Greetings from the College of Southern Nevada!
At CSN, we recognize that our military veterans are the backbone of who we are as a nation. We must do everything we can to help them get the education they need.
As the largest higher education institution in Nevada, CSN is poised to help. One program we recently launched should go a long way toward that goal.
Our Medic to LPN program trains U.S. Army medics and U.S. Navy corpsmen to become Licensed Practical Nurses in a fraction of the time it would normally take. They get credit for the training they received in the military. It is designed for veteran medics and corpsmen, as well as active duty members of the guard and reserve.
Nevada is one of six states that piloted the program this spring. At the behest of Gov. Brian Sandoval, the Nevada State Nursing Board and CSN worked together to develop the program. It is similar to one developed at an Arizona community college.
We are proud to have graduated our first class over the summer, and expect to welcome a new class to the program in the fall. The first graduates included both active duty members of the military and reservists.
Military medics receive extensive training, much of which overlaps with the training LPNs receive. Under the new program, CSN will award credit to medics and corpsmen and allow them to complete the program in 16 weeks; typically, the LPN program takes two years to complete.
By completing the program in a single semester, students will not only save on tuition and fees, but they will be able to enter the workforce sooner. Once they complete courses, labs and clinical work, students will have to take the National Council Licensure Examination, known as the NCLEX, to become licensed practical nurses.
The demand for LPNs is strong in Nevada and elsewhere in the nation, according to Deborah Ain, director of nursing at CSN. LPNs reported an average annual salary of $41,000 in the latest data available from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The field is expected to see greater than average growth, as well.
This column ran online Aug. 14, 2015 in El Tiempo