LPN Program Description – What to Expect from an LPN Program
You should definitely take a look at this detailed LPN program description. It will give you an idea about the subjects you will study and about the different components of a typical program. In this way, you will be able to decide how much time and effort you will need to put in training.
A typical program has two components classroom study and clinical practice. The classroom study includes lab classes as well. The main subjects you will study include fundamentals of nursing, anatomy and physiology, nutrition and diet therapy, growth and development and introduction to pharmacology. Contemporary health issues and vocational judgment are another two components of the course which are taught together. The LPN program description includes psychiatric nursing, medical-surgical nursing and maternal and child health.
Subjects such as anatomy, physiology and pharmacology are taught in a class setting only. The course instructors introduce you to the main concepts of these subjects using various teaching aids. In general, classes do not differ from the ones in any other academic discipline.
The final three subjects presented in the LPN program description as well as fundamentals of nursing require both classroom study and clinical practice. Usually, the two components go hand in hand. For instance, you may have classroom instruction in the morning and then clinical practice in the afternoon. Alternatively, you can have classroom instruction for a two or three weeks and then another five or six weeks of clinical practice in psychiatric nursing or medical-surgical nursing.
The number of class hours and the number of clinical practice hours differ from one program to another so exact numbers cannot be given in the LPN program description. Usually, the longer the duration of your program is the more class hours and clinical practice hours you will have. Similarly, the number of training hours that give you one credit varies between the different programs.
Both classroom study and clinical training are not hard, but you will have to be attentive and hard working. In some cases, especially if you have chosen to study part time, training can be very intensive. The instructors may introduce you to a large section of the material in mere hours, so it will be your responsibility to learn everything for the clinical practice and for the NCLEX-PN exam.
This is the general LPN program description. You need to keep in mind that the types and number of subjects as well as the number of classes and clinical practice hours vary between the different programs.
