Nursing combines science and the art of working with people. Nurses are integrally involved in the lives of their clients, helping them to maximize their health and cope with illness. Nurses perform multiple roles in the care of their clients. Not only do they provide hands-on care, they also act as educators, counselors, coordinators and conciliators. Using scientific knowledge and technical skills, nurses continually assess the physical, emotional and social status of their clients. Nurses work with clients and their families to devise care plans for each situation. As they continually monitor client progress, they make important decisions about appropriate methods to deal with problems.
Nursing offers diversity in roles and settings, a wide range of career paths, employment opportunities and competitive salaries. People are attracted to nursing by the focus on caring, flexibility of working schedules and challenges to excel within the profession. Licensed Practical Nurses are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, home care, clinics, health centers, physicians’ offices and the military. BCC’s nursing program is a sequence of lecture, laboratory and clinical courses. Graduates are eligible to take the licensing examination to become Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs).
Good Moral Character
Good Moral Character (GMC)
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 112, sections 74, 74A, and 76 require you to provide specific documentation for GMC evaluation if you answer yes to questions related to criminal or disciplinary history.
GMC also requires your consent, at the time of application submission, for a background check to be conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) database. If there is a supported finding by DCF, you will be required to provide additional documentation related to those findings.
Effective Monday, December 4, 2023, all applicants for nursing licensure and advanced practice authorization will be required to have a Massachusetts criminal history background check completed before becoming licensed or issued an Authorization to Test for the NCLEX. CORI forms will now be part of the online application and must be completed. Checks of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry will also be conducted prior to licensure. This check does not require any additional documentation to be completed.
See Licensure Policy 00-01 (PDF) | (DOCX) for the Board’s policy on Determination of Good Moral Character Compliance.
See Licensure Policy 17-01 (PDF) | (DOCX) Board Delegation to Board Staff to make Final Determination of GMC Compliance
Frequently asked questions and other important information is found in the Good Moral Character Information Sheet (PDF) | (DOC).
PN Info-Sessions
Please head to www.berkshirecc.edu/nursinginfo to sign up for a Practical Nursing information session.
Essential Functions
Berkshire Community College seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. Therefore, to the extent practicable, the College will endeavor to make a reasonable academic adjustment for an applicant with a disability who is otherwise qualified.
The Essential Functions of a student enrolled in the Nursing program requires that the student, with or without reasonable accommodations, must be able to:
Body Mechanics/Endurance:
- Demonstrate the ability to perform essential functions for a maximum of a 12-hour shift.
- Demonstrate the ability to protect a patient when the patient is standing and ambulating on all surfaces with or without the use of assistive devices, including canes, crutches and walkers.
- Demonstrate the ability to safely move a patient over 100 pounds from one surface to another using the appropriate level of help.
- Demonstrate safe body mechanics in the process of all patient treatments, including lifting and carrying small equipment (under 50 pounds) and moving large equipment (over 50 pounds).
- Sustain repetitive movements
- Move at a pace that will allow the student to answer a patient’s emergency needs
- Defend self against combative patient
Gross/Fine Motor Skills:
- Sit and stand maintaining balance
- Demonstrate the ability to perform occasional overhead extension.
- Reach below waist
- Demonstrate the ability to manipulate dials on equipment.
- Demonstrate the ability to coordinate simultaneous motions.
Sensory Perception:
- Demonstrate the ability to hear blood pressure, heart and lung sounds with or without corrective devices.
- Demonstrate the ability to palpate soft tissue including pulse, muscle and bones.
- Distinguish color changes.
- Detect an unsafe environment and carry out appropriate emergency procedures including
- Detecting subtle environmental changes and odors including but not limited to the smell of burning electrical equipment, smoke and spills.
- Detect high and low frequency sounds, including but not limited to alarms, bells, and emergency signals.
Psychosocial Adaptation:
- Displays mental and emotional flexibility to change.
- Demonstrates ability to establish and maintain effective professional relationships with others.
- Communicate effectively, safely and efficiently in English by:
- Explaining procedures
- Receiving information from others
- Receiving information from written documents
- Exhibiting appropriate interpersonal skill (refer to ANA Code for Nurses)
- Analyzing and documenting assessment findings and interventions
These are the Essential Functions of the Associate Degree and Practical Nursing Program. If there are any reasons why you may not be able to perform these functions with or without reasonable accommodations, you should notify the Program Director as soon as possible.
