Nursing School Programs

Every state has a Board of Nursing, which regulates the practice of nursing in their individual state. Before you make the final decision on which nursing school to attend, you need to check with your state Board of Nursing to make sure that they are accredited.

Most Board of Nursing websites have a list of currently accredited nursing schools in their state, which can be found by looking for the link on “resources” or “education”. However, nursing schools can lose their accreditation, so you want to double-check that they are currently accredited before making your final decision.

The role of the Board of Nursing is to ensure the health and safety of all those patients who are cared for by nurses in their state. The Board of Nursing does this by ensuring that nursing schools are properly preparing their students for a career in nursing, and by ensuring that nurses are competent and appropriately educated to provide skilled nursing care.

If a complaint is made against a nurse or a nursing facility, the Board of Nursing will review that complaint to determine if there is any merit to it. The Board of Nursing can take actions ranging from a written reprimand to suspension or revocation of a nurse’s license.

If you have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, you need to check with the Board of Nursing to see if you are still eligible to become a nurse. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Here is a link to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, which has links to all of the State Boards of Nursing.

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As the nursing shortage grows worse, many nursing schools are offering Paramedic to ADN programs. These nursing school programs can be found at online nursing schools, community colleges, and other types of schools.

In some cases these nursing school programs are available to people with other health-related degrees or certificates, such as respiratory therapists.

It is VERY important to make sure that you check with your State Board of Nursing before you enroll in a Paramedic to Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN) bridge program.

You must make sure that the program is accredited in your state and that after you complete the program you will be eligible to take the NCLEX-RN in your state. Some states that do accept LPN to RN online programs will not accept online Paramedic to ADN programs, and you do not want to spend your time and your money on an online nursing program, only to find that you have either thrown your time and money away, or you need to move to another state to use your hard-earned expensive online degree.

Some online nursing schools that offer paramedic to Associate’s Degree in Nursing programs are The College Network, University of Phoenix, and Excelsior.

Trinity Valley Community College in Kaufman, Texas, offers a nursing school program for Licensed Vocational Nurses and paramedics to receive an Associate’s Degree in Nursing.

Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, Virginia offers a nursing school program for respiratory therapists and paramedics to receive an Associate’s Degree in Nursing.

Montgomery College in Conroe, Texas offers a nursing school program for paramedics and Licensed Vocational Nurses to receive an Associate’s Degree in Nursing.

Lansing Community College offers a nursing school program for paramedics and Licensed Vocational Nurses to receive an Associate’s Degree in Nursing.

Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida, has a nursing school program for paramedics to receive an Associate’s Degrees in Nursing.

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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