What does Accrediation mean for nursing school?

Peetz, BSN · Feb 7, 2010

Just means that groups have checked out the schools learning content and approved it. Such a OCNE and other education based groups. The more accreditation the better so what you learned is not a mystery to the testing boards. Standardized curriculum, is what it is all about. kinda.

elkpark · Feb 8, 2010

When we talk about accreditation in regard to nursing programs, it's important to clarify specifically what kind of accreditation we're talking about.

Many people don't realize there is a difference between a nursing program being approved by the state BON, meaning that its graduates are eligible to sit the NCLEX and get licensed, and being accredited by the NLNAC or CCNE, which are the two independent organizations that accredit nursing programs. Many nursing programs are approved for licensure (by the state BON) but not accredited (by the NLNAC or CCNE) -- which means that, if you wish to further your education later on and the program you're wanting to get into requires that you have graduated from an accredited program (as many do), you'll be in trouble if you went to a basic nursing program that wasn't accredited even though you have no problems with licensure. Some hospitals, also, will only hire people who are graduates of accredited programs (even though you have a valid, active license, they will not consider you if your school wasn't accredited).

Once you go beyond accreditation specific to nursing, it gets even more confusing. Nursing programs within colleges and universities can get NLNAC or CCNE accreditation, but there is also general academic accreditation that applies to the school in general, overall. Usually, in nursing, we're mainly interested in the nursing-specific accreditation, but the other matters, too. People who go to the proprietary (private-for-profit) tech/vocational schools for their nursing education may get a perfectly fine nursing education and have no problems getting licensed by the state, but, often, when they want to go back to school, they find that "regular" colleges and universities won't recognize or accept any of their credits from the tech/voc school. That's because the other school is not accredited (generally, not specifically regarding nursing) by the same organization(s) that accredit "regular" colleges and universities. The various proprietary trade schools have gotten together and formed their own accrediting agencies which accredit them -- so they can say in their advertising that they're accredited (because they are) -- but other colleges and universities don't recognize (in many/most cases) their credits, and won't accept them for transfer, because they're accredited by the "wrong" organizations, and aren't held to the same standards as "regular" colleges and universities.

BTW, ACICS is one of the organization that accredits (only) tech/voc/trade schools. That doesn't (necessarily) mean you won't get a good (at least adequate) nursing education, and one wouldn't have trouble getting licensed (assuming it's approved by the BON -- but I can't imagine a nursing program would stay in operation long if its students couldn't write the NCLEX :); BON approval is pretty much a given), but furthering one's education in the future could well be a problem.

The proprietary schools don't mind at all that most people don't have any idea how any of this works -- they put on their websites and brochures that they're "accredited," and that is a true statement, and most people don't ask any more questions about that (until they suddenly find they're up against a brick wall when they want to return to school somewhere else). With the tech/voc/trade schools, like so many things in life, it's a case of "buyer, beware" -- some may be v. good schools but some are little more than scams. You've got to investigate carefully before you invest a significant amount of time or money ...

Best wishes for your journey!

bcems134 · Feb 8, 2010

Thanks for the replies. Elkpark, that is really what I was getting at, the difference in accreditation from the colleges and the Board of Nursing ect.

Ultimately I want to get a BSN and work for a VA hosp or Army Corps of Nurses, and while that is still several years off, I will need to have a BSN that is accredited by NLNAC, at least that is how I understand it. I also need to stop getting older.

While my college is currently only an ADN program, the rumor is they are trying to develop a BSN. The sister school is BSN only, NLNAC accredited so I am hoping it will come to pass here as well.

Thanks again.

BTW, I don't know how to edit my initial post for spelling, or I would have fixed the title.

UVA Grad Nursing · Feb 8, 2010

Bcems:

You'll also want to go to an ADN program that is NLN-accredited too. Otherwise you may not get accepted to a RN-BSN program. There are three unaccredited ADN programs here in my state of Virginia, and graduates from those programs are not accepted into the public RN-BSN programs.

TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP · Feb 8, 2010

If you want your credits to transfer into nursing school, which is what I think you're talking about, you need to attend a college or university which is properly accredited. There are a few different accrediting organizations around, the North Central Association being the big one in my neck of the woods. These organizations help assure that similar classes at similar schools are roughly equivalent, among many other things, allowing the transfer of credit from one to another. Some schools which are either very religious and/or very small forgo the accreditation process, which causes problems for students who transfer out of those institutions as their transcripts aren't even worth the paper they're printed on.

As your school claims that it is accredited, my suggestion is that you take the overly taxing step of *gasp* picking up a phone and calling your school of choice to make sure they accept credits from your current institution.