CONTACT:   
Ayn Carey, Director,
Community Relations
610 250-4953

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

School of Nursing graduates first PA class at Easton Hospital

EASTON, PA; DECEMBER 4, 2007----- 10 nursing students from Easton Hospital and Sunbury Community Hospital in Sunbury, PA, will receive their diplomas in a commencement ceremony scheduled for Saturday, December 15th.  The diplomas will be awarded by the Southside Regional Medical Center (SRMC) School of Nursing in Petersburg, Virginia.  Although SRMC has been educating nurses since 1895, the December graduation will be the first Pennsylvania class to graduate under their distance learning diploma program.

The program combines computer-based learning with clinical experiences in hospital settings under the supervision of nursing instructors.  It is designed with self-directed adult learners in mind—students spend two days a week in the hospital and about 15-20 hours weekly taking courses online and completing related assignments.  There is also an advanced placement option for people who already hold an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) accreditation.  

 “The program at Easton Hospital and Sunbury Community Hospital began in July 2006,” said SRMC’s Regional Program Director, Barbara H. Lupole.  “It started as a way to help CHS hospitals educate well-qualified nursing candidates and also to give students who are on the waiting list for other nursing programs another option,” she said.

The graduating students are eligible to take the national licensing exam (NCLEX-RN) in any state.  Once they have successfully passed that test, they will be fully accredited Registered Nurses.  All of the 10 already have been offered jobs.

The commencement ceremony will take place in Easton Hospital’s Kroner Auditorium at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 15th.  For further information, please visit srmcnursing.org or contact Barbara H. Lupole, RN, MSN, at 610 250-4250.

Easton Hospital is a 369-bed, acute care teaching hospital serving more than 300,000 residents of Northampton County and the five surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Founded in 1890, the Hospital has recently undergone extensive renovation and maintains free-standing, fully-accredited residency training programs, an Emergency Department with 35,000 annual visits, and an active cardiac surgery program.  The Hospital's Eastern Regional Cancer Center is a Fox Chase Cancer Center Partner and one of only three facilities in Pennsylvania offering TomoTherapy radiation treatment for cancer. 

#  #  #  #