APU Receives Accreditation for Licensed Practical Nurse Certificate
Alaska Pacific University
Alaska Pacific University (APU) now has the state’s only accredited program for Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) training. The Accreditation Commission on Education (ACEN) awarded accreditation to the program in early May, just after five new nurses graduated in Bethel.
Accreditation Where It’s Due
The program has existed for just over a year and is striving to meet Alaska’s need for culturally safe healthcare practices. As ACEN noted, “The program and governing organization’s mission and philosophy of educating Alaskans and meeting students where they are to provide culturally safe education was evident in every interaction with university and program representatives, students, community partners, and communities of interest.”
LPNs work under Registered Nurses or sometimes under physicians directly, able to administer medicines or start intravenous lines. The LPN program addresses Alaska’s nursing shortage and is part of APU’s larger mission to serve the workforce development needs of the state. APU currently collaborates with community partners to provide LPN training in Bethel and Fairbanks.
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“We are very excited to support the development of the Practical Nursing program and to host classes on our campus,” says Mike Hoffman, executive director of Yuut Elitnaurviat People’s Learning Center in Bethel. “The students and new LPNs from APU’s program are having an immediate impact on our community.”
On April 27, five women received their LPN certificates and pins at a ceremony at Yuut Elitnaurviat. The graduates recited the international nursing pledge of service and lit lamps symbolic of the pioneer of the field, Florence Nightingale.
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The ACEN accreditation process includes a year-long self-study, an evaluation site visit by peer reviewers, and an assessment by the ACEN commissioners. Accreditation is conferred on programs that have been found to meet or exceed standards for educational quality. APU’s associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing were initially accredited by ACEN last spring.
The development of the LPN program has been made possible thanks to support from clinical partners and funding from the US Department of Education. APU plans to expand the program to Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and Juneau next year.
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