General Admission Requirements
The following requirements must be completed to be admitted into the PN program:
**For student anticipating on bridging LPN/ADN Mobility immediately following graduation should refer to Educational Mobility Policy. Students who have not completed BIO- 201, BIO-202, BIO-207 prior to January 1, 2018 will be required to earn a grade of C+ (77) or better to be eligible for admission to the ADN program.
All sciences must be completed within seven years of entry into the program (ex: BIO-201, BIO-202 and BIO-207).
Determining Acceptance to the PN Program
Each spring, a maximum of 39 students are conditionally admitted to the program. Admission into BCC’s Practical Nursing (PN) Program is open to applicants who meet the requirements and space availability in the program. Students applying to this program must complete and submit the same college application form as other students applying to the college plus a PN matriculation form, found at the bottom of the Nursing Information Sessions page. Applications and matriculation forms must be received by the BCC Admissions Office by July 15th to be considered for entry in the fall semester. Only students who have met all PN admission requirements by July 15th will be considered for admission. Admission decisions are made on an ongoing basis as qualified students complete the application and matriculation process. Students are notified of their acceptance by postal mail. Applicants must ensure that their contact information is accurate and up-to-date at all times. Students will have up to three business days to respond to BCC. The sequence of nursing courses begins in the fall semester and continues through the end of June. Accepted students may defer one time for a one year period. Students offered readmission to the PN program are not eligible to defer.
Space Available List
Once a cap of 39 students is reached, an alternate list (Space Available List) of qualified applicants is developed. Individuals on the Space Available List will be identified only by their BCC ID. To remain eligible, individuals on the Space Available List must continue to meet all admission requirements. If not admitted, those students on the Space Available List must reapply to the program. Students are notified of their acceptance by postal mail. Applicants must ensure that their contact information is accurate and up-to-date at all times. Students will have up to three business days to respond to BCC.
Educational Mobility: LPN to ADN
Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) who apply to BCC’s Associate in Science degree in Nursing program may challenge the first two nursing courses (NUR-101 and NUR-102) through a standardized theoretical test.
Applicants who pass the challenge examinations will receive 17 credits for NUR-101 and NUR-102 upon admission. In addition to meeting all other nursing admission standards, applicants must have licensure as a practical nurse in the state of Massachusetts through successful completion of the National Certification Licensing Exam (NCLEX) as a condition for provisional admission by the time of application deadline.
Students must enroll in NUR-201 within one year of taking the challenge exam. Enrollment requires the completion of a “bridge” course (NUR-106) during the summer or winter intercession prior to admission.
At a minimum, five (5) seats for the Spring semester are reserved for BCC Practical Nursing students who;
- recently graduate the prior summer;
- declare intention to transition by November 1st deadline into the LPN/ADN mobility pathway;
- have met all ADN admission requirements;
- have attended an Educational Mobility: LPN to ADN information session; and
- submitted the LPN/ADN matriculation form. The deadline for the Spring admission is June 1st. The deadline for Fall admission is November 1st.
Please head to www.berkshirecc.edu/nursinginfo to sign up for the Educational Mobility: LPN to ADN information session.
Please refer to the Education Mobility Policy for more details.
Mandatory Health Requirements - Immunization Policy
End-of-Program Student Learning Outcomes (EPSLOs)
The end of program student learning outcomes (EPSLOs) for the BCC PN program are tied to the Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies (NOFNCC). The course student learning outcomes are designed to determine student achievement of specific NOFNCC competencies at each course level by the end of the program.
