Does National Accredited and Regionally Accredited really matter?

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Hello, I am interested to know if it matters whether the school you attends is regionally or nationally accredited. I have gone to the BVNPT site that lists accredited VN programs but a lot of them are not regionally accredited. I know it is important that a school is regionally accredited if you plan on furthering your education to BSN and beyond but when applying for a job does this matter? I thought it just matter is if you have a state license but I am getting mixed reviews. Right now I am a CNA and have been one for 5 years. I have taken some pre reqs but none that really matter like science classes. I am not able to attend school full time so I want to do the lvn route and then bridge to a BSN Program. Please Help!! I really want to start a program soon but am afraid to pick the wrong school. I live in California and would love to find a program in the LA/OC area.

Thanks

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Specializes in ICU.

It does matter if you want to transfer credits to a 4 year university. To me it is a complete waste of money if the school is not accredited. And yes it also matters when looking for a job and I will tell you why. There is a for profit school in my area that is not accredited. Many of the people graduating from there are not getting jobs in this area because of it. They are paying anywhere from $20,000 - $40,000 for their educations which is crap on paper because the hospitals here don't want them. And I live in an area where nursing jobs are everywhere.

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I think that most people, including myself, would agree that non-accredited schools are a complete waste of time and money. If I were you I'd just finish the pre-req's and start applying to BSN programs. If you can't attend school full time then I think an LVN program would be more time consuming than the pre-req's. When I first started this journey, I was given really bad advice and kept looking for shortcuts, but quickly learned that there aren't any if you want to do things the RIGHT way. It took me a year and half to get through my pre-req's, and now I'm awaiting news on the programs I applied to. You'll find a school that is right for you - just don't jump into anything without doing your research. Best of luck! :)

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I don't know. Here in my area, hospitals don't look at whether you went to an accredited school or not. (I asked around) Out of all the nursing schools here, I counted 5 that are accredited out of 50+. If you think about it, do you really think ALL of the nurses you see working come out of just those 5 accredited schools? Nope.

Different strokes for different folks. Everyone has a different path. Pick yours and make the right decision. I say do the BSN. And go accredited.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Many LVN/LPN programs are not structured as "college hour" programs. Instead, they are "clock hour" programs where the content is divided out into sections rather than divided into separate courses. If you are attending a clock hour program, regional accreditation does not matter, because none of it is actually transferable to another school. The most important factor? Make sure it is approved by your state BON so you will be eligible to take your NCLEXPN and become licensed.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Inpatient & family practice.

I am a pre-nursing student. My community college has lost its accreditation and so the algebra, biology, chemistry, etc. departments are having these prereq instructors help them weed out those who are almost finished with their prereqs, like me. There are now too many students to accommodate and that is how they have chosen to do this. I need to find another school that I can go to complete my nursing pre-reqs. Do you recommend the Excelsior college? Also do you know of any other colleges I might be able to go to? Here there are no C's allowed in anything right now and I am cannot get better than a C in my algebra classes. I have already taken 4 semesters of college and I don't know what to do frankly. My counselor says change majors, but I really don't want to do that. Any advice would be appreciated. Is board of nursing accreditation enough? Thanks!

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yes it matters. You've gotten some great answers here, but if you want to read more, search at the top for that question. There's been a bit of talk about it.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

National accreditation is very important.

Are there any LVN-BSN programs? I haven't seen any in CA; just RN-BSN. Even some LVN-RN programs have been closed. It might be good to look up, because many programs have changed over the years. Also, universities will only take LVN and prerequisite credits from a nationally accredited school. Look at the long term, not just at what can get you a job now. It might be worthwhile to move for a program that's nationally accredited.

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I don't know. Here in my area, hospitals don't look at whether you went to an accredited school or not. (I asked around) Out of all the nursing schools here, I counted 5 that are accredited out of 50+. If you think about it, do you really think ALL of the nurses you see working come out of just those 5 accredited schools? Nope.

Different strokes for different folks. Everyone has a different path. Pick yours and make the right decision. I say do the BSN. And go accredited.

I'd be willing to bet that they are accredited/accepted by your state BON, though. If you were to go to an unaccredited school in another state, it wouldn't work.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day:

I never thought it mattered when I went for my associate in computer science (graduated in 1984) UNTIL I switched to pursing a RN program. When you have to pull teeth (so to speak) to have 3 credits out of 93 credits (3.98 GPA) accepted you will wish you went to an accredited school where C's on up are accepted with very little questions.

If you have any choice at all to go to an accredited school, do so. It will keep your future education goals (even if you don't have them now) fluid and open along with being far more economical (time and money wise).

Thank you.

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