Two recent Grand Forks, ND, high school graduates are headed directly into a nursing apprenticeship program this fall and will be licensed practical nurses (LPNs) by the following spring.
Thanks to college credit coursework while still in high school, mentorship from their career advisor, and a strong drive to reach their career goals, they are the first high school students to be accepted directly into this program. The apprenticeship includes full tuition coverage, paid clinicals and work experience, and a promised job upon completion.
“The day I start classes, I’ll also start as a nurse’s aide,” says Brooklyn Johnson, one of the new apprentices. “I’m ecstatic to get into the hospital right away and work my way up through different positions. I won’t have to worry about trying to navigate all of this after I graduate college.”
Merging education and hands-on work experience
Johnson and Kyra Allen, both recent graduates of Red River High School, are on track to complete their LPN and Registered Nurse (RN) degrees through the apprenticeship partnership between Lake Region State College (LRSC) in Devils Lake, ND, and Altru Health System in Grand Forks. LRSC, which has a satellite nursing program right in Grand Forks, created the program with Altru in 2023. Since then, 15 students have been admitted into the program.
“With an apprenticeship, an employer doesn’t have to wait until a student graduates. They can bring them on during their schooling,” says LRSC Resource Development/Corporate/Liaison and Apprenticeship Coordinator Melana Howe. “It helps with everything from staffing to recruitment and retention. It also fills our classrooms at the college. Everyone wins in this scenario. There’s really no downside.”
In exchange for a signed three-year work agreement, Altru pays for the students’ tuition and fees, as well as their clinicals. Students can complete their LPN and begin their careers or continue in the program for their RN and then start their three-year contract.
“It’s another pathway to get future employees in the door,” says Cassie Olson, manager of Education & Patient Experience at Altru. “It also helps align folks who might otherwise not have this opportunity.”
Students are typically admitted to the LRSC-Altru nursing apprenticeship after their first year of general courses required for the LPN degree. Then, upon acceptance into the nursing program, they take one year of nursing courses while also completing 2,000 hours of paid, hands-on clinical training, including some hours at other healthcare systems. The combination of school and practical work experience is a key component of the apprenticeship.
“It allows them to apply the skills they are learning in school in their clinicals, enables them to build connections with their future employers, and helps them orient to the hospital’s procedures and processes,” Olson says. “Our staff also says the apprentices show more confidence and utilize more skills than those who do not partake in the comprehensive program.”
Getting a head start in the program
Johnson and Allen met all of their general course requirements while still in high school, thanks to dual-credit and Advanced Placement (AP) classes and a couple of early-entry college classes. Both students knew they wanted to pursue nursing, registered for related courses, and started looking at colleges. When Red River High School Career Advisor Cara Davis learned of the LRSC-Altru apprenticeship, she immediately encouraged both students to look into it further. After a meeting with LRSC faculty, they both decided to apply.
“These two students’ backgrounds are extensive,” Davis says. “They were high-flyers who could go directly into the program because they had completed so many credits while in high school.”
But even then, the application process required acceptance into both the Dakota Nursing Program and the apprenticeship program, and required everything from an entrance exam to an essay and interview. Davis walked with them through the entire process, providing encouragement and finding answers to their questions.
“She was learning along the way with us. I didn’t realize then that we were the first high schoolers to do this,” Johnson says. “Cara was absolutely amazing. She had all of these connections with people through LRSC and Altru to answer my questions.”
Supporting apprenticeships and other creative solutions
The LRSC-Altru apprenticeship is one example of a growing effort between employers and schools to provide sustainable solutions for workforce shortages or challenges.
“We need to think of creative solutions to fill our gaps,” Olson says. “Apprentices are a way to achieve that. You gain a student employee while they are in school and you’re training them for their future career at the same time.”
Using career development and exploration tools like Compass can also support that process. Altru uses Compass to highlight a variety of healthcare careers and work-based learning opportunities, as well as foster connections with students and schools (including Red River High School) for experiences like career fairs and classroom visits.
“Golden Path is the link between the school and industry in connecting students with opportunities that align with their interests,” Olson says. “Compass gets those opportunities in front of students through one central hub.”
Davis agrees.
“Golden Path has really opened the door for Altru to start considering what opportunities they can offer for students,” she says.
It will continue to be important for employers and schools to work together to meet workforce and student needs.
“The whole landscape is changing,” Davis says. “It used to be that students had to attend a traditional, four-year college. Now, industries are meeting students where they are at, and the conversation is often around college affordability. Apprentices were typically offered in the trades, but now they are showing up in technology and healthcare.”
For more information about the LRSC-Altru nursing apprenticeship, contact Cassie Olson at Altru or Melana Howe at LRSC. Contact Golden Path to learn more about Compass and our other career exploration and workforce development services.