What does the Pioneer School of Health propose?
Pioneer School of Health (PSOH) seeks to get an approval for the establishment of a Vocational Nurse (VN) Program resulting in LVN licensure with a tentative starting date of August, 2015. Approved by Texas Workforce Commission, Pioneer School of Health (PSOH) is a career school that offers a Nurse Aide training program to promote the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA). Our Nursing Assistant program specifically addresses the current demands of healthcare workforce. The program was originally established in 2001. Since then, we have been providing high-quality training for Nurse Aide. We are very pleased to mention that our graduates are currently working as Certified Nurse Aide in the State of Texas. Our immense success with Nursing Assistant program has motivated us to move forward. Therefore, we strongly believe that the next step we should take is to establish a vocational nursing program meant to be commenced in August, 2015. PSOH VN is a twelve-month program. It is divided into 3 sixteen-week curriculum periods. The program entails classroom lectures and hands-on practice in clinical and laboratory fields. The PSOH is located in Houston, Texas that is a metropolitan area located along the Gulf Coast region. The area is commonly known as “Greater Houston”. The address is 11224 Southwest Freeway, Suite 200 and 240, Houston Texas 77479.
Is there a purpose for the proposed VN PROGRAM?
There are several purposes behind the proposition of VN program. First, it seeks to produce independent, competent nurses exclusively trained to take care of the aging population. Second, it seeks to produce nurses that will be LVN and take the position as patient oriented caregiver, become a productive member of the profession, advocate for patient safety and be part of health care team. Third, the VN program also aims to reduce the number of students waiting to enter a nursing program in the State of Texas (Table 1). Furthermore, the proposed program will provide additional education options to students in the Houston Area. In addition, it seeks to decrease the shortage of nurses at the bed side in Southwest Houston.
Why is there a need for the proposed VN Program?
The need for the proposed VN program is based upon our assessment that was performed through the use of contextual relevant factors. We have carefully pioneered the factors that are prevalent around the educational institution. These factors have demonstrated their potential to influence the school and its curriculum. They include the school goals, mission and philosophy, and professional precepts, the need for trained nurses, the need for aging society population, and the needs of the community in general.
What makes PSOH VN Program different?
With the standardized curriculum, we have justified our knowledge, skills, and abilities to use available resources and maintain the desired high-quality healthcare education facility to produce employable graduates. We have incorporated advanced certifications such as Intravenous Therapy Certification, Long Term Care, and Pharmacology Certification in the curriculum to offer more opportunities to our students in the nursing profession. Additionally, students will gain technological proficiency through the utilization of computerized technology. Students will also benefit from the institution’s smaller class sizes and individualized attention from faculty and staff. The program is designed in a manner that requires students to complete a subset of foundational courses prior to beginning of the vocational nursing coursework and clinical rotations. This will ensure that student gain essential simple and complicated nursing knowledge. Pioneer School of Health expects that the proposed program will be accessible and affordable to students from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. It also seeks to fulfill the important social mission of improving access to nursing education to minorities as they have a historical underrepresentation in the nursing profession. Pioneer School of Health also expects to develop a registered (professional) nursing program in the future. The RN program will be developed to provide a mobility ladder for the VN program graduates with the inclusion of an advanced placement option.
What evidence can be provided to support the need for a new VN PROGRAM?
Pioneer School of Health anticipates that at least 90% of its graduates will be successful as a first time test-taker on the NCLEX-PN exam. It also expects them to be employed within six months after graduation. The Workforce Solutions (2011) has forecasted that about 17,660 LVN jobs are expected by 2018. Of these, 835 LVN jobs are expected to be created annually, showing a 30.1% growth.
The need for licensed vocational nurses exist especially in home health and hospice, long-term nursing care facilities, general medical and surgical hospitals, offices of physicians, continuing care retirement communities, and assisted living facilities.
The economy of Houston Gulf Coast Area has suffered a slow-down in the past few years. In spite of the economic ups and downs, the Houston Metro Statistical Area (MSA) still enjoys a more vibrant economy than other major urban areas in the Texas and United States of America. According to Workforce Solution (2014) facts and figures, Houston is currently experiencing 5.4% unemployment that was 6.3% last year. This percentage is less than the national unemployment rate of 5.9%. The Perryman-Group (2014) projected that this area’s population growth average for the next 20 years will be 3.6% with employment rising by 1.6% per annum. Growth rate data by sector in education and health services showed the highest at 35.5% from 2010-2020 in Houston MSA. Between August 2013-2014, Houston MSA gained 19,100 jobs. An estimated 17,660 LVN jobs are expected by 2018 (about 835 annually) and 30.1% growth in this specific job sector (Workforce Solutions, 2013).
Based on the state of local and national healthcare, it can be reasonably projected that the coming years will witness an increasing demand for vocational nursing healthcare services, registered nurses, and more nursing completing graduate degrees in education, advanced practice and administration. The Greater Houston Partnership (GHP, 2013) projected a 33.1% increase in the need for employment of healthcare practitioners/technical occupations. It also anticipated a higher employment demand for healthcare support occupations of 33.7% in Houston MSA in the next ten years. Houston-Sugarland-Baytown Metro Area (Region 4) is expected to lead the state in population growth by 4.03% with a job growth of 1.6 million – one quarter of the state’s growth in the next 25 years (GHP, 2013).
According to TCNWS (2013), LVNs made up considerably more of the staff mix in Texas public health agencies (32.7%) compared to hospital (8.2%), although home health/hospice agencies had the largest percentage of LVNs (42.8%). In the Texas Governmental Public Health Nurse Staffing Study conducted by Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies (2013), it was shown that nurses make up approximately 10% of the total Texas governmental public health workforce whereas LVN positions accounted for 32.7% of nurse position. These are the reasons a sufficient pool of vocational nurses needs to be educated and made available to meet the workforce demands for the mentioned projected growths.
While the majority of the literature refers to the shortage of registered nurses, the shortage of vocational nurses is becoming more apparent among stakeholders, specifically in the state of Texas. For example, the Texas Workforce Labor Commissions Labor Market Information reports that the employment outlook for LVN will have a 30% growth for the Workforce Development Area that includes Houston and Harris County from 2000-2016. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009), the State of Texas will create a need for an additional 4,080 new LVN job openings by 2014. It also mentions that this area has less number of LVNs as compared to other parts of the states of Texas, with the declining ratio of LVN/100,000 population in Harris County. Pioneer School of Health conducted a survey of healthcare institutions in the Houston community to obtain information regarding employment statistics, such as annual openings and salary information for Licensed Vocational Nurses. The table below identifies employment opportunities with the facilities who responded to the survey.
