Program accreditation

[girodriguez]

The ADN program I am in is approved by the Texas Board of Nursing, but is currently working on national accreditation. The program director says they will use our current curriculum to apply for accreditation. If I graduate after it gets approved, I would assume I am graduating for a nationally accredited program, correct? What about if I graduate BEFORE it gets accredited, but it is the same curriculum? Would that status still apply to me?

national accreditation doesn't really matter to me right now because I will be able to find a job easily in my area as long as there program is approved in Texas, but I know a lot of places in bigger cities require national accredited program graduates. I do plan on getting my BSN at a ccne accredited college in the future though.

[LessValuableNinja]

Which program? I'm curious enough to do research.

[girodriguez]

Southwest Texas Junior College. They had a decent nclex-rn pass rate with the bridge program. 2015 pass rate was a 50% only because they switched from a bridge to a generic (so no graduating class of 2015). Class of 2014 was the last bridge graduating class, meaning class of 2016 was the first graduating class for the generic program. So the people who took the nclex in 2015 and failed has waited over a year to test, explaining them failing. Hope that makes sense.

should also add that they haven't applied yet. They are still working on getting everything sorted out to actually apply. I'm not sure what exactly that entails.

[LessValuableNinja]

Here's my perspective.

I can't find on the CCNE website the answer to the question of what happens if you graduate and then it's approved by CCNE.

However, an RN to BSN degree can be had quickly, and as far as I can find in a cursory look through three Texas programs, none of them say the ADN needs to be CCNE or AACN-accredited, just that you need to be an RN, and then it lists prerequisite courses, etc.

I am not sure that AACN/CCNE accreditation will cause you that many issues in the job search. It may with some employers. However, if working in a big city is your concern, I think you'll run into more problems without a BSN (still possible, just harder). Most grad school applications state you need to have a BSN from an AACN/CCNE accredited university, but that's a tomorrow kinda issue.

Example employer requirements in the DFW area below. These are the first two jobs I clicked, on the first two employer sites I looked at. One requires a BSN; no ADN option. The other can hire you as an ADN, but you have a limited amount of time to obtain a BSN. Neither of them mentions CCNE or AACN accreditation:

Copy/paste from a BS&W job:

Qualifications

* BSN degree required

* RN License required

* CPR/BLS is required; ACLS preferred

* Previous Cardiac Rehab or Cardiac RN experience preferred

Note: If you have less than 6 months of experience, we recommend that you apply to our nursing internship program. Internships are available for new graduates and experienced nurses in a variety of specialties. New classes begin in January, June, and September.

Copy/paste from a THR job:

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) preferred.

RNs hired after January 2014, require completion of BSN within 3 years of start date.

RNs hired within THR after December 2016, require completion of BSN within 2 years of start date.

[girodriguez]

Here's my perspective.

I can't find on the CCNE website the answer to the question of what happens if you graduate and then it's approved by CCNE.

However, an RN to BSN degree can be had quickly, and as far as I can find in a cursory look through three Texas programs, none of them say the ADN needs to be CCNE or AACN-accredited, just that you need to be an RN, and then it lists prerequisite courses, etc.

I am not sure that AACN/CCNE accreditation will cause you that many issues in the job search. It may with some employers. However, if working in a big city is your concern, I think you'll run into more problems without a BSN (still possible, just harder). Most grad school applications state you need to have a BSN from an AACN/CCNE accredited university, but that's a tomorrow kinda issue.

Example employer requirements in the DFW area below. These are the first two jobs I clicked, on the first two employer sites I looked at. One requires a BSN; no ADN option. The other can hire you as an ADN, but you have a limited amount of time to obtain a BSN. Neither of them mentions CCNE or AACN accreditation:

Copy/paste from a BS&W job:

Qualifications

* BSN degree required

* RN License required

* CPR/BLS is required; ACLS preferred

* Previous Cardiac Rehab or Cardiac RN experience preferred

Note: If you have less than 6 months of experience, we recommend that you apply to our nursing internship program. Internships are available for new graduates and experienced nurses in a variety of specialties. New classes begin in January, June, and September.

Copy/paste from a THR job:

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) preferred.

RNs hired after January 2014, require completion of BSN within 3 years of start date.

RNs hired within THR after December 2016, require completion of BSN within 2 years of start date.

That is true, I never thought about it that way. It had always bothered me that the adn program isn't accredited (still chose this school because it's super cheap and had a good reputation), but I guess I really have no reason to worry since I plan on doing UT Arlington's online BSN immediately, granted I pass the nclex.

and well as far as a job, I would love to work in a bigger city, but as you said, BSN is usually required anyways.

It will work out great in the end because the hospital here in my town offers a pretty good hourly rate for new graduates, allowing time to save and get my BSN before moving to a bigger city.

thank you!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Have you checked UT-A's bridge program admission policy to see if an ADN from an accredited school is a requirement? If so, that may be a snag.

[girodriguez]

There are currently RNs that graduated from this program that are furthering their education through UT Arlington, so I don't think it will be a problem.

[LessValuableNinja]

It's an accredited school under a US DOE regional accrediting org, just not CCNE accredited.

[Extra Pickles]

I don't know if all government jobs but definitely federal jobs require you to have graduated from a nationally-accredited school. I wouldn't think anyone would check when you're applying if you graduated before or after they got accredited, they are likely to only look to see that it IS accredited. But if there is no national accreditation when you go to apply, your application will get kicked out. So it depends where you want to work and what their expectations are.

[girodriguez]

It's an accredited school under a US DOE regional accrediting org, just not CCNE accredited.

You're referring to my school and not UT Arlington, correct?

[LessValuableNinja]

Roger.

[OliverElio87, BSN, RN]

I remember looking at some NP programs and it said that the nursing degree needed to be in a CCNE/ACEN accredited institution. Also, I think another hurdle you might come across is if you're applying to another state to be licensed.