A great place to start is the Nursing Assistant (CNA) program which is available at Davis Tech. In addition to being a prerequisite for the Practical Nurse (PN) program, the CNA training and certification will give you a great introduction to the nursing profession, and you will learn vital skills that will be built upon in the PN program.
Once you complete your CNA, you can get a job and experience doing hands-on patient care. This will give you additional points on the PN program application. From there, you can go on to complete all the prerequisite and support courses required for PN admission and/or graduation.
The application is available during our select application times on the Practical Nurse page (See “When can I apply for the Practical Nurse program?”).
To be considered qualified for the program, applicants:
- Must be at least 18 years old
- Have graduation high school (or equivalent)
- Have 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA at the time of application (2.995 or higher is accepted) from any regionally accredited college or university
Additionally, all prerequisite and support courses must be passed with a C grade or better.
- High School GPA is not accepted to qualify for the program.
- All regionally accredited university and/or college courses will be combined to produce one GPA.
- Remedial Math courses will not be included in the credit and GPA total. These include Math courses below the Intermediate Algebra level.
- If the same course was taken two or more times, the most recent course grade will be used to compute the GPA and the previous course grade(s) will be eliminated.
The following courses are prerequisite courses and must be completed before the first day of the PN program:
- A current Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) state certification
- Integrated Human Anatomy & Physiology I (HTHS 1110) or Human Anatomy (ZOOL 2320)
- Integrated Human Anatomy & Physiology II (HTHS 1111) or Human Physiology (ZOOL 2420)
- Introductory Psychology (PSY 1010) or Human Development (CHF 1500)
The following courses will earn additional points if completed before applying to the program:
- Foundations in Nutrition (NUTR 1020)
- Introductory Pathophysiology (HTHS 2230)
For more information on how we select candidates for our program, please see “How do you select applicants?”
The Nursing Assistant (CNA) program is available at Davis Tech. For additional information about our CNA program, click here.
The other prerequisite can be taken at Weber State University or another regionally accredited university (restrictions may apply; if you have concerns about courses being accepted, please contact us at nursingadvisor@davistech.edu.
Qualified applicants can apply three times a year for our program. You can see the next application dates on the Practical Nurse page.
The Admissions Committee has a set of policies and procedures that are used to select our future students. Candidates are selected based on a competitive point system.
Points Summary:
| Criteria | Max Points |
|---|---|
|
Cumulative GPA A minimum 3.0 cumulative, or overall, college GPA is required to qualify for the program. The higher your cumulative GPA, the more points you will receive. |
4pts |
|
Completed Prerequisite Courses Completion of the prerequisite courses (anatomy, physiology, and psychology or human development) before you apply will award you points. For a list of accepted prerequisite courses, please see FAQ “What are the requirements for the Practical Nurse Program?” |
3pts |
|
Current CNA State Certification Having a current CNA state certification at the time of application will earn a point. |
1pt |
|
Extra Points Additional points will be given to applicants that have completed nutrition (NUTR 1020 – 0.5 points) and/or pathophysiology (HTHS 2230 – 1.5 points) at the time of application with a grade of C or higher. For a list of accepted courses, please see “What are the requirements for the Practical Nurse Program?” Pathophysiology is highly recommended before the second semester of the program. Students that have not completed this course may need to do additional reading during their PN courses. |
2pts |
|
Completed Program Requirements with 3.0 Science GPA A science GPA is calculated when the program requirements of anatomy, physiology, and psychology or human development are completed with grades of C or higher at the time of application. If the science GPA is 3.0 or higher, applicants will qualify for points in this category based on a scale using the science GPA. The science GPA is not the same as the cumulative GPA and is not used to qualify for the program. |
5pts |
|
Completion of Progression Requirements This area gives points to applicants who have completed all* of the requirements for progression into the Weber State University (WSU) RN program: CHEM (with lab) 1110/1115, 1120/1125, 1130/1135 or 1210/1215, QL Math (MATH 1030, 1035, 1040, or 1050), ENGL 1010 and/or ENGL 2010. Please go to www.weber.edu/nursing to review these requirements. * Starting summer 2023, WSU will require all RN students to have completed a chemistry lab. For the time being, students that have completed all except the new chemistry lab requirement will receive 1.5 points in this category. No exceptions will be made for missing the other requirements in this category. |
2pts |
|
Medical Work Experience Paid medical work experience, such as 6+ months of direct patient care working as a CNA, Medical Assistant, Surgical Technician, Respiratory Therapist, Paramedic, or EMT. Proof of medical work experience is only accepted by submitting a verification of employment or through a recommendation. |
1pt |
|
Recommendations Three recommendations are required from a supervisor, employer, and/or teacher. Recommendations may be used for subsequent applications up to one year or three consecutive application cycles. A form is sent to your recommendor’s email to complete once their information is submitted in the application. Recommendations can be submitted after the application deadline. Employers or supervisors can verify your medical work experience through this form and all recommenders are asked to evaluate you in the following areas:
|
1pt |
|
Re-application Points Re-application points are awarded one time only to applicants that were previously qualified on their most recent application. Davis Tech Alumni: Current and previous Davis Tech students will receive the re-application point on each application by providing a copy of their current schedule or unofficial transcripts found in the Student Portal. |
0.5pt |
|
Veteran Points Points will be given to applicants that can prove personal military status (Active Duty, Reserves, Retired, Honorably Discharged, etc.). |
0.5pt |
| Total | 20pts |
It usually takes six weeks after each application deadline to process all applications and email letters to every applicant.
