LPN Programs Latest Victims of Tight Economy
Miracles Still Happen
Last week I had what must be the thousandth conversation with my grown daughter about the fact that she needed to get some education in a career field that would enable her to find work that paid enough to support herself and her darling 4 year old daughter - and needed to do it now.
My daughter is in her late twenties and we've been having variations of this same conversation ever since she decided to move to Idaho with friends after her high school graduation because she needed a "break" and "time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life".
She managed to have some great adventures along the way, living in Jackson Hole for a while doing some modelling for Ralph Lauren, and in time she enjoyed a long term relationship with a terrific young man who was good at many things - except sticking around once he became a father. I'm sure some of you reading this post have children like my daughter yourselves, so you understand the difficulty a parent has when trying to "suggest" anything to a stubborn kid - no matter how old the "kid" has become. Am I right?
She's been working part time and barely managing to pay the rent for the last year while going to community college to "get a degree". She still doesn't have any idea what she plans to major in once she gets to Boise State though, and doesn't have any idea about what sort of career she wants once she "gets her degree". Oh boy.... time for Mom to have another talk with her about the real world (again)....
A miracle happened this last time! She actually listened and agreed when I suggested, (rather strongly), that she really needed to get into an associate degree program or reasonably short career training program that would allow her to get a job that paid well enough to support herself and my darling granddaughter and then she could go to school for her "degree" while earning a living in the meantime at least. She agreed to look into an LPN program! Hallellujah!
Then Reality Rained All Over My Parade
The notice on her community college's site said, "College of Western Idaho Suspends Practical Nursing Program! College of Western Idaho continually reviews the economic conditions and job market to provide education based on market demand and remain flexible in meeting the needs of the residents of its service area. The Professional Technical Education healthcare programs work very closely with area hospitals to keep programs up to industry standards. Local hospitals and private clinics provide clinical experience for the students and in many cases hire the graduates for full-time positions upon graduation.""Over the past year, local opportunities for clinical experience and job placement for PN students has decreased. Based on feedback from the major healthcare providers in the area and a gap analysis completed by Economic Modeling Specialist Inc. (EMSI), CWI found that some healthcare occupations, such as registered nursing, are increasing in demand while the need for practical nursing is decreasing. Current data indicates a surplus of practical nurse graduates for the number of annual job openings."
Frantic calls to Treasure Valley CC and Boise State resulted in the same distressing message. Growing more concerned I called several community colleges near us thinking that she could move back home while we saw her though school, and we learned that LPN programs were still available through the Maricopa Community College system (in the Phoenix area), but had waiting lists of at least 18 months, and even CNA programs had long waiting lists!
Googling "LPN Program Closes" I came across numerous notices of LPN Programs being reduced or discontinued in numerous states due to budget constraints. I discovered that states received federal stimulus money to support nursing education but most weren't using it to support education for those who are really needed financial help the most - future LPN's and ADN's.
I checked LPN job openings in Phoenix through iNeed, Monster, and CareerBuilder and found plenty of job listings, so I suppose a new graduate nurse (of any sort) needs to be flexible and able to move where jobs are these days if they want to find work- because work CAN be found. Openings for nursing programs are a different story though!
Luckily there's a private school that offers an LPN Program as well as an LPN to RN Bridge Program (for those interested) in Boise, and we're in the process of getting her set up to attend Carrington College so she can become an LPN. They told us they still have a 93% placement rate for LPNs in the Boise area despite the slow ecomony, and my husband & I decided that we'd be available to help her relocate to where she could find a job after graduating if she had to, so it would appear that we can breathe a sigh of relief at long last.
All she has to do now is follow through and stick with the program till she graduates and by that time there will be some job opening near her or we will help her move wherever there is one - even to Alaska if necessary! The goal is to get her in position to stand on her own and support herself. Once she can do that she'll be able to afford the luxury of "trying to figure out what she wants a degree in". She may just discover that this nursing thing isn't half bad, and (fingers crossed), perhaps she'll take the smart route and go on to take the online LPN to RN program and finally "get her degree" AND a career!
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