Nursing | Great Falls College MSU

Practical Nurse - Associate of Applied Science Degree

Changing lives - achieving dreams

Start your health care career as a practical nurse at Great Falls College.

Learn from highly qualified nursing faculty in the largest simulated hospital in Montana. State-of-the-art high fidelity patient simulators provide a realistic health-care experience designed to supplement your on-site clinical experiences. Computerized patient simulation experience enhances assessment, decision making skills, and clinical competency within a risk free environment.

Entrance to this program is competitive and enrollment limited. Through a 9 month, intensive program of theory and clinical experience students are provided with a firm foundation in professionalism, communication, critical thinking, and caring. The practical nursing program has a 100% NCLEX pass rate

Licensed Practical Nurses play a vital role in healthcare, providing care to their patients in a variety of healthcare environments, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, rehabilitation centers, and home healthcare settings.

Once you earn your degree as a practical nurse, the option for transition in becoming a registered nurse with an Associate of Science in Nursing is available to you, in Great Falls, through our partner, MSU-Northern.

Practical Nurse - Program Staff

Kim Martin, RN, BSN, MSN, is the new GFC MSU Practical Nursing Program Director. She will take her position on July 1, 2013. Ms. Martin hails from Pennsylvania and holds a Master’s in Nursing Education from Walden University. She is currently a faculty member at Harrisburg Area Community College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “My vision for the Great Falls College Practical Nurse program is to shape, mold, and graduate professional, competent nurses - nurses whose caring is holistic and compassionate,” says Kim. Her first impression of the new GFC Simulated Hospital is that it is an educator’s dream, an all-inclusive lifetime facility.

Sandy Heyward, RN, BSN, MSN, joined the GFC MSU as a practical nurse faculty member on January 7, 2013. Ms. Heyward most recently worked at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and holds a Master’s in Nursing Education from Chamberlain College of Nursing. Sandy is excited to share her work experience with her students. She has worked as a nurse in the areas of gastrointestinal general medicine, surgery, and hemodialysis.

Status of Nursing Programs

Q: What is in the future for the College’s nursing programs?

The GFC MSU Practical Nurse program will be in place, ready for incoming students, at the beginning of fall semester 2013.
A new, collaborative partnership between Great Falls College MSU and Montana State University Northern will allow students to earn their Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) program entirely in Great Falls. The two colleges have agreed that twenty (20) slots in the ASN program will be designated for GFC MSU Practical Nurse graduates.
The College’s new Simulated Hospital will play a significant role in providing new faculty and students with an ideal learning environment – in both nursing programs.

Q: What is your advice to a student plans to enter one of the nursing programs?

Application materials are now available on the College’s website, http://www.gfcmsu.edu/catalog/index.htm. Students who will have completed the prerequisites for the practical nurse program are urged to apply in this competitive process. The deadline is May 15, 2013. Full submittal deadlines are listed within the application materials.
There will be an increase of the number of students who will be accommodated in the Practical Nurse program. Thirty (30) students will be accepted into the program for fall 2013. Formerly, the program was limited to twenty (20) students.
Information on the MSU-Northern ASN program will also be found at http://www.msun.edu/academics/nursing/docs/Application-LPN-2011-web.pdf

Q: How have community healthcare partners been involved in the new nursing programs?

Benefis Health System, the Colleges primary clinical site, is in favor of the Great Falls College/Northern collaborative Practical Nurse to Associate Degree of Nursing model. Benefis has offered support in the form of clinical slots and other resources.
Community healthcare partners were notified of the changes in the Great Falls College Practical Nursing program in May of 2012. They have been kept in the communication loop throughout the past nine months. They have been supportive and are celebrating with us as we make plans for fall semester 2013 program start-up.
Benefis Health System has endorsed the changes and is working with the two colleges to add psychiatric clinical rotations for student experience. They have also offered additional support in specific teaching specialties.

Q: How many nursing students have graduated from the College’s programs?

Since 2002, GFC MSU has graduated 201 Practical Nursing students. The College has graduated approximately 20 students per year.
The College has achieved a 100% pass rate on the NCLEX-PN (National Council of Licensing Exams-Practical Nurse) exam every year since 2002 as well. We are extremely proud of our legacy of nursing education excellence and happy to report that the College’s 2011-2012 graduating class had a 100% pass rate on the national licensure exams for Practical Nursing.
GFC MSU is also proud that 100% of the Practical Nurse graduates found employment with the majority taking their first jobs in Great Falls or the immediate surrounding area.