Nursing School: How to Become a Nurse

By John Roney


When you're applying for a nursing school program, it may be helpful to check out both local campus programs and online nursing schools. Accredited nursing schools provide one of four degrees like online RN-to-BSN, Bachelor's, Associate's, and Master of Science (MSN). Registered nurses are one of the fastest increasing occupations in the United States, and you'll need to apply for a nursing school program before you can ever hope to get certification as a nurse and earn a lot of money in this profession.

Although most, if not all accredited online schools will provide their accreditation status on their website. It is vital for you to check and make sure that each online university does have accreditation status. There are two main reasons to check for accreditation status. Firstly, if you use a different school for part of your nursing degree, or you wish to take an advanced degree later, schools will only accept credits towards your degree from an accredited school program. Secondly, you will find that most employers in the medical sector will only recognize your nursing degree if it was obtained from online nursing schools that have accreditation status. To the employer if they see that the degree was attained from an accredited nursing school, then they are assured that your level of nursing training was of the highest quality.

The next step is to become a Registered Nurse or RN. There are two types of RN education programs. The AND program earns you an associates degree, and the BSN awards a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. Once you have reached the LPN level of nursing there are several ways to become a RN. One common method is to continue working as a LPN and enroll in an online nursing degree program. If you have acquired enough college Nursing School credits it is feasible that you could become a RN in 12 to 18 months. Following this course of action allows you to obtain your hands on training at the hospital you currently are employed with.

There is a wide variety of nursing degree programs available such as: RN-to-BSN, master's, baccalaureate & associate's degree programs. There are also accredited specialist programs such as nurse midwife degree or nurse anesthetist, which is arguably the highest paying nursing job available today. The accreditation of the nursing anesthesia programs available online and offline is run by The Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). The midwifery education programs are accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives Division of Accreditation (ACNM).

The fact is there are more job openings than the current pool of nurses can fill. This has made a nursing career more lucrative than ever before. Hospitals need good nurses to assist their doctor's care for their patients. People are living longer these days so this need for qualified nurses will continue. If you are currently a LPN you can continue your education with an Internet based degree program, and become a Registered Nurse.




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