(Butler, PA) A Butler County Community College practical nursing program reestablished in partnership with Concordia Lutheran Ministries in response to a shortage in the high-priority occupation graduated its second consecutive class Tuesday night with the majority of students supported by the health care provider’s tuition assistance program.
Eight graduates received pins that marked their completion of Butler County’s only practical nursing program during a ceremony on the college’s main campus. Five graduates will work for Concordia Lutheran Ministries in exchange for the health care provider having funded their tuition.
Class of 2023 graduates in BC3’s 48- to 49-credit practical nursing certificate program range in age from 22 to 38 and live in Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties.
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurse is a high-priority occupation in those counties, according to the state Department of Labor & Industries’ Center for Workforce Information & Analysis.
“This certainly speaks to who BC3 is,” said Dr. Nick Neupauer, the college’s president. “We analyze the data and go forward with addressing those needs in the curriculum we offer.”
“Concordia is another one of our great community partners … The fact that one of our partners is benefiting from this cohort of students is icing on the cake.”
BC3 and Concordia Lutheran Ministries announced in June 2020 a partnership to resume the college’s practical nursing program and to expand enrollment in BC3’s 70-credit associate degree career program in registered nursing.
Concordia Lutheran Ministries also contributed $1 million toward construction of the state-of-the-art Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building on the college’s main campus and initiated tuition sponsorship for BC3 nursing students who agree to work for the health care provider after graduation.
BC3’s Class of 2022 in practical nursing had six graduates. Five participated in Concordia Lutheran Ministries’ program.
The college’s main campus Class of 2023 in registered nursing had 61 graduates. Seven participated in the health care provider’s program.
Nearly 60 students in BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health are participating in Concordia Lutheran Ministries’ tuition assistance program.
“Concordia is another one of our great community partners who have invested into our Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health and our Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building,” Neupauer said. “The fact that one of our partners is benefiting from this cohort of students is icing on the cake.”
Class of 2023 graduates in BC3’s yearlong practical nursing program are Emily Clark, 25, of Butler; Sarah Evans, 27, of West Leechburg; Emma Freyermuth, 22, of Cabot; Angel Hilliard, 31, of Petrolia; Madison Malley, 25, of Karns City; Marissa Rusnica, 22, of Kittanning; Dusty Schnur, 38, of Butler; and Jessica Yenick, 24, of Renfrew.
“Concordia helping out by paying tuition in exchange for working for them really gave me the push to apply for nursing school.”
“Concordia’s program is very helpful”
BC3 nursing students who receive one year of tuition sponsorship from Concordia Lutheran Ministries will be committed to work for the health care provider for two years. Those who receive two years of tuition sponsorship, for three years.
Concordia Lutheran Ministries has over the years hired more than 150 graduates of BC3’s selective-admissions programs in nursing, according to Keith Frndak, president and CEO of Concordia Lutheran Ministries.
Evans, Freyermuth, Hilliard, Rusnica and Yenick participated in Lutheran Ministries’ program.
“I would not have been able to go to school without their help,” Yenick said. “I was always thinking about going into some sort of health care field, but I could not pay for it. So Concordia helping out by paying tuition in exchange for working for them really gave me the push to apply for nursing school.”
Added Evans: “My husband and I had enough money saved to pay bills, and that was it. We didn’t have any extra money for tuition. Concordia’s program is very helpful. I probably wouldn’t have been able to pursue this because it would not have been as easily accessible.”
BC3’s Class of 2024 in practical nursing will begin in January with 13 students.
“The people they saw in the emergency room were coming in with significant illnesses or disease progression and had to be treated urgently.”
“LPNs are in demand”
“It is a good program,” said Dr. Patty Annear, dean of BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health. “LPNs are in demand. We have a great director. Those are a lot of the reasons why it’s starting to flourish.”
Graduates learned through clinical experiences at Concordia Lutheran Ministries facilities in Cabot and in Baden, Butler Memorial Hospital and at Armstrong Center for Medicine and Health in Kittanning, said Julia Carney, BC3’s assistant dean of nursing and director of the college’s practical nursing program.
“They saw patients who were admitted for significant wounds and needed an IV with antibiotics,” Carney said. “They cared for post-op patients who maybe had a knee replacement and couldn’t go home. The people they saw in the emergency room were coming in with significant illnesses or disease progression and had to be treated urgently.”
The need for licensed practical nurses or licensed vocational nurses is expected to grow by 5 percent through 2032, a rate described as being faster than average by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Licensed practical nurses or licensed vocational nurses check patients’ blood pressure, body temperature and other vital signs; provide basic care and comfort, which includes changing bandages and helping with bathing or dressing; discuss care with patients and report status and concerns, and maintain records, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Clinical experience was “the priority”
Practical nursing programs in Pennsylvania must provide to students at least 1,500 clinical, theory and lab hours. BC3’s program incorporates 1,527.
“The clinical experience was actually the priority,” Yenick said. “You will not know anything about nursing without being hands-on. I feel like that is the utmost important thing. Attend every clinical experience you possibly can because that is really going to help you to become the nurse you want to be.”
BC3 practical nursing students who pass the post-graduation National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses could also enter the college’s two-year Nursing, R.N., program as second-year students.
Evans, Hilliard, Rusnica and Yenick plan to apply for admission to BC3’s registered nursing program.
BC3 in the mid-1970s through mid-1980s graduated students from a practical nursing certificate program that was later discontinued.
Applications for January 2025 consideration in BC3’s practical nursing program will be accepted from June 1 to Aug. 31.
