Online Degrees In Nursing Is Your School Accredited?

By Author: Daren
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Have you recently decided to pursue one of the many online degrees in nursing, such as a Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral degree? If so, it is extremely important that the school and program through which you’ll pursue this degree have received accreditation from a recognized body, otherwise, the coursework you complete for your degree may not avail you access to the opportunities you seek. To help you research your particular school, in this article we will outline the steps for verifying whether or not a nursing school or nursing program is accredited, and show you the criteria the accreditation body uses to make its findings.

Online Degrees in Nursing: Verifying Accreditation

While online degrees in nursing have become more popular and widespread among most major accredited colleges and universities, there unfortunately still exists a few “degree-mill” type schools that are not accredited, and thus many of the degrees from these institutions may not be worth the paper they’re printed on.

So how do you know for certain whether a school’s ...
... nursing degree program has received accreditation?

The system of accreditation in the United States is a voluntary one, in which nursing schools submit all aspects of their programs to the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) for evaluation. Naturally, the quality nursing schools will take this voluntary step as a way to demonstrate their excellence, but because this step is not required, a few of the less-than-stellar institutions may neglect to seek accreditation, largely because they fear their programs will not make the grade. This is why it is so important for students to do their homework beforehand to make sure their school has been accredited.

Fortunately, most online nursing schools are very transparent with regard to their accreditation, but in cases where schools neglect to advertise their credentials it’s important for students to understand that the accreditation of any school can be verified through the US Department of Education, specifically the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. Using this database, students can perform research to confirm which schools and universities have and have not been accredited. Even better, they can check to see which programs within those schools have received accreditation, including the online nursing degree programs. This process takes but a few minutes, and can wind up saving students a lot of money and grief in the long run.

Online Degrees in Nursing: The Accreditation Process

Now that you understand how to verify a school’s accreditation, let’s take a look at how online nursing degree programs become accredited.

The accreditation process takes place in three stages, including:

• Self-examination. A committee within the school measures the nursing program excellence against certain standards.
• Peer Examination. An appraisal by competent and respected peers within the field of nursing education.
• Accreditation Body Review. This is the final review conducted by NLNAC.

In essence, all three stages of the accreditation process, which are monitored over a specific time frame, are designed to measure the quality of the program by looking at the resources invested into it, the processes and procedures the program follows and the results the program gives rise to.

Accreditation of online degrees in nursing gives students the confidence that a) the program they are attending has met rigorous standards, and b) the work completed and the degree earned from this program will not only be accepted and respected by future employers, but will have adequately prepared them to succeed in their new profession.

About The Author :
This article is written by Daren Kyle, A staff of spainexchange.com where you can find online degrees, nursing degree program, schools and universities, and many more online degree programs. For details, visit http://spainexchange.com/