LNA School in Dover or Manchester?

FloNightey · Jun 16, 2006

LNA Health Careers is a great program with good facilities, instructors and staff!

Angela1336 · Aug 1, 2006

hi -

for all of you who are thinking about using this company to get your nh lna it has been my experience that i would not recommend anyone to use this particular business.

i had been looking for the right company to help me achieve my lna and due to their "scheduling" it seemed a good fit for me not to mention that there was neither very good recommendations nor negative information out there about them.

i had been debating as to whether or not to place this on this website. i decided to do so for when i was looking i found it difficult to find information. as some of you who had used lna careers & had a good, pleasant experience - i wish i did too but i need to let folks know my experience here.

1) upon the first day of class our instructor told us 1/2 the class would not pass the board. there were less than 8 in the class.... didn’t seem to build on our self-esteem much. not to mention, very poor ratio of students.

2) several of the other students had issues with corporate (merrimack) for they had lost paperwork yet cashed there check, tried to move people into another scheduled class or just had no follow-up with them. to be fair - this had not been my experience rather i got the opposite where corporate called and confirmed with me several times prior to the class starting.

3) the instructor we had was supposed to read the textbook with us. skipped over many parts and had difficulty in reading. the class often had to read instead, pronouce words for the instructor & let the instructor know what a word meant. we did much of our classroom work at home rather than they’re as a group for i felt the instructor messed up or confused the group with the reading and skipping sections that it was easier for an individual to do it on their own.

4) in the textbook, at the end of each chapter are multiple-choice questions; the instructor did not like to go over them. we had to beg to go over them. once we were able to i found that the instructor often gave us incorrect information. ex:instuctor told us not to use gloves for dental cleaning???? can you imagine that? we had to prove it by finding it in the textbook and reading it aloud.

5) the instructor we had was an older rn who liked to teach us "the old school" ways rather than the 2006 nh state board testing. many major issues with this.

6) on all the tests/quizes we had - they were corrected manually by hand by the instructor many of us found that the answer we placed was correct and had to be re - graded.

7) as the day had come for our clinicals, we were supposed to go out on the floor to assist with our given patients. instead of pairing us up or going as a group and taking turns with a patient or just shadowing us the instructor gave us a patients name & sent us along. if it werent for the knowledgeable staff at this facility none of our questions would be answered.

8) our instructor overall for the remainder of our clinicals hardly checked on us to make sure we were doing this accurately, instead chatting it up with others through the facility or chatting on the cell phone.

9) we were given surveys to fill out about the class, experience we are having and the instructor - the instructor walked around the room while we were filling this out & collected them. didn’t have any confidentially what so ever while filling this out. afterwards we were given our 1 on 1 progress report. - each of us i found out were told the same thing - i had to put something on the negative nothing personal but i must for corporate sake place something down. very alarming to my class and me.

10) we often were let go early actually every day - including one of the days releasing more than 3 hours early to accommodate the instructors personal schedule. to be fair we are able to miss up to 10 hours however we far surpassed that.........

i suppose i could go on & on. these issues have been brought to corporates attention. come to find out that the instructor we had was terminated.

we got another instructor to complete the coorifice however the schedule was now pushed back in time frame for this group - going 2 weeks later than initially agreed upon. its definitely putting a kink in most everyone’s schedule due to vacations, family & other schooling commitments ect.

the current instructor is better than the old one however let it be know there is a very pregnant woman in this group which the new instructor had requested for this individual to do some assisting/lifting of a very large patient with out any assistance from the instructor or facility member what so ever. this is completly uncalled for.

i feel that the current instructor is a bit more knowledgeable about procedures but still no shadowing or role-playing given. with the above reasons and some other issues i wanted to let others know my opinion of what had occurred to my class and me. again, i can only hope that others who had gone here had a far better experience than i did but still needed others who are contemplating on attending here know the negative as well.

NHmommy · Aug 1, 2006

Wow, I'm so horrified to read the negative experience you had w/ LNA Health Careers.

I am in a class now at HCTA (evenings in Manchester). We haven't started clinicals so I don't know how the instructor will be there... but in class she does just as much reading if not more than the students, she covers all review questions and even creates a few scenarios she's encountered and asked us what we would do.

I guess like everything there are good and bad experiences, and although my time has been brief in this class so far, I think the instructor is good, and I've had great communication w/ the office. They even called me to tell me I got my loan approved before Sallie Mae did!

Angela1336 · Aug 1, 2006

Hi NHMOMMY -

Our entire class is just as horrified! Its been a long road to say the least. These were probally just the highlights of the broader negatives. It seems that over in the Dover, Exeter areas the reason that there is not many offerings is due to the instructors.

As you stated good and bad experiences. They do the state board testing only in Manchester so I think thats why they focused in on Manchester areas to begin with. I wish I would of know what I would be in for & I would of switched out to another class. Lesson learned I suppose.

