What accreditation does a nursing school (program) HAVE to have?

DoGoodThenGo · Dec 3, 2012

I'm looking at nursing schools, and some seem to be accredited by the CCNE, and some by the NLNAC. Are there any other nursing accreditations?
Which accreditation must a nursing school have in order to be "legit" (I guess?)?
I've narrowed it down to:
Dominican College - Accredited by CCNE
Ramapo College of NJ - Accredited by NLNAC
Hunter College - Accredited by CCNE
New York Institute of Technology - Accredited by CCNE
For some schools, you must have CPR certification before being admitted to the nursing program. In the school you went to, was this provided? Or did you have to take a separate class for CPR?
I'm doing a lot of research on this before I go into the field. Please forgive me for asking so many questions on the site when I'm not even a nurse

There are a few others IIRC, but for accreditation NLNAC and CCNE are the main ones to look for.

Not much difference between the two only that CCNE is open only to college/university based nursing progams whilst NLNAC accredits hospital and college/university programs.

In terms of being "legit" the first thing to look for in a program is if it is accredited/licensed by New York (or whatever) state to award a diploma, or degree in nursing. If the program isn't graduates aren't allowed to sit for the boards/obtain licensure.

As for the rest it takes time to become accredited by the various professional bodies, (NLNAC, CCNE) and thus programs may be licensed by NYS but lack anything else. Some schools (such as Saint Paul's) are either in the process of applying,others have been dropped, some don't bother.

Being as all this may while there isn't any statuatory requirement a nursing school obtain NLNAC or CCNE accreditation some places won't hire nurses whom came from "non-accredited" programs. Many hospitals/facilities and even branches of the military all require nurses to have graduated from programs with such endorsements.

As for CPR, nursing programs/nurses have been required to have it since the 1980's IIRC. By federal and or local state laws the following careers all require certified CPR training:

Nursing

First Responders

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs)

Firefighters

Police Officers

Physician Assistants

All Healthcare related careers

Lifeguards

Back when I took it the school offered a program by the Red Cross that was given on the college campus that was open to all, but yes we had to pony up the fee out of our own pockets. Again and yes, you couldn't start clinicals until one had competed the course and was awarded the certificate as proof.

G_Lee17 · Dec 3, 2012

Thank you so much! Your answer was a big help to me :)

G_Lee17 · Dec 4, 2012

I have another question.

I know that before you start clinicals, you must have malpractice insurance.

Where did you get malpractice insurance from?

elkpark · Dec 4, 2012

There is another issue in all of this (like it wasn't confusing enough already, right?) Nursing programs must be approved by their state BON in order for graduates to be eligible for the NCLEX, and NLNAC and CCNE are organizations that offer voluntary accreditation of nursing programs (which is not required for licensure by any state, but awfully handy to have as more and more employers, and most programs for continuing your education, are only taking graduates of accredited programs), as already noted.

However, there is also the matter of general academic accreditation. This becomes an issue if you want to transfer credits to another school, or get accepted into a graduate program, at some point in the future, as so many nurses do. "Regular" (for lack of a better term :)) colleges and universities (including public community colleges) are accredited by the so-called "regional" accreditation organizations (WASC, SACS, NEASC, etc.) Proprietary (private-for-profit) tech-voc schools often offer nursing programs -- and the programs themselves may be perfectly good. However, because these schools are typically not accredited by the organizations that accredit "regular" colleges and universities, credits from the proprietary schools are typically not transferable to other, "regular" schools (because the tech-voc schools do not meet the academic standards and practices that the other schools are required to meet). The proprietary tech-voc schools have created their own accreditation groups, that only accredit proprietary tech-voc schools, so, if you ask a school like that if it is accredited (and they all trumpet this proudly on their websites), you will be told "yes" -- and that will be a truthful answer; but they are hoping that prospective students won't know enough to question them further about this.

DoGoodThenGo · Dec 5, 2012

I have another question.
I know that before you start clinicals, you must have malpractice insurance.
Where did you get malpractice insurance from?

Yes, student nurses are required to carry malpractice insurance, but shouldn't start worrying about it yet.

Once you are accepted into a program the "welcome" kit will supply all the information regarding everything required from uniforms to textbooks down to malpractice insurance. There are IIRC only a handful of companies offering SN policies and word spreads fast about who is the best and or cheapest.