The University of Arkansas Cossatot held a pinning ceremony for Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium (ARNEC) LPN/LVN-to-RN transition program graduates on Saturday, December 1, 2018, at the historic UA Cossatot Bank of Lockesburg Gymnasium on the Lockesburg Campus.  This year the program graduated eighteen students.  Program Division Chair Kim Dickerson said, “You couldn’t ask for a better group of students. Our faculty and staff set the bar high in all of our medical programs and our work hard to achieve their goals. We are doing all we can to fill the critical shortage of medical personnel in our region.”

ARNEC is a co-operative effort of eight two-year colleges who joined to offer the program.  The 12-month program combines classroom instruction with clinical experiences and is designed to meet the needs of working LPN’s or LVN’s and meets the requirements of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.  Graduates of the program receive an Associate of Applied Science degree which prepares them to take the NCLEX-RN (Registered Nurse licensing examination).

The transition program courses are offered using real-time interactive web technology. The courses are scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 3:30–8:30 p.m. at the UA Cossatot De Queen and Nashville campuses, and most clinical time takes place on weekends and evenings.  Interested students should contact Christina Cooper to enroll in any needed pre-requisite courses.

For more information please visit www.cccua.edu or call the University of Arkansas Cossatot at 1-800-844-4471.