Board of Nursing
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.