D45660 - Practical Nursing Diploma

Limited Enrollment Curriculum:

The Practical Nursing program is a limited enrollment curriculum and program applicants are accepted based upon a competitive admissions process. Admission criteria for the Practical Nursing program are reviewed annually and are subject to change.  Enrollment is limited to the number of approved spaces allocated by the North Carolina Board of Nursing.

A. PROGRAM SPECIFIC ENTRANCE STANDARDS: 

Admission

A student may apply to the Practical Nursing Program once minimum admissions criteria are met.

Prospective applicants are required to complete the Health Sciences information session as well as contact their Education Navigator prior to developing a plan for completing minimum requirements. The Education Navigator will review each applicant’s progress, and provide further guidance once all minimum admission requirements are met.

Once an applicant has completed all general admissions criteria and all Practical Nursing Program entrance requirements, they must submit a completed Limited Enrollment Application. Applicants who meet all requirements will be ranked according to the order in which they applied.

During the initial consideration, applicants will have an opportunity to indicate first and second choice programs when completing the Limited Enrollment Application. If seats do not fill after the initial consideration and after second choice candidates are considered, applicants will be admitted on a first qualified, first accepted basis up until the date of the required mandatory health science orientation.

Applicants who do not gain entry but want to gain entry in a future year do not need to resubmit their application.  Applicants will remain on the active applicant list as long as they are interested in being considered for the program.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that requirements are met by the established deadline.

More information can be found on the Limited Enrollment Website.

Placement Test Scores

Students must be eligible to take their gateway Math and English course in order to be eligible to apply. This can be achieved through a High School Unweighted GPA of 2.6 or higher or by presenting acceptable test scores such as SAT, ACT, Accuplacer, or other acceptable scores 

The checklist for the Medical Sonography Program indicates the minimum scores required to place into ENG 111 and MAT 110.  Students who have an unweighted high school GPA of 2.6 or higher, have met Multiple Measures for Placement or who have earned appropriate transfer credit in English, Math, or developmental courses with a C, P2 for English, or P1 for Math, or higher may be exempt from placement testing.

GPA

Students must be in good academic standing upon applying to health science programs. Good academic standing is defined as having a 2.5 GPA or higher based on the general education courses for the program.  Students can apply if they have a 2.0-2.5 GPA but will be placed on an alternate list.  Alternates will be considered if there are not enough applicants to fill all seats.  These GPA requirements must be maintained at the time of entering the program from a secondary or post-secondary institution.  

General Education Courses

The following courses are required to be completed with a grade of “B” or better prior to applying:  BIO-168, & BIO-169.  The following courses are required to be completed with a grade of “C” or better prior to applying:  ENG-111, PSY-150, & ACA-122.

Nurse Aide I Registry Requirement

Prior Health Care Program completion with appropriate listing/licensure is required for consideration at the designated entry points in the nursing programs: 

• Provide proof of current active listing on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) Nurse Aide I Registry with no substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of resident property in a nursing home or other health care facility.  This active, non-restricted listing must be maintained as of the start of the Practical Nursing Program. Candidates will need to renew their certification if it is scheduled to expire before the start of the nursing program.

• Provide proof of completion of NC state approved Nurse Aide I course (see approved schools at NCDHHS). The Department Chair of Nursing will review NAI programs completed outside of NC. NC DHHS-approved NAI courses are preferred, however the CCCC Nursing Department Chair will determine, on a case-by-case basis, if a course administered by another state or agency meets the requirement.

OR

High School Medical Careers I & II courses with a grade of "C" or better within the last 5 years.

OR

Nurse Aide I work experience of at least 250 hours with the last 6 months in skilled nursing care or in an acute care hospital. (Required to have documentation of hours worked, service rendered and supervisor's name on company letterhead.)

B. REQUIREMENTS AFTER ACCEPTANCE:

Criminal Background Check/Drug Screening

A criminal background check and drug screening will be required for all accepted Health Sciences students.  Clinical affiliates will review criminal background reports and drug screenings of students and reserve the right to accept or deny any students based on their consideration of these reports.  Negative reports and/or failed screenings can preclude a student from attending the clinical portion of their prescribed program and thus, will result in the student’s exit from the program.  Students are subject to criminal background check and drug screening at any time during a course with a clinical rotation.  Clinical agencies reserve the right to require additional background checks and drug screens. Associated fees are the student's responsibility.

