Elizabethtown Community and Technical College Nursing Program Review
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is one of the 16 two-year colleges that are part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). It was established in 1964 and in 2004, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC) was formed when Elizabethtown Community College and Elizabethtown Technical College consolidated. Around 5,000 students attend the college, and each year there are approximately 500 graduates.
Elizabethtown Community College offers academic and technical associate degrees, diploma and certificate programs, pre-baccalaureate education, and continuing education for adults. Students who earn an Associate in Arts or an Associate in Science may transfer to any Kentucky four-year college and transfer the credits from their associate degree. Twelve counties are served by the college that has affordable tuition, especially for residents of Kentucky.
Nursing Programs
Practical Nursing
The Practical Nursing program at Elizabethtown Community College trains students to work with patients in many different healthcare settings. There are three program options that are offered in practical nursing. Students receive a diploma when the program is finished that will prepare them to take the licensing exam to become Practical Nurses. Practical Nurses work closely with patients to monitor vital signs, apply dressings, and administer medications. The first program option, Practical Nurse Option 1 – Traditional requires students to complete a total of 45 to 57 credits that include general education courses, Anatomy and Physiology, and nursing core courses.
Practical Nurse Option 2 – Traditional Modified program also requires general education courses, Anatomy and Physiology, plus core nursing courses. Additionally, it allows for recommended electives in courses such as dosage calculations, infection control, and others. Practical Nurse Option 3 – Modular is different from the other two options because it requires only one writing course in the general education category and it allows room in the curriculum for other necessary courses such as math and psychology.
Admission to the Practical Nursing program is selective. Applicants must be currently listed on the Medicaid Nurse Aide Registry, or a nurse aid course must have been completed in the last three years. Students must maintain a grade of 2.0 in the courses that are required before acceptance into the nursing program. A variety of clinical experience is provided to prepare students for their career as a Practical Nurse.
Nursing – RN
Elizabethtown Community College also offers a Nursing-RN program that prepares a student to work as a Registered Nurse (RN). Graduates of the program are awarded an Associate in Applied Science Degree (AAS). Students learn to provide care for patients in hospitals, clinics, community agencies, schools, and other facilities. At the end of the program, the nursing graduate takes the NCLEX-RN, the national exam that is necessary to begin nursing practice. Admission to the program is selective and students are ranked according to their grade point averages and ACT scores. They must also take the National League for Nursing Preadmission Registered Nurse exam to be considered for admission to the Nursing-RN program.
Applicants who are admitted to the Nursing-RN program must meet certain qualifications to be accepted, such as a 3.0 grade point average on the courses they took as prerequisites, a score of at least 20 on the ACT, and higher than the 55th percentile on the NLN preadmission exam. One of the benefits for students who struggle to maintain a 3.0 average is that none of the remedial or developmental coursework is considered when calculating averages. If a student needs a refresher math course in algebra, they can take it at the college and their grade in this course will not be counted in their grade point average for admission to the nursing program. Another requirement is that applicants must have completed a nurse aide course. About seven or eight months before hoping to begin the program, interested students must attend a preadmission conference at Elizabethtown Community College.
Once an applicant is accepted into the Nursing-RN program, it is required that the student maintains a 2.0 average in all courses. Each credit of nursing courses consists of five hours of lecture per week and four hours of clinical laboratory each week. Students can plan to spend two to three years to complete the program because the nursing program takes two years to complete once a student enters the program. Students may start out in any program offered at Elizabethtown Community College and then apply to the nursing program once the prerequisite courses are completed. Students continue to take additional communication, math, writing, and other courses during the two years that they focus on nursing core courses in the Nursing-RN program.
Contact:
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College
600 College Street Road,
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
(877) 246-2322
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