LPN class coming to Brown County Adult Career Center

A new Licensed Practical Nurse class is coming to the Brown Clermont Adult Career Center in Mt. Orab. The 11 month full-time class will be taught at the BCACC Campus on Eastwood Road.

“This is something that we have been working toward for the past ten years,” said BCACC Adult Education Coordinator Vicki Carrington. “We are all thrilled to finally see it become a reality.”

Tuition for the class, including books, supplies and other necessities is $17,000. Students are eligible for federal financial aid, and some funding is also available from state programs as well. Carrington said that every person’s situation and eligibility is different, but the overall message is that the program could end up costing much less than people may think.

“If someone is thinking that they can’t afford it, they need to come in and talk to us,” she said. “They might end up being pleasantly surprised.” The classes will have 24 seats. 12 are still currently available for the class that begins on February 15.

Carrington said that the average starting annual salary for an entry level LPN is $47,000 per year, with many opportunities for advancement. “Like our other courses, this class can be the beginning of a pathway. An LPN license can lead to further training as a nurse such as an RN and you can move on from there, possibly all the way up to Nurse Practitioners or even beyond that,” she said.

The class is being taught by Hannah Kelley, RN. She is the LPN Coordinator and Instructor for the program. Kelley began her medical career by working in an emergency department and then moved to a teaching career before returning to the health care field at BCACC.

“The class will be broken up into four quarters, with each one including classroom and hands on training. Three of the quarters will also include clinical teaching with real patients,” Kelley said. Another benefit of the clinical work is that future employers can see the students working well in a health care environment and those relationships that they build can turn into employment offers when the students graduate.

Nine mannequins, including three electronic simulator models, will be used as teaching aides. One of those will be an obstetric unit to teach care for pregnant patients. “We have enough resources in this course to help make students successful. Visual aids, mannequins, computers and all sorts of other educational materials that will appeal to all different kinds of learning styles,” Carrington said. She added that the current plan is to start classes in January and August, with demand leading the way for possibly scheduling classes more often in the future.

Kelley said that the health care field is always looking for new blood. “Nursing is going to be in demand forever. There are always going to be people who need care. With the stress of COVID, there are people working in nursing homes and hospitals who are burned out and leaving the field. That leaves a gap that needs to be filled with new people coming in.”

She said that opportunities are beginning to open up more for LPN’s in places where an RN has been required in the past. “In our area, there are employers that have initiatives that are bringing LPN’s back into acute care, so more opportunities are opening up in hospital settings.”

The opportunities for success as an LPN could also be offered to local high school students in the future. “Right now, we are also looking into the possibility of offering the course to high school seniors so they can accomplish part of the course while they are still in high school. That way, it’s possible that they could have half the course paid for by their school and they would only have to pay for half of it,” Carrington said. If a student were to apply for a federal Pell Grant and be awarded the maximum amount, that would pay for much of the remaining balance for the course.

Kelley said that there some people are hesitant to take such a big step to try and change careers, but that the effort is worth it. “Sometimes you just have to put yourself first. There are a lot of things that people tell themselves that may be holding them back, but in the long run you just have to decide that you are ready to do something for yourself and your family and just go for it.”

More information on the LPN program at BCACC can be found at www.bccareer.org.