Are Most LVN Programs the Same?

Are Most LVN Programs the Same?

Information About Different LVN Programs

The profession of Licensed Vocational Nurses is respected and rewarded. You can expect to get a very good salary and standard working hours. In addition, you have a lot of options for advancing in your career. In order to become a licensed Vocational nurse, you need to sign up for one of the available LVN programs first.

LVN programs are available from vocational and technical schools and colleges as well as from community and career colleges. Some universities and liberal arts colleges offer such courses as well. It is now possible for you to study for becoming LVN online.

The internet courses have become quite popular at present, given the flexibility they offer to working individuals.

Most LVN programs have duration of 1 year. Still, you can also find 9-month courses, but they are much more intensive. The popularity of the 18 and 24-month programs is growing, since they are often more suitable for students with jobs and kids to take care of.

Each LVN training program has two main parts class study and clinical practice. You will be taught theory first. Subjects usually include anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and nutrition. It is also possible for you to take LVN classes for specialization like obstetric nursing and medical-surgical nursing.

You can expect to have your clinical practice in a hospital or a clinic. You will work with real patients. At the end of the training, you will have to pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Vocational nurses (NCLEX-PN) in order to obtain your license.

The costs of the different LVN programs vary, depending on various factors. These include type of school offering the course, school facilities, student class number, teaching quality and training duration. You can expect your tuition costs to be between $5,000 and $12,000, even though you will be able to find cheaper and more expensive courses as well.

Information About the LVN Program Entrance Exam

You have to keep in mind that not all LVN programs use testing to approve students. In fact, there are no universal entry requirements, so every school can set an exam at their own discretion. In many cases, you just need to present a high school diploma or an equivalent education certificate. Applicants with good grades are preferred.

You will be required to see your physician for a medical exam to ensure you don’t have any medical issues that would prevent you from completing the program.

You may also need to undergo a psychological examination to ensure you are emotionally stable. However, these are designed to test your fitness to be a licensed Vocational nurse rather than your academic knowledge. Despite all this, many schools prefer to set an LVN entrance exam, so that the students readiness to do well is confirmed.

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The Entrance Exam Covers Basic Knowledge of Mathematics and Grammer

The entrance exam may differ from one school to another, but in all cases it aims to test your essential academic skills. You can expect the test to have a mathematics section, a reading and an English language section. With these, your numerical, reading and writing skills are assessed. Basically, you have to show that you can do math and that you use English well.

Some LVN entrance exams have a science section as well, but this is not the norm. In this part, you can expect chemistry, biology and physics questions, even though the latter are rare. Usually, the exam consists of multiple choice questions only and can be either traditional pen-and-paper or computer-based test.

Overall, you have to check with the school you are applying to whether they have an LVN entrance exam, what it is and how you should prepare for it. The LVN programs in Bakersfield are all accredited.

The Pay of New LVN’s Doesn’t Depend on Which School You Attended

Obviously, students who are considering which program to take may be concerned about what their starting LVN salary will be. Fortunately, starting pay isn’t dependant upon which school you attend. When an employer is hiring a new nurse, what the employer cares about is whether or not she/he is properly licensed. All vocational nursing schools teach a standardized curriculum, and all nursing students take the same State Board exams. 

Salaries vary widely from state to state and region to region, but all new LVN’s have learned the same information. So, whether you attended a program at a local California Community College, or a more expensive private program, your starting pay will remain the same!

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