Licensed Vocational Nurses work in a variety of settings including home health agencies, doctor's offices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. Hartnell College's Vocational Nursing program is a 12 month program that includes theoretical concepts, laboratory competencies, and clinical skills. After completion of the program, students are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN).

Mission
The Hartnell College Nursing Program facilitates a learning environment in which students become safe professional nurses. Graduate nurses provide competent, compassionate, ethical, and culturally sensitive care. The faculty and students adopt an attitude of inquiry, where ideas are generated and the art of investigation is prized.

Vision
The Hartnell College Nursing Program is an influential resource for the health and well-being of the community. Faculty and students embrace excellence and accept the responsibility for advancing the art and science of the nursing profession.

Values
The mission and vision for the Hartnell College Nursing Program encompass the core values of caring, competence, collaboration, and curiosity.
Caring is defined as providing compassionate, empathetic, and sympathetic care, exemplified by these behaviors: attentive listening, comforting, honesty, patience, responsibility, providing information so the patient can make an informed decision, touch, sensitivity, respect, calling the patient by name (Larsson, 1998).
Competence means accountability for all actions, exercising judgment in accepting responsibilities, delegating within the scope of practice, and acting under a code of ethical conduct that is moral, truthful, and respectful of the dignity, worth and self determination of patients. (ANA Code of Ethics, 2001)
Collaboration is the concerted effort to attain a shared goal, addressing the health needs of the patient and the public. Collaboration requires mutual trust, recognition, and respect among all. (ANA Code of Ethics, 2001)
Curiosity is necessary to pursue life-long learning. The skills of inquiry, essential to practice and nursing research, must be taught and directed (Benner, 2010). Evidence-based practice is best practice, and curiosity is the tool of discovery.

Philosophy
The philosophy of the nursing program supports and implements the mission statement and objectives of Hartnell College. The purpose of the nursing program is to educate individuals for entry level nursing positions within acute and community health care settings. The faculty believes in adherence to legal and ethical practice as well as in a commitment to life-long learning. The nursing faculty recognizes and is sensitive to the needs of nursing students who enter the program from varied cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Nursing education at Hartnell College is a complex interactive process that is evolving and embraces new ideas and new technology. The nursing faculty is committed to providing and maintaining a curriculum focused on theoretical concepts, clinical skills, cultural and ethical awareness, and clinical reasoning using a variety of instructional styles. The curriculum reflects quality nursing education and prepares graduates to provide safe, competent care to persons in a culturally diverse community. Graduates are prepared to promote health and to teach in a changing health care arena. The Hartnell College Nursing Program facilitates a learning environment in which students become safe professional nurses. Graduate nurses provide competent, compassionate, ethical, and culturally- sensitive care. The faculty and students adopt an attitude of inquiry, where ideas are generated and the art of investigation is prized.

Larsson, G, Peterson, V., Lampic, C, von Essen, L, Sjoden, P. Cancer patient and staff ratings of the importance of caring behaviours and their relations to patient anxiety and depression. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 1998; 27(4):855-864.

Benner, P., Sutphen, M, Leonard, V., Day L. (2010). Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass