Nursing school vs. Nursing program

[Ansumana]

I've been seeing a lot of people talking about nursing school. But I thought nursing school and nursing programs were one in the same but I guess I was wrong. So what's the difference between the two? I'm attending a community college and trying to get into the nursing program and from what I read, it seems easier (at least my CC is because the lack of entrance tests) and overall, cheaper than the alternative. So what's the point of going to a nursing school when you can get the same education, obviously, because we have to take state boards unless nursing school offers different specialties and goes all the way up to masters degree. Any input?

[llg, PhD, RN]

In the United States, most people use the terms "nursing program" and "nursing school" interchangably. In most cases, they ARE talking about the same thing for most practical purposes.

However ... there can be a slight difference that you may be picking up. Some educational institutions are organized so that the nursing program is a department within a larger entity (school, college, or university). There is the college/university as a whole and nursing is one of the majors they offer, provided by the department of nursing within that college/university. In other educational institutions, they are organized in such a way that the nursing faculty and the courses they offer form their own "school" -- which is part of the larger university, but has more independence in its governance. It's all a matter of how the faculty and the various academic departments are organized. It usually has little impact on the students or the courses they offer.

So ... in some educational institutions, the student may have to apply to the overall university to take the general education courses and then apply separately to be accepted into the department (or school) of nursing to enter the nursing program. At other educational institutions, that 2-step admissions process may not be necessary. It all may be handled by one administration. Each educational institution is unique and designs its own structure. And each has its own culture -- uses words to describe itself that might not be exactly the same way as another institution. But in general, when people talk about being accepted into "nursing school" or accepted into "the nursing program at XYZ university," they are talking about the same type of thing: they have been accepted into the program, school, or major that will teach them about nursing.

[Ansumana]

Ah, thank you for your input. I was getting worried about these TEAS exams because I never even heard of them do I was worried