Delaware County Intermediate Unit Nursing Program Review

The Delaware County Intermediate Unit (DCIU), #25 in the Allegheny chain of Intermediate Units (AIU), strives to provide career-building education and life skills to its wide reach of students. DCIU offers a range of programs for high school students and adults wishing to create a career or make a life change. With its recent campus expansion DCIU is serving even more area residents.

Nursing Program

DCIU offers a one year Practical Nursing program that prepares students to enter the workforce pursuing high demand positions as Licensed Practical Nurses. This program is an intensive course of study introducing both general education and core nursing information in a variety of settings. Graduates are prepared to sit for the state licensing exams that qualify them for immediate employment.

Licensed Practical Nursing Program

Of the approximately 100 students that are admitted into the program each year, only 70 graduate. This demonstrates the intensity of the program, and its determination to progress only those students who are passionate about nursing and who will fulfill the responsibilities and roles of an LPN with confidence and competence. The Licensed Practical Nursing Program through the Delaware County Intermediate Unit acts both as a means to pursue gainful employment in the fast-paced medical field, but also as a bridge to lead students to further degrees of education. As the education progresses, so do the opportunities of advanced careers.

Instruction

Students are taught in both classroom lecture settings and through clinical experiences. These clinical experiences, offered in area hospitals and facilities, are directly related to the theory discussed during the lecture portion of the course and enable the students to enjoy hands-on learning and practice to develop and hone skills. Through the unique cooperation of DCIU with area medical facilities students are also given the opportunity to hear guest lecturers and attend nursing conferences to learn more in-depth about specialty topics.

Community Involvement

Nursing is not just about performing medical tasks, but rather about developing relationships and touching the lives of other people. Delaware County Intermediate Unit understands this important role and encourages students of the Nursing Program to be involved in their community through a variety of projects and programs. Every graduating class is required to plan and implement a community service project during their Winter Break. The pediatric rotation also finds students participating at a local school fair. The program has also recently aligned themselves with the Girl Scouts of America to provide a cooperative learning experience for the scouts and the nursing students. Through such activities as merit badge earning nights the two groups are able to offer each other valuable learning and interactive opportunities.

Course of Study

The LPN program is offered in four progressive levels. These levels of instruction build upon each other to reach its greatest complexity in the final courses prior to graduation. Level I introduces students to the most basic of nursing information as well as fundamentals of Math that will allow students to gain early understanding of administering medications. The more difficult concepts begin in Level II with the introduction of nutrition and Medical Surgical Nursing as well as mental health concepts. The third level builds upon the Medical Surgical Nursing concepts and focuses on Obstetrical Nursing and Pediatrics.

Level IV is the most aggressive of the levels. Advanced concepts in Medical Surgical Nursing are presented, along with discussions of Mental Retardation and Psychiatric Nursing and the special needs of Gerontological patients.

Successful graduates from the Practical Nursing Program at DCIU will have the confidence to take licensing exams that will qualify them to seek employment in the fast-paced medical field. Practical Nurses are in exceptionally high demand, and the workforce is competitive. Graduates of DCIU will be able to rise above their competitors to achieve placement in hospitals, medical offices and other settings.

Contact:
Delaware County Intermediate Unit (IU#25)
200 Yale Avenue,
Morton, PA 19070
(610) 938-9000