Earlier this year, the crushing announcement came that there would not be an LPN class in Summers County in the fall as there had been for many years previously.
The LPN class has been a staple in the community providing the necessary education to locals entering the nursing field. Unfortunately, a new instructor became necessary for the class to continue. After posting the position multiple times, there seemed little hope that a new instructor would be found. This caused the cancellation of the fall 2020 class. The community expressed their concerns over the loss of this class detailing the difficulty in locating another class that they could feasibly utilize and the loss of time to register.
Thankfully, there is good news on this subject. A new instructor has been found and the class is set to resume in January 2021.
The LPN class is set to begin on Jan. 4, 2021, at the Summers County ARH Hospital. Wes Dangerfield, community CEO of Summers County ARH is working closely with Superintendent Warvel and other Board of Education representatives to ensure a successful class.
The necessity of canceling the class was not something that the Board of Education took lightly. David Warvel, Summers County Board of Education superintendent, had this to say; “We posted that position six times and this time we changed it to evening hours because people just weren’t applying.”
There were several barriers that were causing a low level of interest in the position, which made it incredibly difficult to find someone willing to cross them all, Warvel said..
The first major consideration was a pay cut. Mr. Warvel said, “I guess the biggest problem we had was, if you’re certified to be a nurse, most people don’t want to take such a huge pay cut and we don’t deal with the pay. That is a state code where they put out the pay scale.”
This was not the only issue that stood between a qualified candidate and accepting the position. Another consideration was the fact that the candidate must have or obtain a teaching certificate.
“They do that through Marshall University and that takes six classes. So, that’s the second barrier,” Warvel said.
The third barrier involves accreditation. Superintendent Warvel said, “We have to get accredited. There was a state code that was changed and a new law was made that we need to be accredited by, not this coming summer but the following summer, so 2022. So that is a lot that this person is going to have to take on.”
The final barrier was, “actually teaching and getting these young adults prepared for a world that’s out there. Those are huge barriers,” Warvel said.
Even through all of the barriers, one candidate faced all of the challenges and stepped up to take on the position.
Milissa Fox has taken on the program and will be teaching the upcoming class beginning in January.
Warvel said, “We are very fortunate that Milissa wanted to do this. We feel pretty blessed because it’s not easy to find someone who wants to take on those barriers.”
The location of the class at the Summers County ARH will provide an excellent opportunity for students. When it is time to work on clinicals, students will go right into the hospital and be immersed in real-world experience.
All students who were signed-up for the canceled class have been contacted. Anyone who wished to remain in the program has been transferred into the new class. All students who chose to withdraw from the program due to the wait have been refunded, according to Warvel.
With a new instructor at the helm and a start date in sight, this class is on track to great things. If anyone has questions about the revamped program, contact the Summers County Board of Education at 304-466-6006.
