Medical Training

Ninety one percent success rate! Wow! Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts is ahead of many other LVN schools in California! Our most recent graduates’ NCLEX passing results just came in, and the results were astonishing! This was great and exciting news our Chief Academic Officer brought to the latest faculty meeting last Friday. All the instructors in the meeting were happy and proud to hear the news. And as we thought about it, our school deserves to be recognized for one of the strongest VN Programs in California.

Just think about this. Only a few years ago, Gurnick Academy was a small single campus Vocational Nursing program, struggling to compete with other major LVN programs in the Bay Area. And look, where we are now. We are growing stronger than ever, better than ever, more successful than ever.

The journey to success of Gurnick Academy has not been easy. Our Nursing College went through many changes, upgrades, and innovations, which came with much efforts and energy from our school’s executive board, and, of course, all the faculty and staff. This is an example of successful team work, and we do have an amazing team of coordinators, clinical instructors, VN course lecturers, support staff, and of course, our leaders. Without them, who knows, where we would be?

Today, I had a great opportunity to meet with the Concord campus faculty of Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts. What a wonderful group they are! I was invited to give a presentation on the effective teaching methods for the didactic and clinical instructors. The meeting was very interactive, as the faculty members started asking questions and making comments, and the excitement of the event was present in the air.

As I was standing in front of this lively, intelligent group, I thought to myself: “What a wonderful idea to have faculty of different campuses interact with each other like this!” If anyone benefits from such interaction, it is our LVN students! It’s true! When working with an accelerated LVN programs, instructors have to work together, presenting a united front, when it comes to developing successful teaching methods and training techniques. Not only we get to “vent” about our problems in teaching, but we also find out the approaches of other teachers to certain challenges. And sometimes, we get to learn something completely unexpected and refreshing, leading to “Aha!” moments of our own, when we move outside of our comfortable boxes and look at what other instructors are doing.

I am proud to be a part of Gurnick Academy, who is promoting such interaction between the VN School faculties. Instructors get to learn from each other, share their concerns, experiences, and expertise with each other, making our LVN school stronger and more successful.

Well we are back to school and it’s time to buckle up, study hard and enjoy the now. And I do mean enjoy the now. This time for knowledge, learned by both LVN courses and practical hands-on experience, is an important leap towards furthering your education and ultimately holding that coveted license as a Vocational Nurse (LPN Licensed Practical Nurse.

For my clinical students this is their first time for what we term as patient care with “real patients.”  The students are now interacting with real time and place situations in the process of becoming a fluent and valuable LVN of the future.  Here are a few of the skills which you must acquire during this critical and fulfilling portion of your clinical studies:

Patient Care:
A. Vital Signs
B. Wound care and treatments
C. Foley care and insertion
D. Collection of urine specimens
E. Removal of surgical staples
F. Develop critical thinking
G. Develop leadership skills

These skills must be obtained and made ready for the call of your new sought-after profession as a Licensed Vocational Nurse.  Be proud of those letters LVN and keep those letters always at the forefront of your day.  Remember it’s a journey and every journey begins with one step forward.

If you attended this weekend’s graduation ceremony of our VN group 17 and 18, class of 2010, you, probably, would have cried too. Tears of joy of making it to this long-anticipated day, filled with bitter-sweet memories and good-byes, tears of happiness and pride were rolling down the cheeks of our LVN students and faculty. Smiles were on every face, and no heart was left untouched.Following the heartrending Amazing Grace, the speeches of our VN program director and program coordinator, the beloved instructors and counselor, touched the hearts of the graduates and their families, who came to support and celebrate this special day for Gurnick Academy.

When the time came to light those candles and to pronounce the famous Florence Nightingale Pledge, the faces of our graduates lit up. It was not just the glow of the candles, but the deep, sincere belief in every word of the oath they were taking and the pride and devotion in becoming nurses that kindled the radiance on those faces. Oh, how pure that moment was! The distribution of the diplomas and the pinning of each student by their family members: husbands, wives, parents, or children, was simply breathtaking in the sincerity of the moment. Then the speeches by the student body government that brought tears to the eyes of the listeners as well as the speakers themselves were followed by the ever-so-moving slide show, accompanied by song No More You, where pictures of the fun times, working and learning together, growing to be nurses, were shown to the audience.

Our LVN students have finished their studies here at Gurnick, but they will never leave our hearts. And we will always welcome them back with open arms, because no matter where they go, or where their career takes them, they will always have us: their Gurnick family. Congratulations, class of 2010! Farewell and Good Luck!

Each student at a LVN or LPN school learns about nursing care for all stages of life including childbirth and infancy.  During this phase of life, some nurses have a credential to provide greater assistance for the lactating mother and baby.  There is even an association, The International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA), which has over 5,000 members in 50 nations for the International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs). Nurses, midwives, and physicians are not the only health professionals allowed to become certified as a Lactation Consultants.

