A group of Pennsylvania College of Technology employees have set up a scholarship fund for a nursing program at the college's North Campus near Wellsboro.
The staff of the North Campus will fund the new scholarship, which will provide an annual award of $250 to a student in the North Campus Outreach Practical Nursing Program.
Students in the noncredit program take a total of 1,504 hours of instruction over a calendar year. Classroom instruction in theory and nursing skills is provided at the North Campus, with clinical experiences provided at Soldiers + Sailors Memorial Hospital and the Green Home in Wellsboro, Charles Cole Memorial Hospital and Sweden Valley Manor in Coudersport, and other health-care facilities in the region.
Graduates who successfully complete the program are eligible to take the Practical Nursing National Council Licensure Examination in preparation for work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, home-health agencies, private homes, physician and dental offices, and other health-related offices.
Brenda G. Abplanalp, director of outreach services at the North Campus, said 24 students have graduated since the program began in 2004.
"Many of our practical nursing students at the North Campus juggle family responsibilities and jobs while going to school full time," Abplanalp said. "They often have needs that financial resources do not cover. The staff at Penn College's North Campus work very hard to assist the students. Sponsoring a scholarship is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our support in a tangible way."
The first award from the North Campus Practical Nursing Scholarship will be made in the fall of 2007. Applications can be filed online between Dec. 1 and Feb. 1.
For more information about Penn College's North Campus Outreach Practical Nursing Program, call (570) 724-7703 .