How To Recognize Good Accelerated Nursing Programs

By Author: Jarrod Meehan
Total Articles: 7
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Many people would like to take part in accelerated nursing programs. This is because it is the quickest way to become a nurse. It is also the most expensive, but because you are pretty much guaranteed a job it is an expense that you know you can pay back. The problem is that being able to study often means that you are unable to work at the same time, unless you follow online nursing programs, which is a viable alternative to an accelerated program, although it takes a lot longer.

But where do you go for these nursing degrees? There are many colleges around that will be happy to take you on if you already hold a master's or bachelor's degree. Generally, a School of Nursing offers an accelerated degree that lasts between 11 to 18 months. For a masters, however, it should take around three years. You need to make sure that you find the best school in order to achieve this degree.

One of the things you could do before enrolling in accelerated nursing programs is to look at what the program actually offers. For instance, one program starts each year in June and you are taught both the practical and theoretical coursework. ...
... In this specific program, the courses include Issues in Aging, Principles of Pharmacology, Health Assessment, Public Health Nursing, Patient Centered Care, Nursing in the Childbearing Family and Nursing for Child Health. There is a requirement for candidates to already have completed certain other courses, which they may have achieved through online nursing programs. These include Physiology, Human/Animal Anatomy, Human Growth and Development, Microbiology and Statistics and Nutrition. Once you graduate from this course, you are able to take the NCLEX-RN exam. The tuition matters as well, of course. For this course, the fee is $92,599 for university or off campus housing and $86,693 if living with family or relatives.

Another course is a 12 month full time accelerated course. This is one of the better nursing degrees. When taking part in this course, a student is not allowed to be employed outside of the school. This is because the course takes 50 to 60 hours per week in simulation labs and classrooms. There are 58 credit hours included in this course and the curriculum includes Patophysiology, Nursing Pharmacology, Women's Health Nursing, Nursing Management of Adult Health Care and Pediatric Nursing. Here, a total of 600 practicum contact hours have to have been conducted. You must already hold a bachelor's degree and 24 credit hours in mandatory other courses must already be completed. The mandatory courses are Statistics, Nutrition, General Psychology, Physiology/Anatomy I& II with Lab, Human Growth & Development and Microbiology with Lab. The average GPA has to be 3.2. The fees for this program are lower at $34,528 with financial aid being available.

One other School of Nursing offers accelerated degrees for people who don't yet have a nursing bachelor. They do have to hold a different bachelor degree though. This program is four semesters long and has a lot of courses in the curriculum. The average GPA has to be 2.8 and course prerequisites are in place. The prerequisites, however, depend on the bachelor that you already hold. This course costs $750 per credit hour.

Alex held a nursing bachelor's degree and wanted to take this further. He was able to do so through accelerated nursing programs.