accreditation question

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Oct 20, 2011

If you are talking about nursing, you probably mean LICENSURE, not certification.

There is a national test that nursing graduates in the US take. But they have to qualify within the state where they intend to be licensed in order to take the test. Once you pass the test you can get licensure in other states, but you have to apply to the Board of Nursing for each state.

We do not yet have a national nursing license. Does that help with your question?

AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 21, 2011

The OP is asking if national or regional accreditation is better for the school. Regional is better for adding on to your education.

elkpark · Oct 21, 2011

You are smart to be asking about this.

For general academic accreditation, regional is preferable to national. The proprietary voc/tech schools have created their own accrediting agency, which only accredits proprietary voc/tech schools -- if you ask these schools if they're "accredited," they will say yes, which is a true statement, but that accreditation is not recognized by "regular" colleges and universities, and the classes taken at those schools typically won't transfer into "regular" colleges and unis if/when you want to continue your education.

The other accreditation to be concerned about is nursing-specific accreditation. The two you are looking for are NLNAC and CCNE. Accreditation by one of these two programs is important -- not for licensure, because no state requires graduation from an accredited program to be eligible for licensure, but because most programs to further your education (BSN completion or graduate programs) will require that you be a graduate of an accredited (either NLNAC or CCNE) program, and a growing number of employers are requiring that as well (and some of the most desirable healthcare employers -- the entire VA system, the entire US military, lots of academic medical centers). Just because a school doesn't have NLNAC or CCNE accreditation, that doesn't mean it's a bad school or that you won't get a perfectly good nursing education (the accreditation process is complicated and expensive, and some schools just choose not to do it) -- but the lack of nursing accreditation can cause problems for you later in your career. IMO, there's no point in closing off any future professional opportunities and pathways for yourself this early in the process.

Best wishes for your journey!

aachavez · Oct 21, 2011

Elkpark thank you soooo much your answer is exactly what I'm looking for. I plan to go to Rasmussen College in Tampa (this is a brand new location, their first class of nursing students isnt even in clinicals yet) So I"m not sure if they have NLNAC or CCNE, I will need to check on that. But I do know they are regionally accredited. Thanks again for all your help!