Northeast Technology Center in Pryor LPN Program?

Dorali, BSN, LPN, RN · Aug 16, 2009

Hi Ashley,

I was looking into this too and couldn't find much either. Since you posted this a while back, I was hoping you might have some information to pass along.

Thanks!

Dondie

livinlife67 · Sep 29, 2009

I am currently a student in the LPN program at Northeast Technology Center in Kansas, Oklahoma. I'm in my 5th month and in my opinion it's a great program. Our campus gives you the opportunity to start out in a prenursing program where you get your nursing concepts, dosage calculation, medical terminology, CNA certification, phlebotomy, as well as anatomy and physiology out of the way. I got accepted to the LPN program while I was in the pre nursing program so what I had completed transferred over to the LPN program and took about 3 months off of the total time of the program. The cost for me is about $4400 but thats for out of state tuition, as I live across the line in Arkansas. The instructors are great and everyone seems to get along and help each other. If you are planning on attending NTC, be prepared to be very serious about what you are doing because it is a relatively fast paced program and you sign a monthly contract with your advisor on how exactly how much work you will do that month. If you dont get it completed, you get a breach. Three breaches and you are out of the program. They offer a 12 month option and a 15 month option.

smclendon · Sep 29, 2009

I am currently a student in the LPN program at Northeast Technology Center in Kansas, Oklahoma. I'm in my 5th month and in my opinion it's a great program. Our campus gives you the opportunity to start out in a prenursing program where you get your nursing concepts, dosage calculation, medical terminology, CNA certification, phlebotomy, as well as anatomy and physiology out of the way. I got accepted to the LPN program while I was in the pre nursing program so what I had completed transferred over to the LPN program and took about 3 months off of the total time of the program. The cost for me is about $4400 but thats for out of state tuition, as I live across the line in Arkansas. The instructors are great and everyone seems to get along and help each other. If you are planning on attending NTC, be prepared to be very serious about what you are doing because it is a relatively fast paced program and you sign a monthly contract with your advisor on how exactly how much work you will do that month. If you dont get it completed, you get a breach. Three breaches and you are out of the program. They offer a 12 month option and a 15 month option.

Congrats! How long were you on the waiting list? I hope to get in the November class but I don't have a clue about how the point system will work for me. I have everything to complete the application package, but I wonder how many months will I have to wait before I can get a spot!?!

livinlife67 · Sep 29, 2009

To answer your question about the waiting list, I didn't even decide to go to school until March of 2009. I signed up for Medical Terminology and picked up a nursing program application but did not start filling it out or working on the requirements that you have to have to even be placed in the waiting pool.

In the last 2 weeks of the medical terminology class, I was pulled into the office and they asked me if I would be interested in doing the prenursing program. So, I finished my medical terminology IN the prenursing program, as well as my nursing concepts, CNA certification, dosage calculation and phlebotomy. I entered the prenursing program at the beginning of May 2009 and decided I should probably start working on my nursing application since the actual nursing program was going to be taking new students for September.

To complete my application I had to take a TABE test (make sure you go to the NTC website...click on student lounge...click on academics..and study all the math modules that are listed there...thats exactly whats on the TABE test), copy of birth certificate, copy of CPR card, copy of high school transcript, copy of all college transcripts, 3 letters of reference, etc.

I got the following points: CPR card (2 points), previous college credit (2 points), high school GPA (2 points), TABE test (8 points), medical terminology (2 points). So I had 16 points when I turned in my application...but my application still wasn't complete because I couldn't find my darn birth certificate, so I had to send off for a new one. Also, you will have to have a background check done in the state you live in, but I'm not sure when thats required...you might not have to have that to have a complete application packet.

Also, since I was in the prenursing class, as I completed each subject they would add more points to my file which raised me up in the waiting pool. Dosage calculations (2 points), CNA certification (2 points), nursing concepts (2 points). So you can see, as you complete those in the prenursing program, your points add up very quickly. Prenursing program is a GREAT way to boost your points....AND it knocks MONTHS off your time in the LPN program because in actuality you have already done the first part of the program while you were in prenursing. Its a new program that they just started and its the greatest idea they ever came up with in my opinion!

