Practical Nursing Program Requirements

The Certificate in Practical Nursing consists of 6 semester hours of non-nursing support courses and 34 semester hours of nursing courses; 40 semester hours in all. The program is 40 weeks long and includes 2 semesters and an 8-week-long summer session.

A grade of "C" or better is considered passing in the nursing and support courses. Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better in order to remain in the nursing program.

Sci 051 and FamR 230 may be taken prior to entry into the Practical Nursing Program.

Proficiency levels that must be met for entry into the Practical Nursing Program are:

Reading:   Complete English 21 or test into English 102

Writing:   Complete English 22 or test into English 100

Math:   Complete Math 25X or 26 or test into Math 27

Hawaii Community College nursing applicants must take the National League for Nursing Pre-admission Examination-PN. Big Island applicants planning to enter the Practical Nursing Program for Fall 2008 need to take the examination in Hilo on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. in UCB (Building 301), Room 100, main/upper campus. This is the only time the examination will be given on the Big Island.  Advanced registration and payment for the examination is required.  APPLICANTS WHO DO NOT REGISTER FOR THE EXAM BY THE DEADLINE (4:00pm, December 28, 2007) WILL NOT BE TESTED.  Come by or call the nursing office at 974-7560 for an registration form or to download the form, click here.   

Applicants who have taken the examination within the past two years may, if they wish, use their old scores instead of retaking the test.  If the Nursing Office does not presently have a copy of your previous test results, you will need to arrange with the NLN for a copy to be sent.  It is the student's responsibility to make sure that test scores are received by the Nursing Office prior to the application deadline.

Applicants must bring to the examination two sharpened number 2 pencils and some form of picture identification.  Applicants without proper identification will not be tested.

Please plan to spend approximately four hours in the examination room. The test will cover three major areas: verbal (word knowledge and reading comprehension), math (integers, fractions, decimals, percentages, basic algebra and geometry), and science (general science, health, biology, chemistry, physics). All questions are of the multiple-choice type. A review book, Review guide for LPN/LVN Pre-Entrance Exam (ISBN 0-7637-2487-4, 2nd Edition) by the National League for Nursing may be purchased from your local book store or through the publisher, Jones and Bartlett (800-832-0034). Order forms are available through the HawCC Nursing Office (Ph. 974-7560).  

Additional questions about the examination should be addressed to the HawCC Nursing & Allied Health office (974-7560).

Last Updated October 4, 2007 by Julie Moore