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Registered Nurse Education Requirements

When looking at the registered nurse education requirements, this may confuse someone thinking about becoming a nurse due to all the different programs out there. You may be already be a licensed practical nurse, a high school student, a graduate with an associates degree, or someone with a bachelors or even masters degree. Others may include someone that has graduated college with an entirely different job that would like to change careers. Let me do the best I can to clear up confusion one may have.

Regardless of what nursing program there is the registered nurse education requirements will all basically be the same. This is known as the “pre-nursing” track or nursing pre-requisites. Just like all associate degree programs have the same core courses required, nursing does also. Math classes will include at least statistics and college algebra. For the social sciences, courses may be sociology, psychology and developmental psychology. Humanities is a requirement as it is with most associate degrees. For sciences, one will need to take anatomy and physiology I and II, microbiology, and chemistry I for most programs. English are the requirements for the associates degree program which is English composition I and II or a substituted English course such as British literature (as determined by the school).

Not only are their registered nurse education requirements but there are grade point average requirements along with required tests. Most schools will require at least a 3.0 grade point average. With the increased number of nursing student applicants, most programs will require the potential applicant to take the Nursing Entrance Exam (NET). Schools may accept their students on a rolling admissions basis, lottery or selective admissions. A rolling admissions basically means first come first serve. Applicants that meet the eligibility requirements such as GPA will be accepted in order of when the application was received until seats fill up. Lottery can mean that eligible applicants are selected randomly (kind of like pulling names out of a hat). Selective admissions means that the faculty will accepts the students based on the highest GPA, highest NET score and most courses completed.

Registered nurse education requirements may change every application cycle or every year. With the increasing number of applicants, the nursing schools will need to make changes to their requirements such as requiring the completion of additional courses, increasing the GPA requirement or requiring that applicants take the nursing entrance exam. Unfortunately many nursing school applicants will also be denied admission due to the shortage of nursing instructors available.

As discussed, the registered nurse education requirements will be similar. Do some research and determine what nursing schools are out there and which ones are most convenient for you. Make a list of perhaps the top five schools where you may want apply. Determine the education requirements of each, whether or not this school is accredited, the duration of the program and the cost of tuition. Some school may require additional courses you may not want to take. Some schools may also require the nursing entrance exam while others do not. There are many websites on the internet that offer practice tests or tips regarding the nursing entrance exam. Do not get discouraged with these educational prerequisites because there will be different educational requirements for just about any degree program you want to pursue.

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