Students hoping to be registered nurses wait up to five years to enter the program, while other nursing student are getting in right away, graduating in 18 months, and getting jobs earning up to $50,000 per year.

These other nursing students are Licensed Vocational Nurses, or LVNs.

“I had been told that I would not get into the program until 2007,” said LVN student Laura Martancik. “I got in this past August.”

Students like Martancik are needed to fill critical gaps in assisted living facilities and hospitals throughout the state. Base pay for these jobs ranges from $18 to $25 per hour.

“When they become LVNs, they can work in many different settings. They will have two to four job offers immediately. And the rate of pay has greatly increased because of the shortage,” said Ann Marie Kopeikin, City College LVN director.

California ranks No. 49 in the nation in the number of registered nurses per capita, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kopeikin said vocational nurses are helping to ease the strain on the understaffed facilities in California.

“We all need to do our part to help this incredible nursing problem,” Kopeikin said.

California Nursing is an agency that helps LVNs land temporary jobs at needy hospitals and assisted living facilities.

“There are [vocational nurses] filling head nursing positions at assisted living centers all over California,” said Jodi Volovick, a dispatcher with California Nursing.

City College LVN certification provides graduates with the paperwork that immediately places them in jobs earning up to $36 per hour at assisted living facilities, hospitals and rehabilitation institutes.

Shawn Barnes, a May 2005 graduate of the LVN program, said her job is on par with those of other nursing graduates.

“I have a really good job; so I make what most of the registered nurses make,” she said.

Vocational nurses have seen more action since hospitals switched from single nurse-to-patient treatment over to team nursing.

LVNs and registered nurses work as a team to better treat patients, said Kopeikin.

That is why three years ago, the vocational nursing program at City College received a $237,000 grant to expand.

Students are placed on the program waiting list after completing general education requirements. Those who perform well in their general education courses are made alternates behind students on the waiting list from past semesters.

“If you’re an alternate, you pretty much get in,” said Martancik.

Students can complete the prerequisites in one, nine-unit semester.

From there, the other 47.25 units can be completed in three semesters, she said. “The first two weeks are so intense that a lot of people just say, ‘OK, this really isn’t for me,’ and drop out,” Martancik said.

Crashing the first two weeks gets students into the program early because of the high dropout rate, Martancik said.

The program also places graduates onto a shorter wait list for the registered nursing program.

“It’s only a two semester [wait] from there instead of four semesters,” Kopeikin said. Graduates can also get valuable, real-world nursing experience while waiting, which better prepares them for the registered nursing program, Kopeikin added.

Kopeikin and Martancik agree that for students looking to enter the workforce with a viable certificate in nursing, or for students looking to get a jump start on becoming registered nurses, the City College program is excellent.