While Butler Tech’s numerous high school programs often get statewide and national attention, the career school system, which is celebrating its half-year anniversary, there are thousands of area adults among the yearly average of 18,000 total students who partake of designed for those beyond high school.
Besides nursing, these programs include public safety, commercial transportation, firefighting, EMS, industrial technology, welding, robotics and more.
Bald is a member of the first RN class that started in the fall and she praised the mixed class schedule of online and in-person learning.
“The program is hybrid, so it’s in class and online… once a week in person,” she said, adding her appreciation of the program’s flexible scheduling which accommodates her full-time job.
Bald said her early clinical experiences have been transformative, offering immediate practical application in real-world settings, such as at Miami Valley Hospital.
“We jumped right in the very first week going into clinical,” she said, adding her appreciation of the new nursing program’s emphasis on hands-on training.
Dr. Sarah DeLong, dean of health care at Butler Tech, said the new program was designed for speedy exposure and training in the fast-growing field.
Butler Tech officials describe the program, which currently enrolls about 230 adult students, as a strategic response “to regional healthcare needs.”
DeLong said the program is supported by partnerships with major healthcare providers like Kettering Health and Mercy Health, which offer clinical sites and potential job placements.
“We listened to the needs of our business partners and the high interest in nursing from our students… with the success of our current LPN program I am more than confident in the future of the RN program and its graduates.”
Bald said she is not only focused on completing her RN studies but aspires to specialize in geriatrics. She sees the new Butler Tech program as a steppingstone towards becoming a nurse practitioner, a goal that underscores her commitment to lifelong learning and service to the elderly.
Her advice for other adults considering a similar path of career advancement via Butler Tech is simple: “Do it (and) you shouldn’t hesitate.”
MORE DETAILS
For more information on Butler Tech’s adult education programs visit the school’s website at butlertech.org/adult-education/programs.
About the Author