• The program is designed for 1350 clock hours over a twelve-month period.  We divide the curriculum into three phases.  Courses include the following:

     

    Phase I:

    • Personal Vocational Relationship – Aids the student in the transition of roles from  a lay person to a nurse.  We include ethics and legal aspects of nursing.  The student will learn the role of the L.P.N. in community health and make students aware of healthcare needs that they provide to the public.  The course aids the student in under-standing the basic social, physical and emotional needs of  the  patient  and  teaches the student  basic  skills of communications using verbal and nonverbal forms of behavior.
    • Fundamentals of Nursing – we teach students the technical procedures involved in caring for the hospitalized patient, including Integrated Anatomy and Nutrition
    • Anatomy and Physiology – The student is taught the structure and functions of the framework and organs that comprise the human body.
    • Nutrition – Fundamentals of nutrition is included with diet therapy.

    Phase II:

    • Pharmacology – Students, under supervision, give oral, injectable and other forms of medications in the clinical area.
    • Medical Surgical Nursing I & II – Different body systems with respect to illness, injury and health care are studied.  Pharmacology and nutrition are integrated as they pertain to the body systems.

    Phase III:

    • Obstetrics – Pre-natal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care of the mother and care of the newborn are studied in class while students are rotated through the clinical facilities.
    • Geriatrics Nursing – Various aspects of elder  care are taught including physical and  psychological aspects and illnesses common to the elderly.  Clinical experience is provided in the area nursing home and skilled nursing facility.
    • Psychiatric Nursing – Deals with the mental health concepts and deviations that result in mental illness.  Clinical experience is provided at Highlands Hospital in Charleston, WV.
    • Pediatric Nursing – Normal growth and development  of the child from birth through adolescence are studied.  Students provide care to an ill child in the hospital and to the heathy and disabled child in other settings.
    • Personal Vocational Relationships II  – Completion of portfolio.

     

    The staff feels that the philosophy of the Mingo Extended Learning Center School of Practical Nursing is consistent with the overall philosophy of Mingo Extended Learning Center.

    The basic philosophy of the Licensed Practical Nursing Program at the Center is to develop in each student a desire to help restore each patient to the best physical, mental and emotional health possible.

    Nursing is the art and science of caring.  The nurse’s role is to assist mankind with his health care needs.  These needs include promotion of wellness, administration of care during illness, rehabilitation from disability and support of death with dignity.  Practical nursing is an essential part of nursing and contributes significantly to the health care of mankind.

    The practical nurse utilizes the nursing process to render safe and effective physical and emotional care under the supervision of qualified nursing or medical personnel.

    Learning is a dynamic and continuous process.  Learning experiences are structured to proceed from simple to complex.  The teaching – learning process is a vehicle for the acquisition of knowledge.  The student must assure the active role of learner with the instructor as the facilitator of learning.  Learning is enhanced by a structured environment that recognizes individual difference, encourages critical thinking and facilitates self-understanding.

    Practical Nursing education is an active process that incorporates cognitive as well as psychomotor skills in a variety of settings under qualified supervision.  Nursing education’s primary goal is the development of a nurse with a strong theoretical base as well as competent clinical skills.

    Graduates are valued members of the health care team.  Faculty strive to keep abreast of current changes in society’s health care trends in order to serve as role models and keep learning up to date.  Students are encouraged to continue learning after graduation as they strive for continued excellence in their profession.