Local nurses will be able to augment their qualifications without leaving the Island if a deal with an English nursing college goes through. A new correspondence course in affiliation with Francis Harrison College of Health Care at Surrey University could be up and running by as early as September, said director of nursing and patient services at St. Brendan's Hospital Mrs.

Joan Dillas-Wright.

Nurses will be able to upgrade their qualifications and seek new ones, even going as far as gaining Master and Doctorate degrees using Bermuda College, St. Brendan's and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital resources, supplemented by teleconferencing and courses by visiting lecturers from the English college.

Mrs. Dillas-Wright claimed the proposed link would be both cost-effective and less traumatic for nurses with families on the Island than going overseas.

Tuition fees in excess of $7,000, airfares and accommodation for courses that can last up to a year, meant the cost of overseas training was prohibitive for many nurses. Instead, distance training would cost just a percentage of going overseas and meant nurses could work as they studied.

"We see such an affiliation as important and far-reaching,'' said Mrs.

Dillas-Wright.

The course, specifically aimed at enrolled nurses, would give them an opportunity to upgrade their skills to the level of staff nurse which requires up to a year of extra training.

But, Mrs. Dillas-Wright added, such a link also presented a new opportunity to improve the standard of nursing at Bermuda's hospitals and afford nurses a chance to branch out into other areas such as operating room, maternity and emergency care as well as management.

Long gone, she said were the hand-holding, utensil-passing days of Florence Nightingale. New drugs and technology, new areas of expertise and increased responsibilities meant nursing was more exciting, rewarding and demanding than ever before.

While correspondence courses at the Bermuda College and University of New Brunswick, Canada and a distance training programme between Sheffield College and St. Brendan's Hospital have already proved successful, the latest link with Francis Harrison College would further expand the number of options open to local nurses.

"It opens the door for them and gives them a whole new upward mobility,'' Mrs. Dillas-Wright said.

"We are always interested in improving nursing education. We are really coming into the 21st century with the standard of nursing being raised all the time.'' Francis Harrison College officials visited the Island earlier this month to inspect Bermuda College and hospital resources and spoke with Bermuda Nursing Council, Health Department and hospital representatives.

Mrs. Dillas-Wright said a decision on the feasibility of the distance courses is expected in the near future.