The application process is very competitive. We typically receive between 100-200 applications each cycle for a class of 48 students.
Unlike most of the programs offered at Davis Tech, the Practical Nurse program is taught in a “defined-entry, defined-exit” method. This means that all students attend the same courses at the same times set up for the program. For more information, please see “What are the days/hours of the Practical Nurse program?”
The PN program starts with the Nursing Foundations course which will meet at Davis Tech on Thursdays and Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for 8 weeks. This first part of the program will start in February, June, and October each year.
Other courses for the program start in January, May, and August, after completing Nursing Foundations, and are held on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There may be some skills labs or pass-offs that will keep you after class until 4:30 p.m. Clinical shifts are held once a week on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The exact hours of your clinical shifts will depend on which hospital you are assigned, but they are typically 12 hours long.
No part-time or evening hours are available at this time. Online only course are also not available.
Yes. A current Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) state certification is required before the first day of the Practical Nurse program, even if you have other medical certifications.
Yes. We require official transcripts with each new application and updated transcripts for reapplication. High school transcripts are not required for admission to the PN program, but may be required by our Financial Aid Office. If MATH III has been taken at Davis Tech, unofficial Davis Tech transcripts downloaded from the student portal can be submitted within the application. Please consult WSU about evaluating your international transcripts.
Send official transcripts from all schools where you have college credits. Official paper transcripts are sealed and signature-stamped in an envelope from the college registrar's office. Official electronic transcripts are sent directly from one school to another. Transcripts that are printed from home, in an open envelope, or forwarded in an email are considered unofficial and will not be accepted.
- Transcripts are required from all schools attended within the last six (6) years, including schools with concurrent enrollment (CE) credits.
- Transcripts are required from all schools that include any completed program requirements.
- Submit official transcripts from the original school even if the credits have been transferred and show up on another college's transcript.
- The most current grade of a repeated course is accepted and grades from program requirements must be a C or higher.
- Electronic transcripts can be sent from the original school to Davis Technical College Nursing or to NursingAdvisor@davistech.edu.
Mailed transcripts can be mailed to:
Davis Technical College
Practical Nurse Program
550 South 300 East
Kaysville, UT 84037
We cannot accept faxed transcripts at this time.
Official transcripts must be ordered by the deadline but can be received after that date as schools may need time to process your request.
TIP: When ordering transcripts online, you may need to put “Practical Nurse Program” in the first address line so your transcripts are directed to the right department within the school.
The Practical Nurse program at Davis Technical College is transferrable to Weber State University (WSU) as 18 credits of their RN program through an articulation agreement. The WSU RN completion program is guaranteed for Davis Tech students who have successfully completed our PN program as part of their original cohort. Please be aware that a student’s cumulative, or overall, GPA may be calculated differently at Davis Tech. The student must make sure that they have a minimum 3.0 GPA at WSU to be able to transfer seamlessly into the WSU RN program.
Students must still complete a full application in order to be accepted. If any cohort has more students eligible for the RN Completion program than that program will allow, any student that has withdrawn or had to repeat a semester in the PN program may not be guaranteed immediate progression into the WSU RN Completion program. More information will be given during the PN program. Davis Tech communicates with WSU regarding student progression.
Please be aware that if a student takes courses after submitting transcripts to Davis Tech and their GPA drops below 3.0, the student will not be able to transfer seamlessly to the WSU RN program.
We recommend that you check WSU’s nursing webpage, www.weber.edu/nursing, to compare their program requirements with ours so you can make a seamless transition between both programs.
Since application cycles are competitive, we ask that students apply for scholarships at Davis Technical College after formal acceptance to the Practical Nurse program.