Keep in mind as far as your application packet that they will not put you into that waiting pool until your application is absolutely complete...that means down to your TABE test and a copy of your birth certificate. If you are lacking anything...it will keep you out of that pool...and they will not even look at your file.

I finally got my packet completed around the middle of July 2009...just in time apparently, as I got my acceptance letter on August 1st...and classes started on September 13th! So I only waited 2 weeks....but I had a lot of points (as you can see above) and I was nearly at the top of the list. They took 14 students in September I believe. I heard that they were going to be taking approximately that same number of new students for the group starting in November. They typically choose the students one month ahead of when classes start...so you may be too late to get into the November class.

Also, since you're trying to get in there, I'll let you in on something. Once you receive your acceptance letter, you will have approximately one month to get a whole bunch of stuff done. If its not done you dont get to start classes. All this info will be included in your acceptance letter but its stuff like adrug test within 10 days of starting school (can only be done in Pryor Oklahoma which was a headache for me cuz I'm in Arkansas), Hepatitis A and B vaccines (Jay health dept for FREE), tetorifice vaccines (Jay health dept for FREE), TB skin tests (Jay health dept for FREE), Varicella titers (lab blood draw..not the vaccine), Rubella titers (lab blood draw...not the vaccine), financial arrangments worked out. The lab blood draws are very expensive if you have them done in a clinic...like a couple hundred bucks...but you can have them done on the same day you do your drug screen in Pryor Oklahoma for only $35!

Anyway, thats pretty much all the stressful stuff you might need to know! LOL Hope this info helps! I know its a lot to digest...but I wish I had had someone to give me the low down on everything cuz I truly felt like a fish out of water for that first month! LOL If you have any other questions, just ask. I'm always on this website! Anyway...there are a lot of older students that will be graduating soon, so they will probably be taking new students every few months or so. Get your application packet completed and start working on building those points if you haven't already...you'll be in before you know it.

smclendon · Sep 30, 2009

To answer your question about the waiting list, I didn't even decide to go to school until March of 2009. I signed up for Medical Terminology and picked up a nursing program application but did not start filling it out or working on the requirements that you have to have to even be placed in the waiting pool.
Anyway, thats pretty much all the stressful stuff you might need to know! LOL Hope this info helps! I know its a lot to digest...but I wish I had had someone to give me the low down on everything cuz I truly felt like a fish out of water for that first month! LOL If you have any other questions, just ask. I'm always on this website! Anyway...there are a lot of older students that will be graduating soon, so they will probably be taking new students every few months or so. Get your application packet completed and start working on building those points if you haven't already...you'll be in before you know it.

I am a CNA and I have my CPR card, but they didn't even offer the prenursing program to me when I called. So I could actually get started on some of the classes to get more points! I will look into that, my application package did not mention a request for my birth certificate, so I will have to call about that as well! Thank you for taking the time to answer my question, I really appreciate it! :)

livinlife67 · Sep 30, 2009

I do know that the prenursing program was a new thing that the state of Oklahoma was trying out in the vocational programs. We were sort of the experiment, or guinea pigs per say from what I was told. If they didn't offer it to you when you called, it could be that all of the classes were full with a waiting list...or it could be that they decided not to do the prenursing program anymore. I hope thats not the case, because it was a great thing! Good luck!

Dorali, BSN, LPN, RN · Nov 30, 2010

Can anyone tell me what the class schedule is like?

Working and having a family makes it hard to get started with school. Are there any evening classes available?

Modena360 · Nov 17, 2011

Hello. I would not recommend this school or program to pursue your LPN education.

When I decided to go into nursing back in 2008, a friend suggested NTC. I took all the pre-req classes to enter the LPN program. I took a couple of courses a year. Finally, in April 2011, I entered the program at the Claremore campus.

The required up-front charge is about $1600, then $200 monthly until you pay off your tuition.

I dropped out of the program at the end of August this year. One of the biggest flaws in the program is the fact that they have 2 instructors teaching you completely different lab procedures; when you're ready to test and happen to do the demonstration with the other instructor, expect problems to arise and to waste another day to redo the whole procedure.

You get 3 breaches before getting kicked out of the program. I received my first warning after not bringing my homework from the previous clinical day; the problem with that was that the instructor had graded my homework at the end of that day, so there was no need for me to bring it the next day. It was my first clinical and I received an immediate F.

