Become a licensed professional health-care provider – a nurse – in one year.
Steps to Enrollment
- Request a Practical Nursing Packet by completing the Contact Form.
- Watch the videos and read the email provided in the packet.
- Register for and complete the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)
- TEAS must be taken in person. We will no longer accept the online TEAS.
- Complete an admissions essay
- Gather all required documents
Official high school or GED transcript
- Official transcripts from any other post-secondary education related to the nursing field
- Documentation of employment or volunteer history in the healthcare field
- Proof of Florida residency (for tuition purposes)
- Request an appointment with an Admissions Specialist to complete your application.
- Pay the Application Fee ($50.00)
Click here to get a Practical Nursing Information Packet
All the details for applying to school!
Admission to the Practical Nursing program is competitive. An Admissions Committee, composed of school faculty, will review all applications and determine admittance. After the application deadline, each application will be evaluated utilizing the selection criteria. The Admissions Committee will determine which applicants will be accepted based on the applicants’ score on the Selection Criteria Matrix. If there is a tie, an interview will be scheduled. A letter is mailed out approximately two weeks after the application deadline to notify the prospective student of their admission status. If an applicant is not selected for the upcoming class, he/she will be notified by mail and will be asked to respond, notifying the school of intentions to resubmit the Practical Nursing application or to seek enrollment in another program. Once selected, the student must attend a mandatory 2-4 hour orientation.
Practical Nursing Application Process
If you enjoy caring for others, are extremely organized, and have an interest in health and medicine, this may be your dream career. Nurses help to preserve and protect the health and well-being of patients.
Nurses must be totally reliable; everyone in a healthcare setting depends upon them in many ways. Doctors need them to assist with preparations and details involved in running medical offices, clinics and hospitals. Nurses are also the first to deal with all kinds of patients. They comfort the sick, support the recovering, and inform the healthy about protecting themselves against illness and injury. Because their jobs can be emotionally and physically strenuous, the best nurses are compassionate, patient and cool under pressure.
Students will experience interactive simulated labs and actual clinic rotation in a variety of health-care settings; work as a key member of a professional health-care team to deliver skilled and compassionate patient care; perform advanced medical procedures; administer medications; collect patient data; monitor IV’s; and provide wound care. Not only will students study how the body functions, but also how emotional and mental well-being affect overall health. Students will learn how to do scientifically-based planning for the nursing care of each individual patient. Half of the program hours are in clinical settings such as Lee Memorial Health Systems, VA Hospital, and long-term care facilities. Successful completion of this class prepares students to take the examination for licensure in the state of Florida.
The purpose of the Practical Nursing program is to prepare a student for employment as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). LPNs work in hospitals, nursing homes, doctors’ offices, and other settings where health care is delivered. The work week is usually 40 or more hours and may include 8, 10, or 12 hour shifts, weekends, nights, and holidays. The LPN must have the ability to respond calmly under pressure in emergency situations. The work can be physically demanding requiring the ability to bend, stoop, and lift. This program has been approved by the Florida State Board of Nursing so that qualified graduates may take the examination to practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse in the state of Florida.
The content includes theoretical instruction and clinical experience in medical, surgical, obstetric, pediatric, and geriatric nursing; theoretical instruction and clinical experience in acute care, long-term care, and community settings; application of vocational role and function; personal, family, and community health concepts; nutrition; human growth and development over the life span; body structure and function; interpersonal relationship skills, mental health concepts; pharmacology and administration of medications; legal aspects of practice; and current issues in nursing. Additional information may be found in the Practical Nursing Handbook.
This program offers a sequence of courses that provides coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to take and pass the licensing examination (NCLEX) and gain employment as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Fort Myers Technical College is compliant with State Authorization Federal Regulation § 668.43.
The following table illustrates the program structure:
Course #
OCP
Course Name
Hours
PRN0098
A
Practical Nursing Foundations 1
300
PRN0099
PRN0290
PRN0291
PRN0690
B
Practical Nursing Foundation 2
Medical Surgical Nursing 1
Medical Surgical Nursing 2
Comprehensive Nursing & Transitional Skills
300
300
300
150
TOTAL HOURS
1350
Hours
1350 hours
Full-time: Approximately 12 months
Cost
Approximately $8,303
Practical Nursing Fee Sheet 2425
What You’ll Learn
- This course provides theoretical foundation
- Clinical Practicum
- Medical surgical disorders
- The care of clients in the prevention of illness and treatment of diseases
- Additional courses provide maternal and newborn nursing, pediatric, geriatric nursing, mental health
- Leadership skills
- Delegation guidelines
Industry Certifications
- NCLEX – PN
- AIDS Certificate
- Domestic Violence
- Prevention of Medical Errors
- HIPAA
- AHA BLS
Career Ready Skills
- Act as a responsible and contributing citizen and employee.
- Apply appropriate academic and technical skills.
- Attend to personal health and financial well-being.
- Communicate clearly, effectively and with reason.
- Consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of decisions.
- Demonstrate creativity and innovation.
- Employ valid and reliable research strategies.
- Utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- Model integrity, ethical leadership and effective management.
- Plan education and career path aligned to personal goals.
- Use technology to enhance productivity.
- Work productively in teams while using cultural/global competence.
Software
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- EPIC – Hospital computer system
Course Projects
- Portfolio/Résumé
- PowerPoint projects
- Presentation on journal articles
- Poster presentations
- Simulation learning system
- HESI case studies
- Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI)
Employment Opportunities
Students who complete this course can expect to earn a starting salary of $18+ per hour in the following industries (Actual wages vary according to education, experience, and certifications.)
- Hospitals – acute and long-term care
- Assisted living facilities
- Nursing homes
- Home health
- Doctor’s offices
- Clinics
- Hospice care
Steps to Enroll
- Request a Practical Nursing Packet by completing the Contact Form above.
- Watch the videos and read the email provided in the packet.
- Register for and complete the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)
- TEAS must be taken in person. We will no longer accept the online TEAS.
- Complete an admissions essay
- Gather all required documents
- Official high school or GED transcript
- Official transcripts from any other post-secondary education related to the nursing field
- Documentation of employment or volunteer history in the healthcare field
- Proof of Florida residency (for tuition purposes)
- Request an appointment with an Admissions Specialist to complete your application.
- Pay the Application Fee ($50.00)
Admission to the Practical Nursing program is competitive. An Admissions Committee, composed of school faculty, will review all applications and determine admittance. After the application deadline, each application will be evaluated utilizing the selection criteria. The Admissions Committee will determine which applicants will be accepted based on the applicants’ score on the Selection Criteria Matrix. If there is a tie, an interview will be scheduled. A letter is mailed out approximately two weeks after the application deadline to notify the prospective student of their admission status. If an applicant is not selected for the upcoming class, he/she will be notified by mail and will be asked to respond, notifying the school of intentions to resubmit the Practical Nursing application or to seek enrollment in another program. Once selected, the student must attend a mandatory 2-4 hour orientation.
Instructors
- Nancy Redenius, Health Science Department Chair, NancyGR@leeschools.net
- Kathy Marcelak, Simulation Lab Coordinator, KathyMar@leeschools.net
- Mary Anne Enns, MaryAnneE@leeschools.net
- Jessica Osborn, JessicaROs@leeschools.net
- Cindy Timukas, CindyTI@leeschools.net
Program Info
Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)
(TEAS must be taken in person. We will no longer accept the online TEAS.)
Practical Nursing Master Plan of Instruction 2024-25
Program Start Date
January 2025 – December 2025 (all admission requirements due by December 1, 2024)
Classroom hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Clinical hours vary.