville, NY -- In an effort to increase learning opportunities and try to alleviate nursing shortages by offering nurses higher education in the workplace, an innovative partnership was formed five years ago between the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System. The relationship continues to thrive and now more than 95 students are enrolled in the program. A sixth cohort of students will begin classes in September 2008.

"We are increasing the number of nurses with advanced education to deliver both primary and tertiary care to Long Island and metropolitan New York," said Minna Kapp, Ed.D., M.B.A., R.N., an associate professor and chairperson of the C.W. Post Department of Nursing.

Through the program, registered nurses at North Shore-LIJ can earn their B.S. or M.S. degree in Nursing on a part-time basis at the hospital through C.W. Post, and have their tuition paid for by their employer. The R.N. to B.S. program is for nurses who have an Associate’s degree in Nursing or a diploma from a hospital-based program. Nurses enrolled in the M.S. degree program can choose between Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) or Nursing Education whereby they train to become faculty in an academic nursing program or to become a staff educator in a health care facility.

"The B.S. and M.S. off-campus programs create a win-win-win situation for the students, the hospital and C.W. Post," said Dr. Kapp. "The students further their education and career opportunities; the hospital gets a better-prepared nurse to provide quality care to the patients; and the C.W. Post Department of Nursing helps to carry out its mission to educate nurses who can help meet the community’s complex health care needs."

For more information contact Dr. Minna Kapp at 516-299-2320 or visit www.liu.edu/nursing.

Posted: December 27, 2007