accredited Vs. unaccredited Nursing Schools

[want2rn]

I have recently been accepted to a nursing school that is not accredited by either of the two accrediting boards of nursing. I have applied to, but not been accepted into a few of the accredited nursing schools in California. The school that has accepted me states that they are able to give me a bachelor's degree in nursing and that I will be able to sit for the nclex. I was wondering what the job opportunities are like for someone who has attended an unaccredited school, but has their degree and license.

want2rn

[BornRN]

Accreditation is a sign of meeting certain educational standards. Sometimes a school may not be accredited when they are NEW -- a class must graduate before the school can apply for the accreditation process.

Unaccredited schools -- in existance longer than that time -- are not a good choice. You will not get the same level of education at an unaccredited school. When you decide to get additional education, you may not be able to gain entrance to those schools being a graduate of an unaccredited school.

What is the reason that you are being denied entrance to the accredited school? Is it because they are full? Is it because you lack a pre-requisite.

Be careful -- there are a lot of people who will take your money and leave you with a substandard education. Contact the California state board of nursing and inquire about their acreditation standing.

[catlady, BSN, RN]

http://www.rn.ca.gov/schools/rnprgms.htm

This lists all the schools that have been approved by the state of California. There seem to be quite a few.

I'm sorry, but you're really asking for trouble to go to an unaccredited school. You may find you've put in a lot of time and money and have very little to show for it at the end.

[kids]

It can take a couple of years to get a new program accredited, when it happens it is retroactive to the beginning.

If the nursing program you've been accepted to is on the CA BoN site as an approved school there shouldn't be any problems.

[Jolie, BSN]

I agree that it is important to know why a program lacks accreditation. Some schools have not been in operation long enough to obtain it. Some schools have recently opted to forgo the accreditation process because it is so costly and cumbersome. The lack of accreditation does not necessarily indicate an inferior program. There are numerous indicators of quality in a nursing school, including the level of education and experience of instructors, class size, number and location of clinical sites, NCLEX pass rates, percentage of graduates who are successfully employed upon graduation, etc.

Accreditation is not the same thing as state approval for a nursing education program. A program which lacks accreditation (by NLN, for example) may still be state approved, meaning that its graduates are qualified to sit for NCLEX. Graduates of programs that lack state approval are NOT qualified to sit for NCLEX, making their degrees meaningless.

One warning, though. Most graduate programs require their candidates to be graduates of accredited schools of nursing. Attending a school without accreditation may make it difficult for you to pursue a higher degree in nursing at a later time.

[TazziRN, RN]

The two facilities I have worked at required graduation from an accredited nursing school for all RN positions.