Citizen Connect Ltd. (an Axia NetMedia company) has signed a seven-year contract with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to create an online professional development application for its 340,000 members.
Axia will develop the Internet-accessible application, which is due to be operational by mid-2002. While the project promotes flexible lifelong learning and supports nurses’ professional development, the RCN firmly believes that it will also have a powerful impact on patient care.
The application brings together learning and quality information that can be accessed quickly and easily from a PC wherever and whenever nurses need it. Amongst other things, it will enable RCN members to develop an electronic portfolio to demonstrate competence and keep up-to-date with current issues in their area of practice; continue their professional development by accessing bite-sized chunks of learning; and use RCN clinical guidance to improve their practice. "This partnership with Axia Citizen Connect supports the RCN’s commitment to lifelong learning in several ways," says Dr. Liz Clark, Head of Distance Learning, RCN. "It harnesses the power of technology to make online resources readily available wherever our members happen to live or work. It creates an integrated area on the RCN Web site where members can access a range of quality information and bite-sized chunks of learning. And it creates an online community where nurses can discuss health care issues with each other. "Learning doesn’t stop when a nurse finishes initial training," Liz Clark says. "The RCN and its members see this application as a key step in our efforts to encourage lifelong learning and support nurses to deliver better patient care." "We’re delighted to be working with the RCN on this innovative and exciting project," said Bronwen Robinson, Axia’s director of global business development. "Our aim is to position the RCN as the leader in Web-delivered services for nurses’ professional and personal development – which we agree will ultimately have a strong and positive impact on patient care."

About the partners

With a membership of 340,000 registered nurses, nursing students, health care assistants and nurse cadets, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) (www.rcn.org.uk) is the voice of nursing in the UK. It is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interests of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues by working closely with the Government, parliament, unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations. As a registered charity the RCN offers benevolent services, and provides education through the RCN Institute.

Axia’s workforce development group (also known as Citizen Connect) (http://www.citizenconnect.com), based in Leeds in the UK, is part of Axia, a Canadian-headquartered organization. Axia creates and manages e-learning content as well as leading-edge networks and hosting environments – solutions that power people to perform better in the Knowledge Economy. The company has two main lines of business: it designs, installs and maintains high-speed data, voice and telemetry networks; and it develops knowledge-intensive, interactive courses and training delivered online for individuals and organizations in such sectors as government, aerospace, career development, the oil and gas sector and education. (www.axia.com)