Talent Pipeline Program
Complete your Certificate in Practical Nursing debt free!
A student can be supported by Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) in their Talent Pipeline
Program and complete their certificate debt free. They will be paid full-time pay
and benefits to work 16 hours/week during school semester.
Contact Courtney Warren at BHS for more information about the Talent Pipeline: cwarren@bhs1.org
Massachusetts Career Ladder Program (CLP)
The Massachusetts CLP helps current Certified Nursing Assistants and other direct
care workers in skilled nursing facilities, long-term care, home care and community
settings become Licensed Practical Nurses.
Learn more about the CLP and apply
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Practical Nurse Program Overview
Nursing combines science and the art of working with people. Nurses are integrally
involved in the lives of their clients, helping them to maximize their health and
cope with illness. Nurses perform multiple roles in the care of their clients. Not
only do they provide hands-on care, they also act as educators, counselors, coordinators
and conciliators. Using scientific knowledge and technical skills, nurses continually
assess the physical, emotional and social status of their clients. Nurses work with
clients and their families to devise care plans for each situation. As they continually
monitor client progress, they make important decisions about appropriate methods to
deal with problems.
Nursing offers diversity in roles and settings, a wide range of career paths, employment
opportunities and competitive salaries. People are attracted to nursing by the focus
on caring, flexibility of working schedules and challenges to excel within the profession.
Licensed Practical Nurses are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, home care, clinics,
health centers, physicians' offices and the military. Berkshire Community College's
(BCC) nursing program is a sequence of lecture, laboratory and clinical courses. Graduates
are eligible to take the licensing examination to become Licensed Practical Nurses
(LPNs).
Accreditation
The Practical Nursing program at Berkshire Community College located in Pittsfield,
MA is approved by the MA Board of Registration in Nursing and is accredited by the:
Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326
(404) 975-5000
Spring 2023 - The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners
for the Practical Nursing program is Initial Accreditation.
Admissions
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The following requirements must be completed to be considered for admission into the
PN program:
- Evidence of secondary school graduation or its equivalent. Submit official transcript(s)
from high school or high school equivalency, previous colleges or post-secondary schools
attended.
Note: International transcripts will only be accepted for consideration if they have been
translated and evaluated by a NACES approved foreign credential evaluation service
provider. BCC recommends SpanTran or World Education Services
- Math: ACCUPLACER QAS score of 250 or greater OR successful completion of MAT-028 or
MAT-028C or higher (if taking college math, must earn a C or better);
- BIO-150 (Intro to the Human Body) or BIO-201 and BIO-202 (Anatomy and Physiology I
and II - each with labs) with C (73) or better within 7 years (For students intending
to bridge (LPN to ADN) at BCC, BIO 201 and BIO 202 (each with labs) require a grade
of 77 (C+) or better if taken after January 2018);
- Completion of ENG-101 (English Composition 1) with a C (73) or better
- Completion of PSY-107 (Introductory Psychology) with a C (73) or better;
- Attend a mandatory PN matriculation meeting (see below in Step-by-Step procedure)
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- Apply to BCC as a pre-LPN (Practical Nursing) student, if not already an active BCC student.
- Note: All students, regardless of eligibility to our nursing programs, must first
be accepted to the college itself before applying for matriculation into a nursing
program.
- Apply for financial aid, if not already completed
- Send all official high school/GED/HiSET, AP scores (if applicable), post-secondary
and college transcripts (if applicable) to BCC's Admissions Office.
- Note: Any international transcripts will need to be evaluated and translated by a
NACES approved organization such as SpanTran or WES.
- Review and complete admission requirements as indicated above
- Schedule a meeting with one of the nursing academic counselors to determine eligibility to apply for matriculation
- Attend a mandatory PN matriculation meeting
- Note: Students must attend one mandatory PN matriculation meeting prior to applying
for matriculation, otherwise, the application will be considered incomplete and will
not be reviewed. These are different than the Nursing Info sessions which are available
for students who are interested in learning more about the nursing program but are
not ready to apply.
- Complete and sign the PN matriculation application and submit (along with all required
documents) to Nursing Admissions by the established deadline for the PN program
View matriculation applications and deadlines
Application Deadline
- Fall 2025: August 1, 2025 - applications can be submitted between Dec 1, 2024 - August 1, 2025
Forms
Learn More
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Graduates of this program should be able to:
- Provide holistic care that recognizes an individual's preferences, values and needs
and respects the patient or designee as a full partner in providing compassionate,
coordinated, age and culturally appropriate, safe and effective care.
- Demonstrate accountability for the delivery of standard-based nursing care that is
consistent with moral, altruistic, legal, ethical, regulatory, and humanistic principles.
- Influence the behavior of individuals or groups of individuals within their environment
in a way that will facilitate the achievement of shared goals.
- Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of the health
care system, and by demonstrating the ability to use microsystem resources in providing
client care at optimal quality and value.
- Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and
support decision making.
- Interact effectively with patients, families, and colleagues, fostering mutual respect
and shared decision making, to enhance patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
- Function effectively within nursing and interdisciplinary health care teams, fostering
open communication, mutual respect, shared decision-making, team learning and development.
- Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness
and individual performance.
- Use data to monitor the outcomes and uses data to continuously improve the quality
and safety of health care systems.
- Identify the value of using best current evidence coupled with clinical expertise
and consideration of patients' preferences, experience and values to make practice
decisions.
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The median annual wage for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses was $48,070
in May 2021. Employment of licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is projected
to grow 6 percent from 2021 to 2031, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 58,800 openings for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses are projected
each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result
from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the
labor force, such as to retire.
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- Berkshire Health Systems
- Integritus Healthcare
- Local nursing homes
- Doctor's offices
- Private home care
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If you are interested in more information about nursing and our nursing program, please
come to a question and answer session. For information about the College's nursing
programs, applicants are encouraged to attend a Nursing Meet and Greet session. Please
sign up for a Nursing Meet and Greet.
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