River Valley Community College developing licensed practical nurse program

LEBANON — River Valley Community College announced Wednesday it is developing a licensed practical nurse program with the goal of offering it to students beginning in January at the Lebanon and Keene campuses.

The college cited a report from New Futures 2019 that said there is an acute shortage of nurses across New Hampshire, with more than 2,600 jobs listed on an online job site.

“There is a real high need for this,” Dr. Eileen Glover, LPN program director and professor of nursing at RVCC in Claremont, said Wednesday in a phone interview.

Glover said the program has been in the discussion stage for a few years at workforce development organizations in Sullivan and Cheshire counties.

“We have been looking at ways to increase the number of people in the workforce,” Glover said. “There is now a commitment at the state level to invest in making an LPN program available.”

The program is being partially funded with a grant from the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

Before starting the program, the college must first obtain approval from the New Hampshire Board of Nursing.

“Right now, we are working on the curriculum and approval process,” Glover said. “It is a very involved process and the specifics of the program have to be laid out.”

The college also is seeking conditional approval from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

Once conditional approval is obtained, the college said in the news release it can begin accepting students. The first class would have a maximum of 32 students.

Glover said renovations will be needed in Lebanon before classes can begin and if they are not completed on time, the class could be offered in Claremont. The program also could become available at Lakes Region Community College in Laconia and could be expanded to other New Hampshire Community Colleges if there is sufficient demand.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.