Alaska Vocational Technical Center

Welcome to the Licensed Practical Nurse (L.P.N.) program. This training is offered in the Anchorage area.
Licensed practical nurses provide care for people who are sick, injured, convalescing, and developmentally disabled, under the direction of physicians and registered nurses. Most LPN's provide basic bedside care. L.PN's in nursing homes, in addition to providing routine bedside care, may also help evaluate residents' needs, develop care plans, and supervise nursing aides. In doctors' offices and clinics, including health maintenance organizations, they may also make
appointments, keep records, and perform other clerical duties. LPN's who work in home health may also prepare meals and teach family members simple nursing tasks. They take vital signs such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. They also treat bedsores, prepare and give injections and enemas, apply dressings, give alcohol rubs and massages, apply ice packs and hot water bottles, and insert catheters. LPN's observe patients and report adverse reactions to medications or treatments. They may collect samples from patients for testing and perform routine laboratory tests. They help patients with bathing, dressing, and personal hygiene, feed them and record food and liquid intake and output, keep them comfortable, and care for their emotional needs. Some experienced LPN's supervise nursing assistants and aides.
Job prospects for LPN's are expected to be excellent, as employment grows much faster than it has in the past. Because of this growth, the number of new graduates needed to fill LPN positions is well above the number graduated in recent years. As in most other occupations, replacement needs will be the main source of job openings. Employment of LPN's is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2005, in response to the long-term care needs of a rapidly growing elderly population and to the general growth of health care. Nursing homes will offer the most new jobs for LPN's as the number of aged and disabled persons in need of long-term care rises rapidly. In addition to caring for the aged, nursing homes may be called on to care for the increasing number of patients who have been released from the hospital and have not yet recovered enough to return home. Very rapid growth is also expected in such residential care facilities as board and care homes, old age homes, and group homes for the mentally retarded, as well as in home health care services.

LPN's should have a caring, sympathetic nature. They should be emotionally stable because work with the sick and injured can be stressful. As part of a health care team, they must be able to follow orders and work under close supervision.

Upon completion of the Practical Nursing program you will receive an occupational certificate of completion. Students who successfully complete the AVTEC Practical Nursing program will be eligible to take the National Council Licensing Examination for Practical Nursing. The students must pass their exam with an 80%. If students pass the exam the State Division of Occupational Licensing will issue the student their License in Practical Nursing.

Earn University of Alaska Credit While Attending AVTEC

LPN graduates earn college credit equivalent to the first year of the University of Alaska Associate of Applied Science Nursing Program.

Program Content

To achieve a Practical Nurse certificate, students must complete the following requirements. For a detailed description of each requirement, click on the link below.

	Hours
Foundations of Nursing & Nursing in Health	354
Nursing Care of Adults in Acute Care	486
Parent-Child Nursing	186
Treatments	45
Legal/Ethical Issues, Trends, Professional Issues	45
Clinical Concentration	96

Foundations of Nursing & Nursing in Health
Understand growth and development and identify factors that can facilitate or interfere with normal growth and development; explain the communication process, verbal vs. nonverbal communication; documentation; culture; care continuum; nursing process; health; caring; role development; basin nursing skills.
Return to Program Content Requirements

Nursing Care of Adults in Acute Care
Understand Inflammation and infection; nursing care of adult disorders to include: immune, surgery, skin, connective tissue, traumatic musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, accessory organ, cardiovascular, hematological, urologic, respiratory, endocrine disorder, reproductive, special senses, neurological disorder, cancer, acute psychiatric disorder.
Return to Program Content Requirements

Parent-Child Nursing
Understand reproductive physiology, fertilization, prenatal development; nursing care during the antepartal period, intrapartum, postpartum neonate. Introduction to the nursing of children with a cardiovascular, hematologic or immunologic respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, endocrine, muskuloskeletal or integumentary neurological disorders, developmental disability and cancer.
Return to Program Content Requirements

Treatments
Mathematics of drug dosage; principles of pharmacology; drug classifications; wound care.
Return to Program Content Requirements

Legal/Ethical Issues, Trends, Professional Issues
Legal issues as they apply to nursing; negligence and malpractice; accountability, responsibility and ethics in nursing; mandatory continuing education for nursing; cultural diversity; membership in professional organizations; reasons a nursing license could be revoked by state board of nursing.
Return to Program Content Requirements

Clinical Concentration
24 hours per week with a nurse preceptor who directly monitors and supervises the student's clinical practice. Develop a workplace support system while having a mentor to ask questions regarding transition issues and "reality shock". Develop collegial relationships with health care staff. Provide direct care to a group of clients that is more realistic than a student experience.
Return to Program Content Requirements

Mission:
To prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to practice in the modern health care world as a licensed practical nurse and to continue in education in nursing.

Length of Course: 1,212 clock hours, 176 training days
Enrollment: Mid-August and January
Training Hours: Monday through Friday:
                         8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., classroom
                         7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., clinical/preceptor (hours may vary)
Certificate Level: Practical Nurse

Prerequisites:
Applicants must be currently certified as a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA) in Alaska and maintain this certification while attending the LPN program. Applicants TABE testing on reading must be a minimum of 12th grade level. Applicants must have current certification in Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers. Applicants must have completed college-level anatomy and physiology 1 & 2, human lifespan development, and high school chemistry with a grade of C or better (or equivalent) before they can be accepted into the program. Applicants must also have completed college-level microbiology, nutrition, and English composition with a grade of C or better before the end of the training program in order to receive their certificate. Applicants must provide three letters of reference; have up-to-date immunizations and TB test; and provide a current background check. Applicants are required to have an interview with program staff (can be a phone interview). For an application or information, contact the Admissions Recruiter at the Allied Health Department, 1251 Muldoon Road, Suite 11, Anchorage, Alaska 99504 or by telephone at (907) 334-2230, or by fax at (907) 334-2237.

Physical requirements of the occupation are the ability to lift 50 lbs.

Return to top