Nursing School Programs

There are numerous options for those seeking a nursing degree.

To start with, you will need to decide whether you are going to seek a degree in Licensed Practice Nursing, generally a one-year-program, or in Registered Nursing, which will generally take three to four years from start to finish.

Vocational and technical schools and private career colleges are more likely to offer the LPN course, although some community colleges do as well. Many LPN programs have a part-time, evening class option, which takes about 18 months to complete and allows students to work during the day.

There are a couple of different choices for those seeking a career as a registered nurse. You will need either an Associate’s Degree in Nursing, which takes two years, (with about eight to ten college-level prerequisite classes which must be completed before acceptance, which can add a year or two to your time in school), or a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing, which takes four years.

Community colleges are generally the cheapest route. Their cost can start in the area of $8,000 and upwards, for a two-year-program, not counting the costs of textbooks and other supplies.

Four year degrees at state or private universities, which offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, are another option. State universities are much cheaper. Competitition to get into those programs is quite intense.

More expensive, but much quicker, options include private for-profit schools such as Keiser University, Americare School of Nursing (central Florida), Galen College of Nursing, and many others that are opening up and getting accreditation across the country as the demand for nurses increases; and online nursing programs.

There are currently only a couple of online registered nursing degree programs in the country. The State of Tennessee has collaborated with Regents College to begin offering an online degree which will not require an LPN license, and which will allow the student who completes the program to take the NCLEX-RN exam and be licensed as a Registed Nurse if they pass. This program is currently expected to start in 2009. This program is an ADN (Associate’s Degree in Nursing) program.

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh offers an Accelarated Second Bachelor’s Degree Program that is given mostly online, although students must travel to the campus for some of their tests and clinicals. There is a lot of competition for admission, and not all states offer the local preceptorships that are required.

Much more common are online nursing degree programs which offer Licensed Practical Nurses the ability to get their Registered Nursing Degree online, and which offer Registered Nurses the ability to get a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree online.

One way to become licensed as a Registered Nurse is with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing. In most cases, the Associate’s Degree is a two year program. In order to be accepted into these programs, a candidate must have a high school diploma or G.E.D. and generally must have completed some prerequisite classes, which usually include Anatomy & Physiology I and II, microbiology, psychology, and other courses. Each school has its own requirements for admission. After successfully completing the two-year program, you must take the NCLEX-RN nursing exam. This is the National Council Licensure Examination.

An Associate’s degree in nursing is a good way to get into the nursing field quickly. Some places of employment pay nurses with a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing more; some don’t. Some places of employment prefer to hire nurses with a Bachelor of Science degree; again, some don’t. The demand for nurses is so high these days that the majority of employers are not demanding a Bachelor of Science degree from their registered nurses.

Once you are hired as a registered nurse, you can, and should, look into continuing education, because it will increase your pay rate and make you a more desirable employee and future job candidate. The great news - many employers will pay for this continuing education. With an Associate’s Degree in Nursing, you can choose an online nursing program to get your bachelor’s degree of science in nursing, and to pursue other nursing degree specialties.

Many community colleges offer two-year Associate’s Degree in Nursing programs. Private, “career colleges” offer them as well.

One of the most attractive things about a career in nursing is that in order to get a degree as a registered nurse, all you need is a high school diploma or a GED, and a two year associate’s degree. Hooray! Two years to your dream career!

Right?

In most cases - wrong.

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When you are accepted into nursing school, the school that you are attending will have insurance, and so will the facilities where you will do your clinicals.

So why, when you’re a starving student, would you want to consider parting with what little money you have to pay for your own insurance as well?

Because this is America, and anyone can sue anybody for anything. This doesn’t mean that they’ll win, but it means that the person being sued has to undergo the stress and expense of a lawsuit. No matter how careful you are, no matter how responsible you are, if you are carrying out your duties as a student nurse and something goes wrong - you can be sued.

Now, if you are named as a party in a lawsuit for something that happens while you are a nursing student, you should be covered by either your school, or the facility that you are in, or both. SHOULD. That’s the operative word here. What if the school or the facility’s interpretation of the facts is different than what you believe is true? What if you feel that they are not defending you to the extent that they should?

You are much better off self-insuring, for a small amount of money per month that will give you huge peace of mind. NSO is one insurance organization that comes highly recommended, and is used by nurses throughout their career.

The nursing shortage is featured in a Dallas Morning news article.

The nursing shortage is caused by a lack of nursing teachers, because nurses can make more money outside of the academic setting. Students who graduate from some programs can expect to earn $50,000 a year starting salary in hospitals. Nurses with masters degrees can earn $80,000 a year at hospitals or doctors offices, according to the Dallas Morning News - but nursing teachers with master’s degrees can expect to earn $41,000 when they are hired on as teachers.

Half of all applicants to nursing school in Maryland are turned away because there aren’t enough applicants, according to a Nov. 6 Baltimore Sun article. Hospitals there have a 13 percent vacancy rate for nurses.

The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, Massachusetts, notes that some nursing schools have a four year waiting list.

A new nursing program is opening up at McHenry College in McHenry, Illinois, according to the Northwest Herald. There will be 20 students accepted into the first class of the ADN program.

The Gordon and Betty Moore foundation is donating $100 million dollars to the University of California, Davis, to form a new nursing school. It will be a master’s and doctoral program and and will also support nurses going into research. The school is expected to start admitting students in the fall of 2008, and will serve approximately 456 students.
This is a great way to help address the nursing teacher shortage, which in turn will help ease the nursing school waiting list issue, and then, down the line, the nursing shortage.