LPN program at BOCES

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Hello everyone. I am very new to this board. I am thinking about taking LPN at BOCES and was wondering how intense this program is. They told me it runs 11 or 12 mos, 4 to 10 every weekday.

I am a certified HHA and CNA and took some college courses including HA & P, Microbiology, advanced math, etc; but it was almost 15 yrs ago (goodness!!!) and now I am not sure if my brain is still in a studying mode. :)

I did ace all my courses but that was a LOT of studying and I did not have to work at that time.

If anyone is or was taking LPN at BOCES, could you share with me your opinion.

From what I have read so far, it seems that HA & P and pharmacology are the hardest. How about the lab for anatomy? Did you have to dissect an animal (we did a cat) and were the labs hard?

Thanks a bunch.

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Hi! I live in NY also and have a sister in law who is about to graduate the LPN program at BOCES in Watertown. Where are you looking to go? I am also considering it and have spoke with my SIL many times. Her program was days and she went from JAN 03 to JAN 04 on a regular school academic calendar. She said if you start in August then it is not as long? (I think it is a year either way) The one in Watertown had her going 8:30-3:30 M-F. I called the one in Mexico, NY and they had a more flexible schedule with evenings and/or days. She is frustrated with her program right now but I think it has more to do with stress because she has loved it up until the finals. I also know there is a entrance exam you have to take on basic skills before you are even accepted. I think everyone is going to be a little different so give them a call and they should send you some info.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help anymore! Feel free to PM me!

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Thanks for your help.

I live in Buffalo area (lol, we are just getting burried in snow) and they have a couple locations for LPN program at BOCES.

I have two nurses I work with almost qd and they both took this course. One took it during the day and the other in the evenings. I wanted to get more opinions re: this program.

Yes, I know about that pre-entrance test. I got a book with the tests and they seem pretty easy. I am mainly concerned about the load of homework, stress level :) , and all the other changes that would need to be made if I started studying again.

Thanks again for your help.

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It was a tough progam that took quite a bit of her time, energy and sleep!

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Yes, that is exactly what I am afraid of and I already have difficulty with finding enough time w/out being in school. :confused:

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I know what you mean. I can make the time to study because I understand that no matter what program I decide, I am going to have to do that but it is the driving time that wipes me out! Especially in the snow when it can an hour to drive somewhere that normally takes 20 minutes!

I was considering Deaconess College of Nursing because theri web based ASN has a Practical Nursing component that you can stop after completing or just finish the RN. The only thing is it is $400 and something a credit hour (they have fin. aid though), you have to set up your own clinical site and then at the end of every semester you go for a few days to show them that you know your stuff. Maybe this might work for you?

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Deaconess college online looks like a very interesting place. I checked out their site. Very interesting. However, as you mentioned, the tuition is very high. The entire program would probably cost $~30,000. :(

I wish I had the money to afford this program. It would be very cool to be able to study at home, especially since I already took anatomy and physiology and micro at a college, but because it was over 10 yrs ago, the credits are not transferrable any longer. I do not think I could stand taking these two courses again at the college. I would not mind taking them online.

I wonder if it is possible to take just a few courses from their program instead of taking the entire thing.

Thanks.

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Originally posted by gwiazdaus

I wonder if it is possible to take just a few courses from their program instead of taking the entire thing.

You could always call them & see. For that matter though, you would still be better going to a on-campus program part-time because it would be more cost effective and just as time consuming.

BTW I have decided to begin my nursing career with LPN and I am going to attend BOCES in Mexico, NY. You mentioned you had books on the entrance test. Are those something you can buy?

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I am currently in the first year of a two year, part time LPN program in New York...I am student living in Pennsylvania (by about 6 blocks) and formerly working in New York. I am a CNA, for 14 years, but left my job with the County to go to school. The program is tough, but I was out of school for exactly 20 years when I started last September...it is an excellent program, but I'm hearing that your instructor makes all the difference. Our class is fortunate enough to have a terrific nurse for our instructor, tough though she is. I have wonderful confidence in my critical thinking and my clinical skills when we're out in the hospital, and it has a lot to do with her teaching style and methods.

The entrance test was not easy, bone up on your math, and our instructor says that we should expect to invest equal time in study as we do in class and in clinical, in order to be successful. It seems to be true, as some of the class has found out...you get out of it what you put into it.

Our instructor doesn't give much homework, per se, but we know to do our study guides and handouts, and she has been known to send an assignment out via our website when we have had clinical snow days...we've also done a bit of extra credit via that route.

No one has mentioned dissections in this course, although our teacher has told us that we will be handling animal hearts for our module on the heart...

Good luck to you, and whatever you decide to do...

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Thank you for your insights. After reading as many posts as possible, I know now I cannot do a FT studying. It is just out of question. However, PT looks like I could do it.

Are you taking your program at a local community college?

Thanks.

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Quickly, (one of three kids howling with hunger!) I'm taking my LPN at a BOCES--community college nearby (OCCC being the closest) don't offer an LPN, just the RN.

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Specializes in ER, PACU.

I went to BOCES for my LPN in New Cassel (nassau county) when I was in high school. We split it up, and did half the day of regular high school and half the day of nursing during 11th and 12th grades, as well as the whole month of July monday-friday 8-2 during the summer between 11th and 12th grade, and then the summer after high school graduation.

It was a hard program, and I definitly had made a lot of sacrafices to get through it, especially when you are 16-17 years old and your friends are out having fun..you are home studying. My teachers were awesome, and I really feel that my success in the RN program I was in had so much to do with the good education I recieved in the LPN program.

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