They did tell me that they have made a new policy of the process on the surveys given - where the instructor must step out of the room while the students fill it out, once completed place into an envelope, seal it & have 1 student sign the tab so they will know no one has tampered with it. Its a good thing.

I am so happy that you like your instructor & have had good results to date with corporate as well. Good luck in your class and good fortune on your state test!

NHmommy · Aug 2, 2006

Thanks Angela. Best of luck to you.

niko1999 RN BSN · Aug 4, 2006

I actually just finished this course up a month ago, and it was a WONDERFUL experience. I did mine at dover rehab, my instructor was GREAT! Sounds like you may have just gotten unlucky in your persuit, but I hope all works out well for you. I passed my finals and my state exams with flying colors and now I have a job interview on Monday at Riverwoods in Exeter.

Angela1336 · Aug 5, 2006

I actually just finished this course up a month ago, and it was a WONDERFUL experience. I did mine at dover rehab, my instructor was GREAT! Sounds like you may have just gotten unlucky in your persuit, but I hope all works out well for you. I passed my finals and my state exams with flying colors and now I have a job interview on Monday at Riverwoods in Exeter.

Hi Niko -

I know exactly who you had she is wonderful I wished I would of had her instead! She was probally one of the best instructors!! Our entire class got the short end of the stick in many ways. The entire coorifice had been a challenge because of the inept instructor to start and it just got worse including bringing issues to the attention of corporate they really havent been the best at accommadating to the affected students in this class. Many of us are thinking of bringing this to the attention of the nursing board and Better business bureau. This particular class should of ended by now and will go on for another week, and than scheduling the state board. We are all happy its nearing to the end.

I am so happy for you that you had great success here and passed your boards - CONGRATS!!! Do let me know how things go at your interview for I am thinking about applying there myself :)

Good luck!!

lnatocma · Aug 9, 2006

I wouldn't say LNA HealthCareers is bad. The instructor was bad. You cannot paint a broad stroke for the entire company because of one teacher. I took the course and was fine.

Angela1336 · Aug 9, 2006

Appreciate your feedback lnatocma but as I stated before its my opinion that the entire operation is not a good one. There is no consistancy in their business tactics in teaching nor at corporate.

I agree with you that for the most part our instructor was "bad" but think of how many prior students this person taught. Think of how many did not pass their boards due to this instructor? The company was aware of the past and choose not to do anything until now. (Amongst other issues.) Corporate failed to follow up on several others in my class, cashed there checks & tried to say they never got there check, another had been swayed to take the coorifice at a later date, a few others didnt get a call. Perhaps we shall chalk that up to administrative issues at corporate.

When the hours both clinical and classroom arent met - who does that lay on? When the many issues came about from each person in the class corporate stated we cant change the past, no discounts will be given as we are a business trying to make money like everyone else.

I think its important for others to know what is out there. As I didnt know where to go for information about any companies till I came to this website. Should I have found good information as well as the negative I would be able to my final decision as to where to go with the extra input. Therefore, with the struggle to place this on this website - I would not recommend to anyone to attend LNA Health Careers. There are many other companies out there that offer the same and hope that both the instructors and corporate work side by side to achieve the best teaching to each and every student that goes.

Again, with the vast errors in our class when brought to corporate they didnt want to deal with the situation & since they are so small as a business they really should be more accommadating to the students. I think that if others had gone through what we went through perhaps they would see the difference.

On the flip side - I am sure that many, many other students went through the program with no issues. How lucky you all are! I am very happy that you were able to get through your coorifice with no problems thats the way it should be. :) I just wanted others to know what I went through.

Thanks again for your post!

niko1999 RN BSN · Aug 9, 2006

Wow Angela, sounds like you were really scarred by this experience with your teacher! Unfortunatley the old saying is true, a person will tell 25 people about a BAD experience, but only 5 about a good one. Or something like that. Bad expereiences do tend to stay with us. So if anyone DOES go through LNA Healthcareers, see if you can have Eileen O Niel as an instructor, since, though the class work could be dull at times, the experience was great and I learned a lot

BTW, my job interview went pretty well, the director of nursing was VERY nice, and she gave me the whole tour and had me actually meet one of the other LNAs that works there. However, the HR Manager is on vaca this week, so I have to wait and see. I am going to send out a thank you card to the nurse manager, but it seems like it would be a GREAT place to work.

Angela1336 · Aug 10, 2006

Hi Niko1999 - that is so true when you stated how many people we tell but I suppose thats the only way we can make informed decisions. I met Eileen & she is top notch!!! I found her to be patient, understanding and if you didnt get something she would keep working with you till you did. Also, I noticed that as she went through the book she would stop and show the students what to do do - it was a great visual as well as kinestetic teaching.

Wow its sounds that you had a great interview!! Definitely do send out the thank you letter - a small gesture really sends a large message. Do message me if you get the job :)

Good fortune to you!