Practical Nursing Certificate

The Practical Nursing Certificate program is designed to prepare students to successfully complete the NCLEX-PN exam and to practice as Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN). The program’s curriculum is designed to prepare students for entry-level practice using current educational and practice competencies based on the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) and the National League of Nursing (NLN) standards. These standards emphasize evidence-based nursing care and prepare graduates for practice in varied settings within the legal scope of practice for the licensed practical nurse. Graduates of the program develop leadership and clinical judgment skills needed to provide safe and compassionate care to individual clients as well as to the communities they serve, and to clearly recognize their roles in an increasingly complex health care system.

The 34-credit certificate program is designed to be completed in 1.5 years and allows graduates, who meet the needed admission criteria, to apply to the associate degree nursing program within six months of graduation. The program’s curriculum consists of planned learning experiences in the classroom, laboratory, and faculty-supervised clinical settings. Students receive instruction in the provision of nursing care for clients across the lifespan. Graduates, as members of an interprofessional health care team, are prepared to function ethically and legally under the supervision of the Registered Nurse or physician.

For more information, contact Myrna Morales Keklak, Dean of Nursing and Health Science.

Upon completion of this program students will be able to:

• Deliver compassionate and coordinated care based on the patient’s preferences, culture, values and needs (QSEN/Patient-centered care);
• Collaborate with other health team members using open communication, mutual respect and shared decision-making to achieve safe quality patient care (QSEN/Teamwork and Collaboration);
• Participate in quality improvement activities and use data to monitor and to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care systems (QSEN/Quality);
• Engage in clinical judgment to make safe and patient-centered care decisions, within the scope of practice of the Licensed Practical Nurse, in a variety of health care settings, employing technical nursing skills to minimize risk for harm to patients (QSEN/Safety);
• Integrate evidence-based practice with clinical expertise to deliver competent care by applying the nursing process, knowledge and clinical judgment in the delivery of safe quality patient care (QSEN/Evidence-based Practice);
• Utilize health information technology (HIT) to communicate patient health information, manage knowledge, mitigate error and support decision making and exhibit a spirit of inquiry and participate in the pursuit of life-long learning (QSEN/Informatics).

Recommended Sequence of Courses