my nursing school is not accredited, help

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I found out today that my nursing program is not accredited through the National League of Nursing, nor are they approved from the Michigan Board of Nursing. They are the only school in the local area that is not accredited and/or approved by these two organizations. I am thinking of transferring to another school, as I am almost finished with my pre requisites for entry into the nursing program. I attend a community college that is very close to my home, yet the nursing program is under constant revision and they are not approved like the many other cc's and university schools are. Every other cc is accredited by the National League of Nursing, and approved by the Michigan Board of Nursing. My school is accredited by something called NCCC? They didn't even know about the Michigan Nursing Board approval. I am seriously thinking of transferring out to another school before I begin to invest my time and money for the next two years in a good nursing program. I would have to drive further away and pay a slight increase in tuition because of the districting, but I am nervous about continuing on with this cc. What would you all do? I am also torn by the decision of transferring to a University, and getting the bsn, verses the Associates. I may have to wait up to a year to start in the cc nursing program, I already have a year and a half completed, so it would amount to close to the same amount of time before becoming a graduate. Does anyone have any input on the pro's and con's of getting your BSN over your ADN?

Hi Foxfire65, I had the same problem with an LPN school I was going to attend before I finally decided on the ADN. I did a little research on state boards and approvals and so forth, because the LPN school didnt have any accredations except one that no one seemed to have heard of. I assumed you were going to a cc in Michigan right? I found the Michigan board of nursings list of approved educational programs ranging from BSN to LPN.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch_nurse_approve_ed_prog_98366_7.pdf

Check out that list and see if your school is on there, if its not I probably would go to a different school.

As for the BSN vs. ADN, that really is up to you. I did a lot of thinking before deciding which path was right for me. BSN will come in time for me, I am older so I dont have a lot of time. I will be lucky if there is 25 years of working time left for me :rotfl: But nursing has always been my dream, thus the name :rolleyes:

Good luck to you and I hope that you find the answers that you are seeking.

Take care.

Michelle

I think it would be a good idea for you to find another school. Graduating from a school that's not approved by the NLN may make you unable to obtain a license in other states. I would also be suspicious of the quality of the program that your school offers.

Sorry and good luck.

In order to take the NCLEX you must graduate from a school that is approved by the Board of Registration in Nursing in which the school is located. If your school is not approved by the state BORN you will not be apply to take NCLEX and hence will not be able to practice nursing. Please call your state BORN to clarify the status of your nursing program ASAP.

Accreditation is a voluntary process, and nursing programs are not required to be accredited. That being said you will find it very difficult to get accepted to a higher degree program if you graduate from an unaccredited nursing program.

I would definitely look into another school. If you are getting a weird feeling about this school, I think you need to pay attention. If you have a chance to get your BSN in the same time as an ADN, I would go for the BSN. I've applied to both an ADN and a BSN. Just today I found out I was accepted into the BSN program...(yahoo!), and I probably won't even hear until mid-March if the ADN comes through. The only challenging thing about attending the BSN versus the ADN is that I'm going to have to travel to Tampa to attend the main campus. It's worth it though.

Good luck!

Kris

Thanks for all the replies. I have decided to transfer to another college for my nursing education. I just haven't decided which one yet. I am leaning toward another cc in the area that has an excellent reputation for their nursing program. I am not sure of a waiting list yet. I tried calling and cannot speak to anyone till Thursday on the answer to that. If there is I will probably just transfer over to a four year university. I will have 52 credits by the end of the fall semester. So I would go in as a Sophmore in a four year program. I will do more research. I want a quality school that can give me a quality education. I don't want to waste all that time and money on a school that is not approved by the NLN. Wish me luck.

Graduating from a school that's not approved by the NLN may make you unable to obtain a license in other states. I would also be suspicious of the quality of the program that your school offers.

There are two agencies that approve nursing programs. NLN and CCNE. It doesn't matter which agency approves your school as long as your program is approved and recognized by the SBON

Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

You may also have trouble transfering any work you did at this unaccrediated college.And what I mean here is that if they are proposing they have a ligit nursing school and they dont, you need to check the colleges main accrediation. It has been my experience that the transfering and receiveing college's must have a common accrediation before the accepting college will accept work from another college.I would be so mad if I did X amount of hours and could not transfer them anywhere. You can check the accrediation status of any college online ,I dont know the exact web address but type in Higher education accrediation. Im just glad you found this out before you started the program.. That would have really been bad. :)

Glad you decided on what you are going to do. For me it was the most stressful time in my life. Trying to decide what to do and when to do it. Once I finally made that decision, I felt a big load lifted right off my shoulders. It was a great feeling.

Was your school on that list for your states board of nursing? I was looking at the NLN's website and noticed that your state has a Constituent League website. You might want to check out that site too, it might give you more answers. I hope it helps you. Here is the website: http://www.nln.org/membership/index.htm

Good luck on your decision!

There are two agencies that approve nursing programs. NLN and CCNE. It doesn't matter which agency approves your school as long as your program is approved and recognized by the SBON

They are not accredited, but they are approved by the Michigan board of Nursing. I think that is a recent thing. However the Director of nursing program at school came out and said they are not accredited. She said that is a completely voluntary thing to do. However, I am not going to finish my education there. I do question the quality of the program there if they are not interested in being accredited. They are the only cc around here that is not. I think that is strange. I don't think paying 8 thousand or more for classes and they are not accredited is worth it. I am going on to another cc probably. There is one in particular that interests me. It is just going to be a longer drive every day. Like 30 miles one way. Thanks for all the advice and replies. I was very nervous, but thought it over and I will just transfer out of there. :coollook:

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