Message for alumni and friends
Dear alumni and friends,
These past several weeks our nation and the world has faced unprecedented challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic. As you already know, VCU and most universities have changed to online delivery of coursework for the rest of the semester. I wanted to make you aware that our school is well prepared for this transition since we have already had a few programs online for several years.
However, a significant challenge facing our school and other nursing schools nationwide is the ability to provide clinical education. Because of the imminent shortage of resources within health care systems, we had to temporarily pause the clinical education of all our nursing students except for those students who are expected to graduate in May 2020. We have prioritized providing clinical experiences for our graduating seniors and graduate students so that they can enter the workforce this summer. We hope to use the summer for “make-up” clinical time for our continuing students once we are able to resume clinical education – we will also offer clinical simulation for some of the missed hours once we return to campus.
We are confident that we’ll get all of this worked out, but I wanted to make sure you’re informed on how our school is adjusting to making it possible for our students to progress in their learning. Please know that we truly value all of our alumni and supporters and have you in our thoughts. Now, more than ever, we are so proud of our VCU alumni who are serving on the frontlines, sacrificing their own safety to ensure the health and well-being of others.
VCU and VCU Health are ready for whatever may come as this situation evolves. Thank you for standing by our school. We’ll get through this together.
Sincerely,
Jean Giddens, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Dean and Professor
Doris B. Yingling Endowed Chair