Sampson Community College is already recognized as a leader in health education in Sampson County and in the state so it should be no surprise that its new offering, the LPN to ADN online option, is another important leap for the community college’s health programs and its future impact on the citizens of Sampson County and beyond.
The LPN to ADN option is a unique two semester online option which includes a clinical component. It is a limited-enrollment associate’s degree that traditionally accepts 10 students each fall — and maybe more in the future. Students are selected through a documentation and testing process. The nursing department has offered a traditional LPN to ADN advanced placement option since 1994 which allows LPNs admission into the third semester of the ADN program dependent upon the number of available seats. The online option provides yet another avenue and is the department’s first online endeavor.
The LPN to ADN is another option for LPN’s to obtain an associate’s degree in nursing. Associate degree registered nurses are considered entry level degrees. which prepare nurses for entry-level RN positions. ADN programs are offered by many community colleges as well as universities throughout the country. SCC is only one of two of the 58 community colleges in North Carolina to offer the LPN to ADN online option.
Veronica Stevens, MSN, RN, FNP, will be the instructor for the course. She is an experienced nursing instructor with 22 years as a nursing faculty. The first cohort of the LPN to ADN online option is a group of nine practical nurses who have diverse backgrounds.
SCC applicants must be currently licensed and practicing LPNs and have 12 months full-time or part-time equivalent to 12 months experience in the role of an LPN in a medical/surgical unit of an acute care hospital or skilled nursing facility within the last 4 years. Classes are delivered via the Internet, although students are required to return to campus for specified activities such as orientation and tests.
Each of the two LPN to ADN courses require 120 hours of clinical practice under the supervision of an RN. All clinical experiences must be within North Carolina and the nursing faculty must make final approval of facilities and preceptor(s). Upon successful completion of the two semesters, the student will graduate at the end of Spring Semester with an Associate Degree in Applied Science in Nursing and be eligible to take the National Registry for his or her Registered Nurse status.
“It is always rewarding to implement something which has the potential to change a person and/or a family’s life, shared Wanda Capps, division chair of Health Programs. “This is one avenue where we as a community college and a nursing department can do just that.”
Capps’ hope is to add an additional health program to the division’s academic offerings to give students another choice in the health care arena.
For more information about the option, contact her or visit the SCC website at www.sampsoncc.edu
Sampson Community College is registering all students on Aug. 12 and 13.