Supporters counter complaint about LPN program

Not everyone is cut out to be a nurse, a speaker said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CHAMPION -- A parent complained that the Trumbull Career and Technical Center doesn't do enough to help students complete its licensed practical nurse training program and qualify to take the state licensing exam, but eight other speakers defended the program at a TCTC Board of Education meeting.
"Although tutoring seems to be the policy to replace all policies, completion percentages would indicate that it's not working," John Gates of Southington wrote in a formal complaint to the school board concerning the current low completion rate in the high school program.
"They have not enforced several of the policies which help students achieve standards so they can pass their state LPN test," Gates said in an interview before Thursday's board meeting, which drew a near-capacity auditorium crowd.
Gates said his daughter, Andrea, will finish the program this year, but she won't meet all the standards to take the state licensing exam. Twenty-five students, including Andrea, entered the program as juniors last year, but only 13 remain as seniors.
Challenging
"It's a very difficult program," said Superintendent Wayne McClain, explaining why only seven of the 13 likely will be eligible to take the LPN state licensing exam. Students need an 80 percent average in their nursing lab courses to qualify to take the state licensing exam, McClain said.
"This is the lowest completion rate in the last five years. It's generally in the 80 to 90 percent area," he said. "There were 27 after-school tutoring sessions up until March 1, and there were also tutoring sessions at lunchtime daily," to help students meet the program standards, McClain said.
Another parent spoke well of the program.
"This program enabled me to work in a profession that gives me personal satisfaction as well as financial stability," said Karri Carrico, a graduate of the program whose daughter is now a first-year student in the program.
"Nursing is a demanding career and not everyone is cut out for it. Hopefully this is found out while one is still a student and not responsible for patients' lives," she said.
"The goal is not just to graduate the students, but to create mature, responsible, knowledgeable persons" capable of meeting professional standards, she added. She said the school has kept her up to date on her daughter's progress.
Must meet standards
"In the end, it comes down to the student meeting the standards," said Karen English, a registered nurse and nurse orientation coordinator at Humility of Mary Health Partners.
She noted the expanded role of LPNs, who now give medications and start IVs. "They have to be proficient academically as well as clinically," she said, adding that her advice is not to lower program standards. "We only want the best to be able to finish," she told the board.
"Even if you don't make your 80 percent standard, you can still graduate with your high school diploma. You have not failed, just not achieved the standards of this program," said Janet Hurst of Southington, whose daughter, Jackie, is a junior in the program.