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The Practical Nursing curriculum prepares individuals with the knowledge and skills to provide nursing care to children and adults. Students will participate in assessment, planning, implementing, and evaluating nursing care.

Graduates are eligible to apply to take the NCLEX-PN, which is required for practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Employment opportunities include hospitals, rehabilitation/long-term care/home health facilities, clinics, and physician’s offices.

Admission Procedure for the Practical Nursing Program

Students are admitted to the nursing program in accordance to policies established by the nursing faculty and approved by administration. The college does not guarantee admission to all students that apply to the nursing program. Admission is competitive and is based on a points-based ranking system. Completion of the nursing program does not guarantee success in passing the licensure exam.

A nursing student must be admitted/readmitted to the nursing program in order to receive credit for any nursing (NUR) course. Curriculum courses other than NUR courses may be taken before admission to the program or after admission in the sequence offered.

All Biology courses must be current within a seven-year period. Biology courses older than seven years must be retaken before program entry or at the prescribed time in the curriculum sequence. This requirement may be waived by the program director.

Nursing students are assigned clinical rotations with area healthcare agencies. Students must meet employee health standards and the criminal background and/or drug screening requirements of the agencies at the student’s expense at any time after admission to the program.

The nursing applicant is required to meet steps I-IV before enrollment fall semester. Each step of the admission policy must be completed before advancing to the next step.

Step I Application process

1. Submit an Edgecombe Community College Admission Application.
2. Submit official transcript of high school graduation or GED. Currently enrolled high school students should submit a partial transcript. A final transcript must be submitted at the time of graduation.
3. Submit official transcripts from all colleges attended.
4. Attend a mandatory nursing information session before March 1st. The student must attend the session each year that application is made to be aware of curriculum and admission policy changes.
5. Complete a PN program application at the session. Subsequent dates for acceptance of applications will be established if space becomes available prior to fall semester.

Step II TEAS V

1. Take the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS V) before March 1st.
2. TEAS V scores must meet the following criteria to be eligible for ranking:
   • A minimum overall score of 58%.
   • Testing occurred within the 24 months prior to the March 1st application deadline
   • The student has released the scores to ECC with ATI if testing occurred at a site other than at ECC OR the scores are officially delivered to ECC by the school where the test was taken.
   • All four sections of the TEAS test were taken.
   • TEAS V may be taken up to twice in an academic year, at least 28 days apart.
3. The highest of up to four TEAS scores will be used for ranking.

Step III Ranking and Conditional Acceptance

1. Students who score a 58% on the TEAS V will be competitively ranked.
2. Points from the TEAS score and from the GPA on all ECC PN curriculum general education courses that have been completed from all colleges, including courses with less than a C, are included in the calculation. The ranking GPA also includes all curriculum courses that have been completed more than once.
3. The highest ranking applicants will receive a letter of conditional acceptance.
4. Students must accept or reject the seat in writing to the Nursing Admissions Counselor.
5. A waiting list letter will be mailed to remaining eligible applicants.
6. Students will continue to be accepted from the waiting list until the program is full.

Step IV Full Acceptance

After accepting a nursing seat, the student must meet the following requirements in order to be fully accepted:

1. Attend mandatory Health Science Orientation and Nursing Orientation sessions.
2. Submit a completed medical form provided by the college, including required immunizations, performed within a 12-month time frame by the required deadline.
3. Submit evidence of current (within the last year) CPR certification by the American Heart Association at the health care provider level by the required deadline.
4. If developmental courses were required upon admission to the college, the developmental prerequisites for ECC PN curriculum general education courses must be completed prior to enrollment in the program.
5. Demonstrate evidence of successful completion (C or better) in high school or college chemistry or biology.
6. Demonstrate a 2.5 GPA on all curriculum general education courses that have been completed up to the point of enrollment in the program. The highest grade on all completed courses from all colleges will be used in this calculation, including courses with less than a C.
7. Demonstrate an overall 2.5 GPA on courses completed at ECC up to the point of enrollment.
8. Be a Certified Nurse Assistant I (CNAI) and in good standing by the required deadline.
9. Submit criminal background check and a drug screen by the required deadline.
10. Failure to meet deadlines will result in withdrawal of acceptance status.

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