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Licensed Vocational Nurses in Kern County currently earn an average of $29.94 per hour, and salaries continue to climb!
Bakersfield Adult School (BAS) is coming up on its 100 Year Anniversary! Anyone who’s lived in Bakersfield long enough has either gone there themselves, or have a relative or friend who went there. BAS is best known for the go-to school for Bakersfield residents who need either their high school diploma or GED.
But they also have an accredited LVN program that’s been around forever. Although their Licensed Vocational Nurse program is open to everyone who meets the minimum qualifications (more on qualifications below), the program is mainly geared towards working adults.
While most LVN programs take 12-18 months to complete, the BAS LVN program is 22 months long. This makes it possible for people to continue to work, while going to school part-time. I’ve had interaction with some of their staff before, and they really DO understand that people need to work, so administrative staff is really helpful!
2023 is fast approaching. There are 6 LVN programs in Bakersfield. The program at Bakersfield Adult School is by far the most affordable.
Unitek College has 7 campuses in California. Their Bakersfield campus offers 2 LVN programs: a full-time 12 month program, and a 17 month part-time evening program.
There are no prerequisite courses that need to be completed prior to starting the program. Prospective students ARE required to attend a "career development session & admissions interview" prior to enrolling.
All students at Unitek are offered job search assistance both during the program, and after completion.
The LVN program has multiple start times throughout the year, so there's no waiting for a new semester to start.
Unitek College also has an accelerated 3 year BSN program. Like the LVN program, theere are no course prerequisites needed prior to starting the program. This is a year-round program, with students earning 120 units for their degree. Graduates are then eligible to sit for California's nursing boards.
Bakersfield College's LVN program has been around longer than any other in Kern County. Many nurses throughout the area have begun their nursing education at BC. A lot of the program's graduates go on to take BC's LVN to RN program.
The upside of applying to BC's vocational nursing program is that it is a highly respected degree. The downside is that it can take a while to get accepted. There are always more qualified applicants than there are spots, so you'll most likely be put on the waiting list.
There are 4 prerequisite courses that need to be completed before applying:
All applicants must show proof of a high school diploma or GED.
San Joaquin Valley College(SJVC) has 12 campuses throughout California, with programs ranging from nursing to information technology. The LVN program at SJVC-Bakersfield takes 15 months to complete. This isn't just a certification program: a 2 year associate degree is awarded to graduates.
After graduation, students can sit for the NCLEX nursing boards.
Cerro Coso Community College(CCCC) is located on College Heights Blvd in Ridgecrest. They have a 3 semester LVN program. They have many more qualified applicants than there are seats available, so they maintain a waiting list.
There are 4 prerequisite courses that must be completed prior to enrolling:
The Kern River Valley campus in Lake Isabella is a part of Cerro Coso Community College. Their LVN program is approved by the California Board of Vocational Nursing. It is a 3 semester program, with a total of 1660 hours of combined lecture and clinical rotations.
There are 6 prerequisite courses which need to be completed prior to applying:
The application process for the LVN program at Bakersfield Adult School starts in January with an orientation meeting. This meeting is mandatory. After the orientation, a testing date is assigned.
Testing takes place in February & March. All transcripts and the application packet are due by the end of May. The Vocational Nurse program at Bakersfield Adult School is Approved & Accredited by the State of California. The Bakersfield Adult School LVN program is a part-time program that lasts 22 months. During the 22 months, clinical training and classroom study takes place 2 days a week: either Mondays & Wednesdays or Tuesdays & Thursdays. Occasional Friday attendance may be required.
The Bakersfield Adult School LVN program gives the Kern County community a chance to help alleviate the critical shortage of nurses currently taking place.
The Bakersfield Adult School LVN program gives the Kern County community a chance to help alleviate the critical shortage of nurses currently taking place. We can all see how fast Bakersfield keeps growing! With housing still affordable, people are still moving here in droves. As the population increases, the need for professional healthcare workers is growing, as well.
With the average LVN salary in California now nearing $70,000 annually, there's never been a better time to consider a degree in nursing!
There are now TEN hospitals in Bakersfield, for a total of 14 in Kern County. And most of those hospitals are hurting for qualified nurses. This is where the LVN program at Bakersfield Adult School plays a critical role. It’s not just the qualified nurses that they educate. They also have a highly regarded Medical Assistant program, whose graduates help staff Bakersfield’s outpatient clinics. Their Certified Nurse Assistant program is popular, because it can be completed in just 12 weeks.
A lot of these new CNA’s go on to help staff our hospitals. Take a look at the websites of the hospitals out here, and you can see how many positions they have open. That’s an additional role Bakersfield Adult School’s LVN plays. Many graduates of the vocational nursing program continue with their education by entering one of Kern County’s Registered Nursing programs.
Once these newly minted RN’s pass their NCLEX exams, they then take positions at our hospitals. Kern County in general, and Bakersfield in particular, is suffering from a critical nursing shortage. As the population of our city continues to grow, and our residents grow older, the need for qualified nurse is only going to get bigger.
So, when you couple that need with the fact that LVN’s in Bakersfield earn a good living, BAS remains one of the most popular and best known schools not only in Bakersfield, but all of Kern County, as well!
California's BVNPT(California's vocational nursing accreditation agency) does not allow for the licensing of any program that can be done completely online. Many of the prerequisite and science classes may be completed online, the clinical rotations MUST be done in-person. It is during these clinical rotations that nursing students get real world experience working with patients. So no, there are no COMPLETELY online LVN programs.