Since 1963 the Herkimer County BOCES School of Practical Nursing has been preparing students for a career as a licensed practical nurse. With a recent upgrade in its campus at 295 W. Main St., Ilion, the program is well on its way to continuing that tradition.
“When our students graduate from this program they are able to work as a licensed practical nurse,” said Sara Nicolette, RN, BS, BPS, nursing coordinator and an instructor at the School of Practical Nursing. “Or our students may choose to continue their education and become registered nurses. Thirty percent of our students decide to take that career path after graduation, with a percentage of those students deciding to continue on in their studies and become nurse practitioners. Whatever path our students choose it all starts here, because every family needs a nurse.”
The School of Practical Nursing provides a 10-month full-time program and a 20-month part-time program.
In addition to classroom instruction, students participate in clinical sessions at health care settings throughout the Mohawk Valley, including Little Falls Hospital, St. Johnsville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Valley Health Services, Bassett Healthcare Herkimer and outpatient clinics.
“The delivery of health care has changed so much over the years that our program has had to adapt,” said Nicolette. “The system is not the same as it was, and as a result we have to provide our students with the opportunity to do their clinical work in as many settings as possible.”
Nicolette added that by fanning out into different health care settings the students gain more insight into the profession.
“Working at a hospital is different than working at a nursing home or at an outpatient clinic,” she said. “By having our students do their clinical sessions in different settings they are able to have a better understanding of what it truly means to be a licensed practical nurse.”
The integrated program features three full-time instructors — Nicolette, Janet Vickers, RN, and Christie Zambri, RN — and addresses nursing theory, job professionalism and study skills, which is an area of increased emphasis due to another recognized change in the program.
“Our students range in age from 18 to 60, and because of that we have had to place more emphasis on study skills,” said Nicolette. “Many of our older students have had to re-enter the workforce, and are in need of a refresher because they have been out of the classroom setting. Study skills have also changed over the years, and as a result we have found that we need to focus a little more closely on this area of instruction.”
The program expects to graduate 48 nurses on June 26, with the ceremony being held at Herkimer High School for the first time.
“When the program resumes in the fall we expect to have 43 full-time students and 35 part-time students,” said Nicolette. “We have seen an increase in our enrollment, which is another reason we decided to refine our program and improve upon the physical setting.”
The improvements include a full working laboratory where students care for life-like mannequins at six stations.
“With these mannequins students can run a full code, because they are so life-like and sophisticated,” said Nicolette. “They are a tremendous tool and a definite improvement over what we had in our laboratory in the past. We are just thrilled that our administration saw fit to improve our classroom and laboratory settings by making an investment to upgrade our facility. We can not thank them enough for their decision.”
In addition to a laboratory that is a simulation of a hospital ward, the facility includes improved classrooms with multimedia capabilities.
“The health care industry has changed, and continues to change, which is why we felt it was necessary to upgrade the facilities,” said Nicolette. “These renovations will help us to prepare our students so they can get a job in an actual health care setting, should they choose to do so.”
Nicolette added that students 18 years of age or older interested in receiving more information about the program should call 895-2210 and press option 1, or go to www.herkir-boces.org and click on the “Career Tech Center” tab for classrooms.
“This is an exciting time in the health care industry, and we welcome interested students to contact us,” she said. “Financial aid is available.”