April 17, 2002 – The University of the Virgin Islands nursing program on the St. Croix campus recently received reaccreditation for the next eight years from the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
"I'm ecstatic," said Joan Marsh, who heads the two-year nursing program in St. Croix.
Marsh said the accreditation team found no problems and said the program has a well-organized curriculum. The team also was pleased that the school continued the program even though it had only 14 students, she said.
According to Marsh, the commission found that 63 percent of the nursing programs up for reaccreditation on the mainland had problems serious enough to warrant an interim follow-up evaluation. But UVI's program sailed through with no such provision, and "We got full accreditation," she said.
Maintaining accreditation is a big job, Marsh said, and UVI has immediately begun gathering data for the next accreditation visit eight years away.
The St. Croix program awards an associate of science degree to nursing students. It requires 72 credits for graduation and qualifies the students to take the national NCLEX exam for licensing as a registered nurse. In the last three years, Marsh said, every graduate of the UVI program but one passed the test.
UVI also offers a four-year nursing program on the St. Thomas campus leading to a bachelor of science degree. It is separately accredited, Marsh said.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
