Despite the urging of her coworkers, Sarah VanBrooker hadn’t mustered the courage to go back to school for her practical nursing license.
One email changed that.
VanBrooker, who'd been working as a medical assistant at Carthage Memorial Clinic, got a message that Sandburg was set to begin offering a PN certificate program that could be completed entirely at its Carthage campus.
“It was the push I needed,” said VanBrooker, 44, of Colchester. “I immediately jumped on it because it was right there in town. It was awesome. It’s so close, it’s so accessible. Without that, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Sandburg conducted a feasibility study in 2023 about implementing its PN program in Carthage, and its addition was approved later that year by the Illinois Board of Nursing. Sandburg’s practical nursing program is a one-year certificate with limited enrollment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, PNs in Illinois earn just over $28 per hour for an annual average salary of nearly $59,000.
The college already had — and continues to offer — a certified nursing assistant (CNA) course at Carthage, but students in that area couldn’t complete additional levels of nursing education without having to attend Sandburg’s Galesburg campus or a different school.
“We’re already seeing interest from previous CNA graduates who want to go on and complete the PN program here,” said Jodi Pospeschil, executive director of the Carthage campus. “There are a lot of people who like the fact that they could stay in their own community and finish this program.”
For VanBrooker, that convenience was the confirmation she needed to know it was the right time for her to go back to school. A practical nursing program 20 minutes from her home was, well, practical.
“The drive time (to attend another college) would take too much time out of my day,” VanBrooker said. “I wouldn’t be able to get anything else done.”
VanBrooker has been able to attend her classes at Sandburg while still working as an EMT for Hancock County Emergency Medical Services. She’s on track to complete the PN program this summer, and once licensed, she hopes to become a hospice nurse.
“It’s going to be a dream come true,” VanBrooker said of what the program’s pinning ceremony will mean to her. “I’m probably going to be a blubbering mess. I would like special people in my life to be there, even co-workers that have pushed me. I would love for them to be there to see it. It’s going to mean everything. I’ve wanted this for so long.”
Learn more about Sandburg's practical nursing program, or contact our Welcome Center to learn how you can enroll.