Practical Nursing

(1-2 Years)
Practical Nursing, I.T.C.Certificate
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Program Overview

The Practical Nursing program is designed to prepare graduates with the skills and knowledge to establish a career as a Licensed Practical Nurse and/or articulate to the Associate Degree Registered Nurse course sequence. The Practical Nursing Program provides classroom, laboratory, and student nurse practicum instruction that prepares graduates for entry into practical nursing. Upon successful completion of the practical nursing coursework, students will be awarded an Intermediate Technical Certificate in Practical Nursing and may sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN).

Graduates are prepared to render competent nursing care in a variety of health care settings including hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, physicians’ offices, home health agencies, and health centers.

Immediately upon deciding to pursue this major, please contact the Student Services department in the College of Technology at (208) 282-2622.

Program Admission Requirements

Students are admitted to the Practical Nursing program once per year using a competitive application process. Upon completion or near-completion of prerequisites, submit a program application and application fee to Student Services, College of Technology, (208) 282-2622. Once an application is submitted and complete and eligibility verified, the student will take a nationally-normed program entrance examination. The exam score is combined with cumulative post-secondary GPA and years of experience as a CNA to rank-order applicants for each admission class.

The following criteria must be met prior to final admission into the Practical Nursing program:

Practical Nursing

  1. All students must first be admitted to the university. For information on university admission, contact the College of Technology Student Services office at (208) 282-2622.
  2. Current Certified Nursing Assistant card.
  3. Completion of the following prerequisite courses, or equivalents, with a grade of “C” or better: HO 1111, or BIOL 2227/BIOL 2227L and BIOL 2228/BIOL 2228L or BIOL 3301/BIOL 3301L and BIOL 3302/BIOL 3302L and ENGL 1101 and LLIB 1115.
  4. On-line Dosage Calculation Math Course from Workforce Training: https://cetrain.isu.edu/enrollment/course/medication-math/#description.
  5. Current CPR certification (AHA or American Red Cross only).
  6. Cumulative GPA of 2.0.
  7. Proof of prior Military Health Care Service (individual evaluation by a qualified faculty or counselor) if applicable.
  8. Proof of current immunization and verified good health status per program policy upon conditional acceptance into the program.
  9. Background check and drug screening per department policy upon conditional acceptance into the program.

Learning outcomes can be evidenced in any of the following ways:

  1. Credit from formal coursework earned in the ISU Practical Nursing Program.
  2. Transfer credit from equivalent transcripted coursework earned at a regionally accredited institution of higher education.
  3. Credit through equivalent military service and coursework as documented on military educational transcripts;
  4. Credit through experiential learning assessment (this requires the creation of a portfolio by the student);
  5. Credit by challenge examination (limited to 24 credits maximum);
  6.  
  7. Credit from formal coursework earned in the ISU Practical Nursing program by completing modules of instruction that address deficiencies between the military experience of a specific veteran and the desired learning outcomes of the program.  

Credit for prior learning is limited to a maximum of 50 percent of the total credits of the certificate, with differential limits being assigned to the various types of prior learning. A minimum of 16 resident credit hours must be completed at ISU. Please note “When the credit awarded is dependent upon evaluation by Idaho State University faculty, such as Experiential Learning Assessment or Challenge Examination, credit will be counted as resident credit.” [ISU Undergraduate Catalog: Alternative Credit Opportunities]

For a Program Information Packet showing descriptions of each option, course descriptions, lists of course sequences, and the cost of books, tools, uniforms, fees, and other expenses, go online to https://www.isu.edu/practicalnursing/.

Each course must be completed with a C or better before the student can progress in the program.

Faculty

PNUR Courses