Department of Veterans Affairs, Acquisition Operations Service (93C), 810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington,, DC 20420

U -- NURSE PRACTITIONER PROGRAM DUE 042595 POC Contact Point, Dr. Paulette Cournoyer, (617)323-7700x5957, Contracting Officer, Priscilla A. Lee, (202)523-3480 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is exploring alternatives to facilitate the ongoing educational of its nurisng workforce to adapt to current and future changes in the health care environment. As part of this effort, the VA is initiating a market search to ascertain university (ies) capabilities; VA is requesting technical documentation and literature on education programs designed specifically for distance learning. Inforamtion on curriculum outline, practicum logistics plan, distance learning technology requirements and detailed cost estimates is requested. This market search for education programs, as indicated below, which would be potentially accessible to all VA nurses nationally through some type of distance learning vehicle, e.g., satellite-live, videocassettes or cable television. (1). Natioanal League for Nursing (NLN) accredited college/university nursing program(s) which offers or can offer bachelor's degree in nursing and/or master's degree in nursing (excluding specialization in maternal and/or child health). (2). Post-Master's Certificate Nurse Practitioner program(s) within a NLN accredited school of nursing granting graduate level academic credit, (e.g., graduate, non-matriculating program). Participants who complete this education must be qualified to apply for certification as adult, family or gerontological nurse practitioners by the American Nurses' Association (ANA). Completion of this post-master's certificate should generally be accomplished within approximately a 1-year timeframe. These programs would need to have developed mechanism wherein practicum for development of hands-on skills could be provided locally and supervised, in some manner, nationally to ensure competency. Additionally, students would need to have the opportunity to interact (live) with an instructor for questions and discussions. While we do not wish to limit this request for information to a particular technology, all VA medical centers do have VHS videtape playback units and monitors, and KU band receive-only steerable statellite dishes. Interested parties have 30 days from the publication date of this announcement to submit their capability statement (technical documentation and detailed cost estimates) in writing to: Dr. Paulette Cournoyer, Program Director, Nursing Service (118), VA Medical Center, 1400 VFW Pkwy., West Roxbury, MA 02132. Respondents should also send a copy to the identified Contracting Office. This information is for Budgetary Planning purposes only. This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP), nor does the Government intend to pay for information submitted in response to this synopsis, and any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. All responses will be held in strict confidence. No solicitation document for this requirement exists and requests for a solicitation will be ignored. (0082)

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