accreditation

You are correct.

It's definitely a smart idea to be sure you attend an NLNAC/CCNE accredited school, but it won't affect basic RN licensure. There is no state that requires NLNAC/CCNE certification for licensure. However, it makes a difference in returning to school to further your education and career later on, and a growing number of employers require it.

Since you know you are planning to return to school at some point, you also want to be sure you attend a school that has the appropriate general academic accreditation. Community colleges and "regular" colleges and universities are accredited by regional academic accrediting organizations. Most of the proprietary (private-for-profit) schools are accredited by a their own national organizations that only accredit proprietary schools. So, if a prospective student asks them if they're accredited, they can truthfully answer, "yes," and they're hoping the prospective student won't know enough to ask further. However, because they are held to a lower set of academic standards, credits from those schools typically don't transfer to "regular" (for lack of a better term) colleges and universities. I don't know if you're considering any of the proprietary schools, but that is something to be aware of and consider.

To expand on Elkpark's comments ...

The major colleges and universities are accredited by regional organizations. I believe their are 7 designated regions in the country -- e.g. the North Central region, the Western region, etc. If you school is not accredited by one of these regional agencies, you may have trouble getting your credits accepted by the schools that are -- and those of the universities that have the strong graduate programs you may want later in your career.

One way to double-check that a school's accreditations are the right ones is to look at the accreditations of the well-known, traditional universities in the same region. For example, if you are considering a school in California ... look at the accreditations held by Standford University or The University of California at San Fransisco. If you are looking at a school based in Kansas, look at the accreditations of the University of Kansas. If you are looking at a school in North Carolina, look at the accreditations of Duke. etc. You want a school accredited by the same agencies as the "big guns" in that same region.