By the end of the Practical Nursing program, graduates are able to:
- Provide holistic care that recognizes an individual’s preferences, values and needs and respects the patient or designee as a full partner in providing compassionate, coordinated, age and culturally appropriate, safe and effective care. (Patient centered care)
- Demonstrate accountability for the delivery of standard-based nursing care that is consistent with moral, altruistic, legal, ethical, regulatory, and humanistic principles. (Professionalism)
- Influence the behavior of individuals or groups of individuals within their environment in a way that will facilitate the achievement of shared goals. (Leadership)
- Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of the health care system, and by demonstrating the ability to use microsystem resources in providing client care at optimal quality and value. (Systems based practice)
- Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making. (Informatics and technology)
- Interact effectively with patients, families, and colleagues, fostering mutual respect and shared decision making, to enhance patient satisfaction and health outcomes. (Communication)
- Function effectively within nursing and interdisciplinary health care teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, shared decision-making, team learning and development. (Teamwork and collaboration)
- Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance (Safety)
- Use data to monitor the outcomes and uses data to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care systems. (Quality Improvement)
- Model the value of using best current evidence coupled with clinical expertise and consideration of patients’ preferences, experience and values to make practice decisions. (Evidence based practice)
Program Outcomes
- NCLEX-PN Annual Pass rate: 2023 – 100% Pass Rate for first time test takers
Annual Program Completion Rate at 150% of Usual Time MABORN - 2022-2024 (reported 2024) – 85%
Annual Program Completion Rate at 100% of Usual Time ACEN - 2023-2024 - 47%
Number of graduates for 2024 = 9
For transfer credits, please see transfer policy for PN program.
Graduation Requirements
To earn a certificate in this program, a student must complete all program credits plus the following additional requirements. For more information, please see the Graduation Policy.
Program Courses
Prerequisite Courses
| PSY-107 | Introductory Psychology | 3 |
| ENG-101 | Composition I | 3 |
| BIO-150 | Introduction to the Human Body | 3 |
-
| Or | |
| BIO-201 | Anatomy & Physiology I | 4 |
-
| And | |
| BIO-202 | Anatomy & Physiology II | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 9 |
Practical Nurse Courses
| LPN-142 | Health Maintenance of the Adult and Aging | 15 |
| LPN-145 | Gerontology Practicum | 2 |
| LPN-152 | Health Alterations of the Adult and Aging | 15 |
| LPN-162 | Health Care of the Family | 6 |
Additional Requirements
Minimum Cumulative Average
Minimum Percentile Grade
| Each LPN course |
75% |
| All other courses |
73% |
Suggested Pathway to Graduation
First Semester
| LPN-142 | Health Maintenance of the Adult and Aging | 15 |
Winter Session
Second Semester
| LPN-152 | Health Alterations of the Adult and Aging | 15 |
Summer Session
Policies
Additional Policies:
Intention to Practice Outside of Massachusetts
Graduates from Berkshire Community College's Associate Degree Nursing or Practical Nursing programs are qualified to work in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts upon the successful completion of program and the attainment of the appropriate licensure.
Not all states have the same state-level requirements for licensure. If you intend to practice outside of Massachusetts and obtain a license in another state you are encouraged to review the NCSBN websitehttps://www.ncsbn.org/14730.htmfor eligibility. As an applicant to the BCC Nursing Programs, you are encouraged to discuss your ability for licensure and work in another state other than Massachusetts with the Dean of Nursing.
Notices and Disclosures
- Any prior criminal offense could hinder placement in clinical agencies. See Criminal Offender Record Information Checks for details. In the event that an applicant has ever been convicted by a court of law, or is convicted during his or her tenure in the Nursing program, she/he should be aware that she/he may be denied the right by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing to sit for the National Council Licensing Examination (NCLEX-PN) which leads to PN licensure upon graduation.
Notes
Berkshire Community College seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. Therefore, to the extent practicable, the College will endeavor to make a reasonable academic adjustment for an applicant with a disability who is otherwise qualified.
- Lecture and laboratory sessions are held on the Main Campus in Pittsfield. Clinical experiences may be held at any facility in Berkshire County and may be a day, evening or weekend clinical.
- Students who previously failed more than one nursing program, PN or ADN, from any school/program, will not be admitted to the BCC Practical Nursing program.
-
Students must have proof of current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Students are responsible for ensuring that their CPR certification is always current throughout the years in the program.
The following CPR courses are acceptable for meeting this requirement:
- American Heart Association: Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers (2-year certification)
- American Red Cross: Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (2-year certification)
- BCC will not admit students concurrently into any two of the following degree or certificate programs: Physical Therapist Assistant, Respiratory Care, LPN or ADN.