Are you interested in helping others? Did you know that becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) provides you with the skills and knowledge to help patients throughout your local community? The LPN program at OBC covers diverse subjects while allowing you to gain hands-on experience with clinical practice and laboratory training. We combine classroom and real-world instruction to help you become a confident and well-trained nurse.

LPNs have a profound impact on local healthcare. They address the nursing shortage plaguing the country and help ensure competent and timely care for patients in their community. You can work in numerous healthcare settings, helping increase healthcare service efficiency.

LPN programs are critical for improving patient care, developing skilled nurses, and supporting the local healthcare system. When these programs train competent LPNs, they contribute substantially to a community’s well-being and health.

What Does a Student Learn from an LPN Program?

LPN programs are designed to aid aspiring nurses in developing the knowledge, competencies, and skills necessary to provide patients with quality healthcare. The OBC program is comprehensive, combining practical experience and theoretical knowledge. On average, these programs can be completed in as little as 44 weeks. The classes included in the curriculum are as follows:

Anatomy and Physiology

Professional nurses need a comprehensive understanding of the human body and how it works. Throughout the program, you will learn about the various body systems, what they do, and how they work together.

Foundational Nursing Knowledge

During this class, you will learn about nursing ethics and LPN legal responsibilities. This helps you get a thorough understanding of the healthcare system. You will explore the evolution and history of nursing, the principles of patient-centered care, and how LPNs function within a complete healthcare team.

Pharmacology

Pharmacology teaches you about medications, their side effects, how they work inside the body, and their interactions. You will also examine dosage calculations, how to administer the medicines safely, and how to properly monitor patients for potential adverse reactions.

Patient Care Across the Lifespan

As an LPN, you provide care to patients of all ages, so you learn about caring for adult, geriatric, and pediatric patients. Each age group has unique needs that you will explore, including joint health conditions, developmental milestones, and age-appropriate communication techniques.

Nursing Techniques and Skills

A core component of all LPN programs is learning the basic nursing skills. During this class, you learn how to take vital signs, perform wound care, administer injections, assist with activities of daily living, and perform catheterization. You also learn the fundamentals of these skills in a classroom and then practice the proper technique in a laboratory before advancing to a clinical setting.

Mental Health Nursing

It helps to have a foundational understanding of mental health to provide holistic patient care. This allows you to respond to and recognize mental health issues so you can help manage psychiatric conditions, while providing emotional support to your patients. You will also explore mental health disorders, crisis intervention strategies, and therapeutic communication.

Nutrition and Diet Therapy

During this class, you learn about diet planning, nutritional needs, and how diet helps manage and prevent disease. This includes exploring various special dietary requirements so that you can provide your patients with proper nutrition education.

Infection Control and Safety

During this class, you learn how to keep a hygienic and safe environment in various healthcare settings. You also learn how to examine multiple infection control practices, including using personal protective equipment, maintaining hand hygiene, and preventing infections from spreading.

How Does an LPN Program Help You?

An LPN program is a structured pathway to break into the nursing field. There are several ways that this program will help you to be fully prepared for your new career.

Comprehensive Education and Training

Throughout the LPN program, you will progress through classes that build upon what you have already learned. You also learn different nursing skills as you make your way through the program. These skills are first practiced in a laboratory. Eventually, you will do a clinical rotation that allows you to practice your skills and challenge your knowledge in a real-world healthcare setting, under the supervision of a professional nurse.

Employability and Career Readiness

This LPN program provides the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain your Practical Nurse license by preparing you for the NCLEX-PN exam. You will also be able to rely on OBC to help you create a resume, prepare for interviews, network, and searching for jobs that you are passionate about.

Pathway to Further Education

Completing an LPN program and obtaining your license can work as a stepping-stone to advance in the nursing profession. You can move to a registered nurse (RN) program or start a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.

How Does a Vocational College LPN Program Benefit Local Healthcare?

As an LPN, you are a critical component of the healthcare system. Many facilities throughout your community help provide essential patient care. Plus, there are many reasons why completing an LPN program will benefit you and your community as a whole.

Improving the Quality of Patient Care

Once you complete your LPN program, you will have the training to provide high-quality care in multiple settings, including long-term care facilities, home healthcare, hospitals, and outpatient clinics. You will also be able to work with patients of all age ranges.

Addressing Nursing Shortages

Nursing shortages are an issue throughout the country. These critical shortages can negatively impact patient care, so you are helping to ensure that there are enough LPNs to care for the patients in your community. You are also helping your fellow nurses by decreasing staff workload and reducing the risk of burnout.

Economic Benefits

LPN programs help the local economy by creating a more educated populace and more job opportunities. Since these programs take less than two years, training qualified LPNs and working to help reduce healthcare staff shortages in the area will be quick and swift.

Enhanced Access to Care

Healthcare access is limited in many areas, especially in underserved and rural areas. It is not uncommon for LPNs to operate as primary caregivers, helping those who otherwise might not have regular access to healthcare. Because of this, OBC is helping to increase the number of qualified LPNs so that people can get medical attention when they need it. This is of particular importance for those with disabilities, the elderly, low-income families, and other vulnerable populations.

Supporting Healthcare Teams

Depending on your facility, you will work under the supervision of a physician or registered nurse. They will support you to help provide more comprehensive care to patients in your community. Our LPN program ensures you have the skills and knowledge necessary to provide high-quality care. This helps free up other healthcare team members for more effective and efficient healthcare delivery.

Professional Development and Continuing Education

Our LPN program ensures that you are a competent LPN and encourage professional development and continuing education. This not only helps to address the LPN shortage, but since you are also eligible to pursue your RN or BSN, it can help to reduce shortages for other nursing professionals.

Community Health Improvement

LPNs often participate in vaccination drives, educational programs, health screenings, and other community health initiatives. These initiatives help people learn about their health and are more likely to seek care before a condition becomes too severe.

Strengthening Public Health Infrastructure

Producing a regular stream of well-trained LPNs is critical for helping to strengthen the infrastructure of public health in a community. LPNs are on the front lines, assisting communities with important services, such as health education, immunizations, and chronic disease management. This not only helps to improve the health of a community, but it can also play an essential role in promoting healthy behaviors, preventing disease outbreaks, and managing public health emergencies.

Flexibility in Healthcare Delivery

When you complete our LPN program, you get the training needed to successfully work in various healthcare settings, improving healthcare delivery flexibility in your community. You will also adapt to different environments and provide necessary care during unforeseen public health crises.

Final Thoughts

LPN programs are vital for enhancing local healthcare. They produce nurses who aid in improving patient outcomes, addressing staffing shortages, and supporting healthcare facilities. Our program trains aspiring LPNs rigorously to ensure that they have the essential nursing skills necessary to thrive in a variety of healthcare environments.

We create partnerships with various healthcare facilities and providers throughout different communities. This helps you find employment and aids facilities in quickly obtaining qualified LPNs to fill any open positions. Over time, this will ensure a safer nurse-to-patient ratio so that the healthcare provided in your local community is more efficient and comprehensive for everyone.

Want to Learn More?

Want to make an impact on your local community? OBC offers a Practical Nursing program that will train you for entry-level positions while integrating the future of healthcare for improved patient outcomes.

Practical Nursing Program

The Practical Nursing (PN) Program provided by OBC is 44 weeks or four quarters long. The program covers theory, nursing skills lab, simulation lab, and clinical experiences. Once you graduate from the PN program, you will be fully qualified to write to the NCLEX-PN® to become licensed as an LPN in Ohio.

Contact us today to learn more about our LPN program.