Augusta Technical College will be introducing a new pathway program that will help licensed practical nurses bridge over to becoming registered nurses, next year, called the LPN to RN Transition Program.
“This is an exciting addition to the nursing programs at Augusta Technical College as well as the community,” said Dr. Ebony Story, department head of the Associate Degree Nursing and Practical Nursing programs.
The key distinction between licensed practical nurses, or LPNs, and registered nurses, or RNs, is that RNs are essentially managers of patient care, accountable for their own duties as well as those of LPNs, said Story .
“[Registered nurses] are responsible for initial assessments, hanging blood, making sure patients’ initial evaluations are done, and they’re also responsible for making sure LPNs do what they’re supposed to as well,” Story said. “The LPN is more of the technical nurse, so they’re performing a lot of those skills, [and] a lot of times they’re responsible more for your medication passes. Not that the RN can’t do it, but the LPN is more responsible for that in a team setting.”
While registered nurse programs are usually at the bachelor’s level (BSN) and associate’s degree level (AN), the registered nurse program offered at Augusta Tech offers the latter.
After completing prerequisites, a prospective nursing student would complete the college’s LPN program after 12 months. The RN program, usually a separate pathway, is 18 months long.
The new program will allow LPNs who have graduated to become RNs within one year.
It has actually been about a year that the transition program has been in the works, acquiring approval from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and the Georgia Board of Nursing, developing the curriculum to ensure the new transition program didn’t cross over into the school’s separate, existing RN program.
Story recalls after she graduated Augusta Tech’s LPN program, when there wasn’t a suitable program nearby to bridge over into becoming a registered nurse, and having to drive to Columbia every day for 18 months.
“It’s not only less travel, but also less time, because we do want to give those LPS credit for what they have done,” she said. “We want to take them where they are, and we want to elevate them. So doing that in one year is very possible, and it will allow us to help alleviate that nursing shortage on our end of the bedside.”
Augusta Tech’s nursing department will begin accepting students for its new transition program for spring semesters, beginning in January 2024, and will accept students in its traditional nursing programs twice a year, in fall and summer.
“I’m just thankful that Augusta Tech and [college president] Dr. [Jermaine] Whirl allowed us to create this, have some nursing freedom in doing so, and trusted in our judgment in this program,” said Story. “This is going to improve so many of our LPNs’ quality of life because they also are now going to be looking at increase in salaries and better movement throughout the nursing field. I have already had former students begin to call us and they’re so excited that this is here. So now we can take our LPN students, and turn them into RN students, hopefully while they’re still contributing to the community.”
For more information on Augusta Technical College’s new LPN to RN Transition Program, visit www.augustatech.edu, contact Story at 706-771-4187 or Leslie Dent at 706-771-4185.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