Their motto is that there are better students lined up waiting for you to screw up and get kicked out to take your place. That is very understandable, but you can get more breaches for things unrelated to your academic performance than for failing one test. There seems to be no room for being a mom, disabled, prone to accidents, being human.

I lost my dad in August this year and there was absolutely no way I could even consider opening a book to start reading. I was told by one instructor that I had to come back and finish half my contract or I'd get a breach. I had to take an extended leave. A month before that, I was moving a 5-lb plant in my garden and stretched a ligament on my lower back; I freaked out because I thought about how this would set me back tremendously. I had to make up for those missed clinicals the next month, and take double the number of tests. Did I get it all done? No. I had to take a breach.

The next breach was after failing to fulfill my contract when I was ready to test the last day of the month and the computers were down. That was not my problem; they didn't care. I couldn't go to the Pryor campus to test because they were not willing to take us in to test and fulfill our contracts. Do not test unless you are absolutely sure you will pass or you can afford to fail that test in order not to get a breach.

This is a self-paced course, as long as you complete your contract for the month. The only teaching you get from the instructors is the lab demonstrations.

Mrs. Flatt is an absolutely wonderful instructor who actually shows a desire to educate her students; Mrs. Bell is moody, apathetic...just plain unwilling to flick a finger to help a student.

The program did not work for me for many reasons. In my opinion, the whole course is low-quality education for students. I don't consider myself the brightest student, but I can tell the difference between good quality and bad quality schooling. When it comes to the future, I would hate to be told by my employer what a mediocre nurse I am. My husband was not happy when I told him I wanted to quit. He told me that college and vocational schools are pretty much self-taught, that I would learn most of everything from hands-on experience when I found a job after graduating.

The classroom is open: Monday through Thursday: 8am to 3:30 pm; Friday: 8am to 3pm. Testing hours are (if I remember right) from 10am to 11am, then from 1pm to 2pm M-F. You sign your contract for the next month the last week of the month. You must complete around 80 hours per month. From those hours, deduct clinical days you signed up for that month (example: 4 days at 6.5 hours per day). So you are required to clock in and complete 54 class hours by the end of the month.

I am a stay-home mom with a 1st grader in school all day, and I couldn't imagine having a part-time job and having to study and complete all my hours and tests with confidence. The majority of my classmates quit their jobs because they couldn't do both. If you decide to take a weekend off of studying because your level of stress is off the roof, rest assured that you will be making up for those 2 precious days of bliss, even if you have a full month ahead of you!

Fundamentals of Nursing was the hardest book. I was struggling, getting mid to low 80s on my tests (79.5 is passing, below that is failing) until I realized that in order to get an A on your test, you must read every single page and complete all your module guides and then some. That translates to reading 200 something pages out of a 3000-page textbook plus your module exercises; there are multiple chapters per each module, so that is a lot of reading.

*****Very important: Do go over your test with your instructor! I failed my first 2 Funds tests by a couple of points. I went back to my book to find my answers were correct, but the tests had other answers I had no knowledge of even after re-reading the whole chapters again. The first test didn't help much, but the second one gave me a passing score. Remember that you only have 10 tests; the higher the score on your tests, the further you are from 79.4 on your final Fundamentals course grade. Do this with all your tests.

I was in the program for under 6 months, so I only completed my basic clinical hours, Fundamentals, Anatomy and Physiology, and Medical Terminology which I chose to take again for it was the first course I took back in 2008.

Overall, this is an easy course with not enough time to learn and assimilate your newly learned skills.

I'm planning on joining RSU's program. After spending over $3000 at NTC to find out it's not what I expected, I think this is a great choice! I have heard from acquaintances and strangers about them; they are reputable, reliable, hands-on, competitive, and rewarding.

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice by quitting NTC with our volatile economy, but I think this move will pay off in the end, on both personal and financial levels.

cyguillory · Jun 5, 2012

Hi,

I appreciate the information you gave about the program? At "Livinlife67" Did you complete the program? Has the program changed any? I have all the requirements needed to apply. I would like to be considered as a advanced standing applicant with the number of pre requisites that I contain. I am interested in the claremore campus and noticed on the Oklahoma LPN 2011 Pass Rates that the Claremore campus had only 5 that passed. Curious about that?

Any information helps!

Thanks you kindly!