Medical Forms/Immunizations

Applicants are required to submit a completed college approved student medical health form to the required document tracking system by the assigned date. The student medical form must include satisfactory health history, physical examination, and immunization report. Failure to submit the required information by the assigned date will result in loss of Practical Nursing admission status and class space will be assigned to another applicant. 

BLS Provider CPR

CPR Certification by the American Heart Association (AHA) in BLS Provider (Basic Life Support including CPR and AED) that includes both performance and testing of criteria is required prior to clinical rotations. Students are responsible for keeping their CPR certification current throughout the duration of the program. 

Mandatory Orientation Session

When notified of acceptance, applicants must attend a mandatory orientation session with the Practical Nursing department.

Liability/Malpractice Insurance

Malpractice insurance is required for health sciences students and is assessed as a student fee.

Transportation/Additional Class/Course Materials

Health Sciences students are responsible for their own transportation to off-campus clinical/learning sites.  Materials other than textbooks will be required and are purchased at student’s expense.  Students may be required to attend classes on alternate dates depending on availability of resources to meet the objectives of the course.  Students will be notified in advance at the earliest possible time.

Technical Standards

The Health Sciences programs are physically demanding. Students will be expected to perform lifting, pushing, pulling, and carrying tasks to successfully practice in a lab setting, complete clinical affiliations, and safely treat patients.  For more details, please refer to each program of study's physical requirements and technical standards. 

Board of Nursing Standards

Students who enroll in the nursing program should be aware that the application for licensure at the completion of the program might be denied or restricted by the North Carolina Board of Nursing.   As the regulatory agency, the Board of Nursing does not become involved in reviewing the applicant’s conviction record until such time as application is made to take the national licensure examination.  NC Board of Nursing

Academic Standards

Upon official acceptance, Health Sciences students are required to maintain the necessary GPA requirements for entry.  Students cannot enter a Health Sciences program while on academic probation or suspension. The nursing program requires a grading scale that is different from the general college requirement. Students must achieve a final grade of "80" or higher in their NUR Nursing courses.

Students may withdraw or be withdrawn from a Health Sciences course. However, the student will not be allowed to matriculate through their program of study.  Reapplication to the program will be required and readmission will be awarded based on admissions criteria completion, policy on readmission, and space availability.  Students completing readmission must meet with the Education Navigator to review their file.

Program Specific Academic Standards

See additional Program Specific Standards in the Nursing Student Policies Handbook and specific Practical Nursing course syllabus.

Practical Nursing and progressive related courses must be taken in succession as they appear in the curriculum guide. guide. Practical Nursing students must adhere to the other policies set forth in the Nursing Student Policies Handbook. 

Nursing curriculum students once enrolled must maintain an overall and semester grade point average of 2.0 or better, and must have a grade of “C” or better in all nursing courses and co-requisites required in order to graduate.  Students are encouraged to earn higher grades to help ensure that they are prepared to pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), which is required to practice as a nurse. See individual course syllabus for additional grading information.

C. RE-ADMISSION OR TRANSFER INTO THE PRACTICAL NURSING PROGRAM 

The student must qualify under the admission criteria in effect at time of readmission or transfer. A student may be required to re-enter a Practical Nursing course earlier in the curriculum sequence if the student is lacking major content. All Practical Nursing courses completed more than three years prior to re-admission or transfer must either be challenged by exam, including passing an assessment of all skills and/or competencies covered in that course, or the course must be repeated. Withdrawal or academic failure within the Practical Nursing Program will require the student to reapply. Advanced placement is dependent upon space availability.  The Nursing Department Chair will evaluate transferability of all Practical Nursing courses. Transfer courses must be equivalent to courses required at the receiving college in theory and clinical experiences. The student must provide copies of course syllabi and outlines for those Practical Nursing courses to the department chairperson. Students lacking essential content may be required to audit a portion of a course, challenge the content, demonstrate skills, or repeat the course as deemed necessary. The final decision for transfer credit for Practical Nursing courses is determined by the Nursing Department Chair

Applicants must submit a letter explaining the circumstances of any previous exit from any health sciences program. The letter must be sent from the previous Program Director. CCCC’s Nursing Department Chair and Vice President of Student Services must approve students who were dismissed, expelled, or suspended for any reason. Students who withhold previous exit information may be dismissed from the program.  Students who have been unsuccessful in two attempts in the nursing program are able to reapply for entry in the first NUR program course.