Choosing the right Nursing School

[travellingup82]

I'll be attending one of the top schools in the country (according to US News) for an accelerated BSN/MSN program, but then again I've also been accepted to all the schools I applied to for nursing. This isn't about bragging rights or anything because it isn't about that all, but I'm asking this question because some people I know prefer that I attend the school that is closest to me. I've never lived outside my hometown and I want to explore and get a feel for living on my own and relying on myself to keep me standing on both feet. The school I will be going to (at least the one I said "yes" to and mailed my response) is out of state.

One of the main reasons for me choosing this particular school is so that when I graduate I will be able to hopefully catch the attention of prospective hospital employers and have them say "Well, they graduated from this wonderful school and they tend to produce greate nursing students so I'll pick them over this other applicant who applied to this school that isn't so well known for producing top notch students".

Without rambling on, is choosing which nursing program to attend not quite as important as, let's say, choosing a medical school or law school, since there is a shortage of nurses anyway and so regardless of where you graduated from the chances and the opportunities that are available to you upon graduation the same? I mean, will your chances of getting into a top notch teaching hospital (which is what I'm aiming for) after graduating from a well known school be the same for everyone applying regardless of what school they graduated from?

Thanks for reading :)~

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

If you intend to work in a hospital as a bedside nurse after graduation, then I would say it does not matter where you attended school. Human resources personnel and hiring managers at hospitals do not care which school you attended. To them, you are simply a warm body with a nursing license who is hopefully willing to fulfill their current staffing needs.

You'll be hired if your degree in nursing came from Harvard. You'll also be hired just as quickly if your nursing degree was earned from Podunk State University, or ABC123 Community College, or XOXO Hospital's Diploma School of Nursing, or the Funkytown Technical School RN Program. This is the reality of hiring practices at most hospitals across the nation.

Good luck to you!

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

The commuter couldnt have said it better. My advice visit all the schools you are interested in and pick the one you like the best. You have an exciting future ahead of you!!! Congrats on getting accepted.

[RN007]

Follow your heart and do what YOU want to do so you won't have regrets later. Also, go to a school you will be proud to proclaim as your alma mater. As grateful as I am for the many opportunities I've received from my nursing degree, I am not proud of the school I graduated from because they are getting a bad reputation for low NCLEX scores (although my graduating class had a 96+% pass rate and helped the school's overall rate tremendously). I am, however, enrolled in an excellent graduate program and will be very proud to be an alum of that school.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Pick a school with an NLN accreditation.

Also, you might want to look at costs and time. The accelerated program might be quicker, yet more expensive. But the other schools might take longer but be cheaper.

I disagree with the presumption that resume doesn't matter. It might not for entry level positions where a recruiter has 20 RN positions to fill and 5 applicants. However, ten years from now when you are looking for a competive position, say for example a drug company that pays big bucks, there might be 20 nurses applying for one position and a good resume, including graduating from a well-known school, among other things on your resume, is going to matter. If you're young, you can't presume you're going to stick to entry level hospital bedside nursing jobs for your entire lifetime.

Good luck.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Another thing: Be sure to not accrue too much student loan debt. I've seen many people come and go on these forums who took out massive loans to attend prestigious nursing programs, only to be sorely dissatisfied with their chosen career fields.

Though student loan debt is the ultimate investment in human capital, too much borrowing can be a trap.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I'm very glad I choose the private hospital based diploma school that I did. I know that if I would have stayed at community college that I would not be graduating for at least another semester (waiting lists).

[jjjoy, LPN]

In some locations it's useful to consider if you want to continue working in that geographic location or if you plan to move back. If the school you're considering is affiliated with a large, well-reputed teaching hospital, then if you go to school there, it might be easier to land a job there after graduation (no guarantees, of course). If you can't imagine staying where the school is located, then you might want to look into where you're planning to go after graduation as in some geographic locations it can be more difficult to land a job as a new grad (new grads can be expensive to train up properly and can't take on a full-load right away).

In regards to whether or not to move away from home, it sounds like you are wanting to experience living somewhere else away from what's familiar. If that's something you yearn for and can afford the move and the tuition, then I'd encourage you to take that leap.

As has been noted, for an entry-level nursing job in the average health care facility, the name of the school isn't as impressive as the reputation of the nursing program. Some small schools you've never heard of before are well-known in their community for turning out well-prepared nurses.

In general, you might also want to consider the kind of clinical experiences you'll get in any one program and how you feel about that. Some schools have a lot of 1:1 preceptoring which usually means more hands-on experience for the students, while others will have 10 students:1 clinical instructor and lots of waiting around for a turn at trying new skills.

Have fun with your choices!!

[leslie :-D]

i honestly don't know what employers think.

what i do know, is every prospective employer i've interviewed with, has always mentioned my school of nsg, as an excellent one.

i felt it may have given me an advantage.

but your primary considerations, would be nln accreditation and nclex pass rates.

best of everything.

leslie

[birdgardner]

I'm in an accelerated BSN program and finding out that it doesn't seem to matter that much where you got your degree and that accelerated programs may have a reputation for not giving enough clinical experience. I had thought I was going to go straight on into a master's NP program but now I'm planning to work for at least a year and probably two first.

Visit the schools; talk to the students; look at Rate my professor.com and take it with a grain of salt.

Cost matters; now I kind of wish I'd gone to my cheapest alternative.

A program at a university with a medical school and a teaching hospital would probably be very good. The stronger the clinical affiliations the school has the better. (Mine seems to be always re-negotiating and personal connections between school and hospital matter too much and change with personnel - there needs to be an established institutional relationship.) If the program does clinicals at top notch teaching hospitals that you are interested in, how often do the hospitals hire new grads - do you get an advantage?

If you are willing to consider a pause between BSN and MSN, an accelerated RN program at a hospital diploma school would be well worth considering.

Did you go to the Regional forum here and ask questions about the schools you are considering?

[wooh, BSN, RN]

You got accepted into the school, but have you been accepted in the nursing program? I've seen people accepted at many schools, but even with top grades, they're still on waiting lists for the actual nursing program. Make sure if you want to be a nurse, you don't end up twiddling your thumbs in filler courses waiting to get into the nursing program.

[travellingup82]

The school I plan to go to has a well known medical school and yes, I have been accepted to the nursing programs themselves of all the schools I applied to.