The Practical Nursing curriculum provides knowledge and skills to integrate safety and quality into nursing care to meet the needs of the holistic individual which impact health, quality of life, and achievement of potential.

Coursework includes and builds upon the domains of healthcare, nursing practice, and the holistic individual. Content emphasizes safe, individualized nursing care and participation in the interdisciplinary team while employing evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics.

Graduates are eligible to apply to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-PN), an exam required for practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Employment opportunities include hospitals, rehabilitation/long term care/home health facilities, clinics, and physicians’ offices.

Admission to PN Program

Prerequisites

Curriculum students should be ENG/MAT “ready” in order to enter ECC Health Sciences programs. For clarification, students must be eligible to take ENG-111 and/or MAT-110 with or without the RISE co-requisites by the program start date.

Prerequisite Coursework:

• BIO-094 or Test out
• ENG-002 P2
• DMA 010-050 or MAT-003

Admission Requirements

ATI/TEAS

Scores must be within five years of application date.

• A 58% or greater on the Test of Essential Academic Skills (ATI/TEAS) for the PN program.
• If testing occurred at a site other than ECC, test results are delivered to the College through official means by the agency that administered the test. Contact atitesting.com or (800) 667-7531.
• All four sections of the ATI/TEAS were taken.
• No more than two ATI/TEAS scores per fiscal year (July 1-June 30), at least 28 days apart, will be eligible.
• ATI/TEAS Test Review Guide

GPA

Admission GPA

• A minimum GPA of 2.5 on Nursing curriculum general education courses taken through the Fall semester is required.
• The college uses the highest grade attained in general education courses in the GPA calculation for admission.
• An overall 2.0 GPA on all attempted courses at ECC is required.

Ranking GPA

The college uses the grades in all attempted Nursing curriculum general education coursework in the GPA calculation for ranking, including courses with grades below a “C” from any college. Only transfer credits from regionally or nationally accredited institutions will be accepted.

Ranking Point Score

• Applicants to the PN program who receive an overall ATI/TEAS score of 58% or higher are ranked based on a point score from their ATI/TEAS score, their BIO GPA, and quality points on all attempted general education coursework in the curriculum.
  • The Biology GPA carries greater weight in the point score than other general education courses.

Admission Steps for PN

Repeat steps for each year of application.

Step I: Application Process (March 1)

• Complete a Nursing Information Session between September 1, and February 28.
• Submit all by March 1:
  • An online ECC application for admission
  • Official high school transcripts or equivalency
  • A partial transcript if currently enrolled in high school. Students must submit a final transcript at the time of graduation.
  • Official transcripts from all colleges attended
  • A PN Program application after attending the Nursing Information Session (attendance required every year of application)
  • ATI/TEAS score (s) to Student Services. If testing occurred at a site other than ECC test results are delivered to the College through official means by the agency that administered the test. Contact atitesting.com or (800) 667-7531.

Step II: Ranking (March 31)

• The college ranks eligible applicants according to their point score. The highest ranked applicants who have a 2.5 Admission GPA or greater will move to Step III.
  • The highest twenty (20) ranked PN applicants will move to Step III.
• Applicants who have a 2.5 Admissions GPA but do not have a point score high enough to move to Step III initially will remain at Step II and receive notification that they are on a waiting list (approximately three (3) weeks after letters of conditional acceptance letters go out to the top-ranked applicants). Many applicants will give up their seat for a variety of reasons, which opens up places for applicants still on the waiting list.
• All applicants who remain at Step II at the end of Spring semester will have their Point Score recalculated with Spring grades and will be re-ranked. Ranked applicants with a 2.5 Admission GPA will move to Step III as seats become available over the summer.
• Admission application cycle ends July 31.

Step III: Conditional Acceptance (April - July)

• The highest ranked applicants will receive a letter of conditional acceptance and a medical form.
• Accept or reject the seat in writing to the Nursing Admissions Counselor by the due date.
  • Attend the mandatory Health Sciences Orientation.
  • Applicants must complete a medical form, background check, and drug screen by the due dates.
  • Applicants must maintain a 2.5 admissions GPA or higher through spring and summer terms.

Step IV:  Final Acceptance

The college will notify applicants who meet the clinical agencies’ employee health standards, background, and drug screen requirements of final acceptance. The cost of meeting these requirements can be significant and final acceptance is dependent on meeting the due dates listed in the conditional acceptance letter.