Selecting A Nursing School, Part 1

As an aspiring student nurse, you are about to embark upon an expensive and difficult, yet rewarding and challenging endeavor. Nursing education can be one of the largest financial investments you will make as an adult. Being an informed consumer and asking the right questions when selecting your program can help you make the best choices and up the odds that your money is well spent. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

Selecting A Nursing School, Part 1

As a nursing student, my primary focus was to excel at my pre-requisites and to gain admittance to nursing school. As many of you know, nursing school admission is competitive, and I was focused on only one thing: getting in. And yet, with increasing tuition prices, the average college education costs significantly more than most things you will buy over your lifetime, with the exception of a home. You would think that with the rising cost of education, that I would have been a better-research consumer. I can tell you that I was not. I did not even know the right questions to ask. As a nurse educator, I now counsel all prospective students to ask the right questions. This is a sampling.

What are the most recent trends in your program's NCLEX pass rate, retention rates, and in your college/university four-year graduation rates?

NCLEX, the nursing licensure examination, shows whether the program's graduates are prepared to practice entry-level nursing. This information is often readily available on your state Board of Nursing website. Ideally, the pass rate should be well above national and state averages over a period of years. Do not look only at isolated pass rates of one year, look for trends. However, the NCLEX pass rate does not tell everything that you need to know. You should also look at retention rates. In other words, how many of the students who start the nursing program will graduate with a nursing degree? How many graduate on time? For example, if you are attending a nursing program that generally takes two years to complete, what percentage of graduates receive their degree within that time frame? Does the school flunk out anyone who is unlikely to succeed at NCLEX?

Is the school accredited, and through what organization?

Note that state Boards of Nursing review programs to ensure that basic standards of education are met. This is not the same as regional or national accreditation. Ideally, look for a program with ACEN (Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing) or CCNE (Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education). This type of accreditation is rigorous and shows that your program meets or exceeds high standards for education. This type of accreditation can pave the way to continue your education at the masters or doctoral level. As a student, I just wanted to be a bedside nurse. I never imagined that I would one day decide to be a nurse educator. If I had not graduated from a program with this type of accreditation, it would have made continuing my education much more difficult and expensive. Also, look to see if your program passed their most recent accreditation or if they had any issues or follow-up reports. If they needed a follow-up report or visit, check to see what was the cause.

How many clinical hours will my program have and in what settings? What is the faculty: student ratio in the classroom and the clinical setting?

This information can tell you several things. Most states set minimum faculty to student ratios and a minimum number of clinical hours. Ideally, look for a program in which each faculty member is responsible for a small number of students in the clinical setting, especially in your first clinical rotations. I have worked for programs that have used ratios ranging from one faculty member to six students to one faculty member to ten students. I can assure you that for first-semester students, the 1:6 ratio is far preferable so that I can give each student the individual attention that they deserve. The number of clinical hours can give you one estimate of whether you will be prepared to practice as a new graduate. Nursing education should be a good blend of skills, evidence-based practice, and didactic (lecture). At my school, students have more clinical hours than any other program in the state, and our graduates are highly sought after and ready to practice as entry-level nurses. Additionally, in what settings will you be able to practice in clinicals? Ideally, your exposure will be broad, not just in terms of clinical specialty such as pediatrics or ICU, but also in both rural and urban settings, hospital and community settings, and with diverse patient populations. You may find your specialty in an unexpected area!

1 Votes
AOx1

About AOx1

Nurse! 15 year(s) of experience in ER, ICU, Education

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Specializes in ICU.

This is a great and informative article. People need to look at all aspects of the school when applying, not just how easy it is to get into, or how fast they can get through. I try to advise people all the time to research your school and see what ALL it has to offer. And whether it is a good fit for them. When I decided to go back to school the first time in my early 20's, I researched nothing and wasted about 10,000 of my hard earned money. Not so this time around. I picked my school for a variety of reasons, and I am very happy with the choice I made.

and not a damn thing about the HESI in that...

Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.
and not a damn thing about the HESI in that...

Did you notice that it says part 1? This is actually something I cover in part 2, and surely you realize that articles can only be so long.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
and not a damn thing about the HESI in that...

If you are seeking information on the HESI, Allnurses.com has two entire forums dedicated to the exam: the HESI Entrance Exam forum and the HESI Exit Exam forum.

Also, keep in mind that many, if not most, nursing programs do not utilize the HESI whatsoever. For instance, many students are required to take other entrance exams such as the TEAS, NET, or NLN-PAX instead. Since the HESI does not directly pertain to "selecting a nursing school," the author of this article is not obligated to include anything about the test in the article.

I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors! :)

Great article. Thanks for posting.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

Thanksvery much!

Thank you for writing this @AOx1 ! I'm working on my pre-reqs now and have a very real possibility of having to scout schools since the one I'm in has very small number of acceptance spots. I'm petrified of picking one of the rumored "diploma Mills" and I'm glad you wrote what to look for. Looking forward to part 2!

Thank you for writing this article. I am currently researching schools, and this post came at the right time for me. :)

I will keep that in mind about asking the ratio for clinicals. I know that clinicals is where we learn hands on and gain guidance from our teachers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this article, AOx1!