This specialty also encourages childbirth educators, dietitians, and other health professionals to apply for certification.  The role of a lactation consultant is far more in-depth than just helping the new mother breastfeed.  According to Valerie Banarie, RN, BSN, CLC from Breastingfeeding.com, Lactation Consultants can address the following breast-feeding challenges: infant latch-on problems, sore nipples, infant’s rapid weight loss or slow weight gain, insufficient breast- milk, and twin infants.

If a LVN or LPN wants to specialize in the clinical management of breastfeeding there are several health care settings that can utilize their expertise.  According to the ILCA (www.ilca.org), Lactation Consultants can work in “…hospitals, pediatric offices, public health clinics, and private practice.” For those that want to address global health, the ILCA with UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), provides representatives to organizations including the World Health Assembly and United Nations.

Well, the Summer break is officially over at Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts, and it’s time to roll up those sleeves again and get back to work. For some of our LVN students it’s time to continue their studies, get back to those thick textbooks and get ready to take more lecture notes. They feel like the seniors of Gurnick Academy. LVN classrooms come back to life after a two-week break, and like a busy bee-hive, our LVN college is buzzing again with students hurrying to their classes, instructors walking down the hallways, locomotion in the corridors, moving desks, equipment, projectors… lights… camera… action!

And yet, though some of our nursing students are soon to graduate, others are only beginning their journey. We are talking about the LVN students who are just starting their LVN program now. This will be their first module, and they are about to take their first LVN course, the Fundamentals of Nursing. Our newcomers are about to experience their first contact with this profession, with the world of nursing, as they attend the Clinical Skills Lab course. And even though they have a long way to go to their graduation day and they may feel a little nervous right now, they are excited, because they know that they are on their way to something wonderful, stimulating, and very rewarding. Welcome back to school, Gurnick!

What would you do if you were asked to change the way you look at things, not just for a day, but for one whole month?  Would you do it? Today the Modesto faculty at Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts did just that – they took on the challenge to change. Their quest consists of wearing a purple bracelet made by Complaint Free World to remind them that when they gossip or are part of a triangulation, they are to move their bracelet from one wrist to the other.  This bracelet is much more than something colorful; hopefully this new attire will bring more awareness and allow time to change the way they want to look at things.  Awareness is the first step to change.  When we force ourselves to change, we usually meet resistance.

The thirty-day challenge allows for time to integrate this transition.  According to Wayne Dyer, Ph.D., internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”  I challenge all faculty of LVN and LPN schools to become models to their LVN/LPN students.  LVN/LPN programs can be the foundation for creating this transformation.  Together we can become a positive contagion to the nursing profession by being a living example of respectful teamwork.

Mary is an lvn student and a single mom. Just like so many other single moms, Mary is struggling to make ends meet. After an excruciatingly painful divorce, Mary had to take control over her life. She had to get back up on her feet to provide for her 6 year old daughter Amy, who is now in kindergarten and has no clue how hard her mom is trying to make ends meet. Amy is a happy little girl. Her mom loves her, making sure, Amy has everything she needs.

After her life was turned upside down, Mary had to figure out the next step in her path. She had to think fast. Being a realtor in the current economy was not the best way to go on. With the housing market plummeting down faster than sinking Titanic, Mary couldn’t make ends meet. She had to sell her house just to keep up with her bills. Something had to change. Fast!

In the midst of the financial despair following the divorce, after devastating crash of her social status, as well as her shaken self-confidence, Mary came to a brilliant thought: change life completely!

On this blank new page in her life, Mary decided to write a new story and make a very bold move: go back to school. Start from scratch, get a new career. This is when Mary became determined to become an lvn nurse.

Looking for the right lvn program was not easy and once found the right school, serious adjustments in Mary’s life had to be made. It is difficult to go back to studies after decades being out of school. Mary had to cut her hours at work to keep up with the lvn school classes and assignments. No one told her, how difficult this would be: juggling school, work, home, her daughter, and much more.

However, on the first day of the lvn program, Mary discovered that she was not alone. Almost everyone in her new class was there to change their lives. Almost everyone came to the lvn program to become somewhat renewed, stronger, better. Someone was there to switch from their high-tech career, because they got sick and tired of computers, and wanted some human contact. Someone came from the world of finance, because of the problems in the economy, and a need to change their life perspectives. Someone went to lvn school simply because they couldn’t find the fulfillment through their previous job, and craved the inner gratification of helping other people. But all the students in Mary’s class came to get the lvn training to change their lives.

Today Mary is on her way to her goal. Someone said, a goal is a dream with a date on it, and they were right: Mary’s dream of making life better for herself and her daughter Amy will soon come true. And even though Mary is struggling just like all other lvn students keeping up with school and her growing daughter, while trying to make ends meet, she is happy, because she is on her way to something fresh and exciting. And maybe the road to Mary’s dream is full of curves and obstacles, this story has a happy ending, or, perhaps, a happy beginning…