A dozen licensed practical nurses taking part in the inaugural class of Fort Myers Technical College’s Professional Nursing (LPN-RN) Program will graduate June 30 after a year-long program of 900 hours. PROVIDED

The inaugural class of Fort Myers Technical College’s Professional Nursing (LPN-RN) Program will graduate June 30 after a yearlong program of 900 hours and a bond among classmates that will last a lifetime.

“We have become a family. We are not just classmates anymore, but truly a family. Honestly, it blows me away that we started with 12 people and we are graduating with 12 people. Everyone worked so hard. It’s making me emotional talking about it,” Cape Coral resident Kaitland Cabral said of her classmates who ranged in age from early 20s to 60s. “We are constantly teaching each other. We have truly learned so much from each other in just a year.”

The dozen students participated in the program where they completed more than 450 hours of coursework and 450 hours of clinical practice to become a registered nurse, all while balancing a full-time workload as a licensed practical nurse. The pinning ceremony will be held on Monday with keynote speaker Executive Director of the Florida Center for Nursing Dr. Rayna Latourneau. The graduates will be eligible to sit for their NCLEX-RN exam after graduation has been approved by the Florida Board of Nursing.

Cabral was among the inaugural class – an experience she said was “worth everything.”

“We have made a lot of sacrifices in the last year. It’s a program of 12 women,” she said. “This program is very doable for someone who still wants to work full-time as an LPN. We are not going into debt when we graduate. It’s a phenomenal opportunity.”

Cape Coral resident Jessica Lerner-Schwebel, a full-time mom, also worked full-time during the program, which tested her a lot.

“If you really want something, no matter how much you want it, you will make it happen,” Lerner-Schwebel said. “The support that us girls gave each other – I won’t find that with any other group of girls. I think because of the age difference and experience that we all brought; it made us work so beautifully as we all brought something to the table and grow with.”

Cabral became a nurse’s assistant in 2007, a position she began in Massachusetts. She moved to Florida in 2016 and participated in the practical nursing program at Cape Coral Technical College.

“We were attending it during the pandemic,” she said with their nursing instructor Mary Ann Enns. “I truly believe she was a really big part of the reason why all of us graduated and were so successful in the program. When she created this pathway program within a year, so many of us instantly thought this is where we want to go and who we want to learn from. We knew we would be just as successful doing this.”

Fort Myers Technical College introduced Florida’s first LPN to RN pathway program in the Spring of 2024 through Enns, who developed the program as part of her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Educational Leadership degree. This pathway program cuts the time in half of becoming a registered nurse while saving students more than $53,000.

“It is a miracle that the LPN-RN program for technical colleges even got started in the state of Florida,” Enns said. “Being able to author the curriculum framework for the Department of Education and seeing it played out in real life have been a victory and reward that I never expected. I have seen six other schools get approved by the Board of Nursing to run the Diploma/Professional Nursing (LPN-RN) program in Florida this past year and more schools are likely to join in the near future.”

Lerner-Schwebel said she heard about the pathway program from someone she was working with. She said she of course wanted to join as she originally got her LPN license through Cape Coral Technical College five years ago.

The experience of the program was absolutely amazing.

“There are no words for it. It was an honor to be the first cohort and honor to represent Fort Myers Technical College,” Lerner-Schwebel said and her instructor Enns. “I am extremely proud.”

Lehigh Acres resident Janine Walker was also a student of the LPN program when Enns was creating the program. She said she graduated in October 2023 and in April 2024 the new program was created.

“It’s been the perfect timing. A great refresher of what we learned in the LPN program. It was easy to work full-time and still do it,” Walker said of the program. “It’s helpful for someone like me in my 40s – flexibility of being able to work and obtain the RN license.”

She said the program worked because it was sort of self-directed, as one day a week there was either clinical – 12-hour shift, or class – eight-hour day.

The clinicals took place at doctor’s offices, Naples Community Hospital, Cypress Cove, a birth center, and some simulated clinicals in the classroom.

“For a lot of us that was the first time seeing a real live birth. An incredible opportunity. We loved the clinical experience we got,” Cabral said. “I personally got to see a C-section and a natural birth itself.”

She said the clinicals at the hospital were also an incredible experience.

“These nurses have been so kind and welcoming and encouraged so many of us to apply here when we are done,” she said.

Lerner-Schwebel agreed that the clinicals at Naples Community Hospital were a great experience, as she has only worked at Lee Health, now at Cape Coral Hospital. She said the Naples Community Hospital is also a teaching hospital – meaning the doctors were very involved with nurses and questions were constantly being asked, which really intrigued her.

“To see a different atmosphere and work in different departments has been eye opening for me,” she said, as she only knows the emergency room and now is contemplating maybe leaving the ER.

Lerner-Schwebel said she enjoyed doing clinicals in the Intensive Care Unit due to seeing the progression from the ER to ICU.

She said since students had to be an established LPN, they already brought knowledge to the table.

“We all had experiences and that alone helped us to learn even more. It made the clinicals better because we jump started the experiences,” Lerner-Schwebel said, adding that she could then focus on the things she did not know how to do.

Cabral knew from early on in life that she always wanted to help people, a skill she also put into practice when she took care of both of her grandmothers when they became sick. She said she has always thought of how someone wants to be treated when taking care of them, as she looks at them like they are family.

“It’s so easy to provide compassionate and empathetic care. I can’t picture myself doing anything else,” Cabral said, adding she feels like she is right where she was meant to be.

Now that school is completed, she is not sure what direction she wants to take her career, as the “possibilities are endless.”

The calling to become a nurse took hold at a young age for Walker. Her grandmother was an RN and now her daughter is pursuing nursing school at Florida SouthWestern State College where she will graduate next year.

She began in the medical field in 1998 as a CNA, or certified nursing assistant, and then medical assistant when her daughter was young and in day care. Once Walker’s daughter graduated from high school in 2021 she started the program at Cape Coral Technical College.

“I probably wouldn’t have gone for my RN because I had no interest in starting over and taking prerequisites. When I knew this was a possibility – I can one up my LPN,” Walker said. “People that have families and small kids – if they have a supportive husband, or significant other – it is really easy to do and still work while you do it. I work for a wonderful company that was super accommodating to have every Tuesday off. It is really nice for people who don’t want to go that long route and take prerequisites for two years.”

With school done, the excitement has taken hold of what to do next. The question is does she want to stay at the job she’s had for 14 years or do something new. She knows she wants to do something in pediatrics.

“I have a lot to think about of how my future can go,” Walker said.