Office of Distributed Learning

Associate Professor, Nursing

Dr. Rane-Szostak was responsible for implementing the Hybrid Online RN-BSN Program--available to associate degree nurses who wish to obtain the baccalaureate degree and live or work in the Coachella Valley. The first cohort of nurses began classes in September, 2004. Developed as a collaborative effort of the Nursing Department at the San Bernardino Campus, every nursing course in this Palm Desert campus program is characterized by extensive use of online discussions, web technologies and resources to enhance learning. To meet the challenge of maintaining cohesiveness and a sense of belonging among participants, each nursing course has 2 to 3 face to face sessions during the quarter.

One unique feature of this program is the Online Nursing Community—this common bulletin board for sharing information among all nurses in the program regardless of cohort, appears as a Blackboard course on every student’s Blackboard home page. It offers information on the availability of special courses, nursing scholarship information, registration, and even includes a “Coffee House” where students can conduct online discussions related to any area of interest. Dr. Rane-Szostak’s research is now focused on online technologies and delivery methods to enhance nursing education.