question about schools who are not accredited.

Ortho_RN · Nov 29, 2002

Nope.. If the school is NOT accredited you CANNOT sit for boards... EVER.. You would have to go through a accredited school...

Rena RN 2003, RN · Nov 30, 2002

you can still sit for the NCLEX even if the school is not accredited by the national league of nursing. the only criteria for sitting for state boards is that the school is "approved" by that state board of nursing. here's a link.

http://www.allnursingschools.com/faqs/accredfaq.php

when a new school of nursing starts up, it isn't automatically accredited by the NLN. i believe the time frame for accreditation is that the first graduating class must have a certain percentage of the students graduate and pass state boards. after the criteria has been met, accreditation is retroactive.

i believe this is how it was explained to me by one of the instructors at the school. don't quote me though. :chuckle

our school is only 11 years old. yes, students took a risk in that first graduating class because the school may not have graduated the numbers needed for accreditation. but our ongoing success rate is 95% (went down this last year because 4 people didn't pass NCLEX on the first try) for the last 11 years with students passing the NCLEX on the first try. passing rate for second try is at 99%.

had accreditation not been granted but the program was approved by the state board of nursing, the students could have still taken the NCLEX. the catch comes when a student wishes to further his/her education by transferring to an accredited school. the training wouldn't transfer.

here's a link for a school that just went through the process:

http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/25/3d91c0f37b8e5

this one also has a little info on the process:

http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/1998/9805/9798-290.html

kimmicoobug · Nov 30, 2002

Hey Rena, thanks for the links. Greatly appreciated. I am not asking because my school is accredited, but one of the private schools here is not accredited and just piqued my curiousity.

Youda · Nov 30, 2002

Your SBON will have specific criteria and requirements for the school and whether or not you can sit for NCLEX at graduation. Check your own state's Nurse Practice Act, and your SBON can also tell you what schools in your state are approved to sit for Boards.

Ortho_RN · Nov 30, 2002

Hmm.. that is odd cause our school is up for "re-accredidation" and the State Board told us that if the school lost it that none of the graduating nurses would be allowed to sit for boards, EVER unless they did another program... I guess each state is different.

zacarias, ASN, RN · Dec 3, 2002

nurs2b, I can see your line of thinking..but then why in the world would non-accredited nursing schools exist if graduates couldn't take the NCLEX? They would be absolutely purposeless.

Z

Ortho_RN · Dec 3, 2002

Zac,, I agree but I didn't make that up out of my own head.. It was told to our program by the person who approves the programs...

It doesn't make sense to me either, but most things haven't in nursing school :)

pama · Dec 3, 2002

Accreditation is not a mandatory requirement. It is very costly and time consuming for the program.

The State Board of Nursing Approves schools. They are the ones to determine if a student can take the NCLEX-RN exam.

The program I oversee started in 1972. It did not receive NLN accreditation until 1989. Students did however graduate, take the NCLEX-RN exam, and continue their education in RN-BSN programs WITHOUT any problems.

We have been NLN accredited since 1989. Just completed our reaccreditation visit with excellent results.

Many BSN programs left NLN and opted to become accredited by the AACN. Since there are different accrediting bodies there is no way it can be mandatory.

Just because a school is not accredited does not mean the program is lacking. In public higher education across the country funds are limited. The school may not have the money. An accreditation visit costs about $5,000 with an annual fee of approximately $2,000-$3,000.

Hope this answers your question.