Herkimer BOCES Adult Practical Nursing Program Coordinator Sara Nicolette sat down with Katrina Smith for a NewsTalk on the local nurse shortage.
Sara Nicolette, who also is a member of the New York State Education Department Practical Nursing Advisory Board, recently conducted a survey of healthcare facilities within a 15-mile radius of the BOCES program’s location at the Remington Educational Complex in Ilion.
The survey identified 610 jobs within that area requiring an LPN. Of those jobs, 123 of them were currently open – not counting openings in clinics.
The Herkimer BOCES Adult Practical Nursing Program offers a full-time class, a part-time day class and a part-time evening class.
The program is expected to have about 35 graduates this year becoming certified as LPNs, but even three times that amount wouldn’t fill all the local jobs, Nicolette said.