Practical Nursing Petitioning Process

Admission Criteria and Procedures
Petitioning is the process where you are requesting admission into the clinical nursing courses of the program. Prior to petitioning for acceptance into the Practical Nursing program, you must apply to the College by completing a Clark State Community College admission application. Admission to the College does not guarantee acceptance into the Practical Nursing program. You may petition to the Practical Nursing program only after you have met requirements in math, reading and grade point average. Once these requirements are met, your name is placed on the program's admission waiting list.

Waiting lists are maintained for the College's nursing programs because the number of students that can be admitted into the clinical nursing courses each year is restricted due to limited availability of clinical sites and nursing faculty. Detailed information about the program's petitioning requirements and the process follows. You may only petition to have your name placed on one nursing program admission waiting list.

Licensure Requirements
In order to practice as a nurse, graduates must take and pass a national licensure exam and apply for licensure in the state in which they wish to be employed.

Please be advised that the following crimes are automatic bars to licensure.

Further, the Ohio Board of Nursing (the Board) may propose to deny an application for the following:

• Any felony
• A crime involving gross immorality or moral turpitude
• A misdemeanor drug law violation
• A misdemeanor committed in the course of practice

Other than the automatic licensure bars described above, the Board is unable to give definitive answers regarding licensure prior to entry into or during participation in a nursing education program. The Board is unable to advise, speculate or give informal answers to the question of licensure prior to the time the application for license is filed.

If an applicant has a criminal history, the Board conducts a thorough investigation of any grounds that may exist for licensure denial at the time that the application is filed. The Board may consider whether the applicant has made restitution and/or has been rehabilitated.

How to Petition

You petition by completing the Petition Request form. This form is available online at the end of this petitioning information. When you submit your petition request form online, you will receive an automated message with the date and time that your request was received. This does not mean that your name has been placed on the waiting list but only indicates that your request has been received. Please print and keep a copy for your records.

What Happens After Petitioning?

Once you have completed the petition requirements and submitted your petition request to place your name on the waiting list, you will receive a letter. If you have not met all of the requirements, a letter will be sent stating what is incomplete. You must then complete the necessary requirement(s) and re-petition for your program. If you have met all the requirements, you will receive a letter notifying you that your name has been placed on the waiting list. This means that you have met all the requirements to be placed on the list and that you are now waiting on a position in the LPN program. Please keep this letter for your records. The nursing courses sequence begins in the fall for the full-time Practical Nursing program. The acceptance process into this program begins in February and continues until the program is full.

Acceptance Process

Students are considered for acceptance into the nursing LPN courses from the waiting list based on the date that their name was placed on the list. In February each year, the Records and Registration Office checks the GPAs of the students who are being considered for acceptance into the program for Fall Quarter. These students are then sent letters of acceptance or denial. Students are denied if their cumulative grade point average, based on courses in the program curriculum, is less than 2.0.

Students who receive an acceptance letter are asked to return a card indicating if they wish to accept or decline entry into the program. Students can decline admission once and retain their place on the waiting list. If a student declines admission into the nursing courses a second time, his/her name is removed from the waiting list and the student would need to submit another petition request if they wished to be considered for future admission into the program. If a student fails to return the card within the stated time, the offer is revoked and the student’s name is removed from the waiting list.

Students accepted into the nursing program should follow current program curriculum plans to assure that all course prerequisites are completed to allow for progression within the program. Students who have been accepted for entry into nursing courses but fail to successfully complete the course prerequisites will have their acceptance revoked.

What Can You Do While You Are Waiting?

While on the waiting list, you need to take any of the non-nursing courses (any course without the letters LPN or NUR preceding the numbers) included in the curriculum of the LPN program. Many of these courses have pre- and/or co-requisites, which are listed with the course description in the College catalog, schedule booklet, and online. Not all courses are offered every quarter. You should seek guidance from your assigned faculty advisor prior to registering for courses each quarter.

Prior to starting the first clinical course, you must have recently (within previous 24 months) completed MST 181 Nurse Aide Training course or have current credentials as a State Tested Nurse's Aide (STNA). In certain instances, the student can meet the STNA requirement in another manner.

Current certification as a professional CPR (BLS) provider is also required at the time of entry into the first clinical nursing course. EMS 171 Basic Life Support is offered at Clark State or you can obtain certification through American Heart Association or American Red Cross.

Students accepted into the LPN program must complete all non-nursing courses prior to starting their first clinical nursing course, LPN 160.

If you have completed all of the non-nursing courses in the curriculum and wish to continue taking courses while waiting for acceptance into the clinical courses, there are other courses that are offered at the College that can assist to prepare you for a health care career and/or may be applied towards a higher degree in nursing at a later date. If you are receiving financial aid, please discuss what impact, if any, taking non-curriculum courses will have on your financial aid with someone in the College's Financial Aid Office.

All students are encouraged to contact their nursing advisor each quarter prior to registering for courses.

Do you need to meet any additional requirements while on the list?
If your name comes up for entry into the program, you must have at least an overall "C" or 2.0 grade point average for the courses in the nursing curriculum. If you do not have a 2.0, your name will be removed from the list. After repeating whatever class(es) you need to bring your grade point average up to at least a 2.0, you must then re-petition to place your name on the list.

How can you track your petitioning and/or acceptance status?
You can track your petitioning, waiting list and program acceptance status through WebAdvisor. WebAdvisor can be accessed from the Quick Links on the Clark State web site. After you log in to your WebAdvisor account with your user ID and password, select the Students Menu, then select "My Documents" under Communication.

Verification of Petitioning Requirements

In order to be accepted into the Practical Nursing program, the College will need to verify that you have met all of the necessary requirements. Verification will be made strictly on the answers you provide on your petition request form. The answers you provide as evidence of meeting a requirement will be the only information reviewed by the College. If it is found that you did not meet a requirement as stated, your petition will be denied.

Petition Request Form

After you submit this request, you will receive confirmation that your request was received. This does NOT indicate that your name has been placed on the list.

Once your petition request is received, your academic records/transcripts are reviewed to verify that you have met the requirements for this program. You will receive notification as to the status of your petition request within 45 days via mail.

• If your request has been granted, your name is placed on the list effective the date your request was received.
  
• If your request is denied, you will be notified of the reason for the denial, and you will need to re-petition after all requirements are met.

To check the status of your request, contact the Health and Human Services Division at 937/328-6057.