Certificate programs for Nursing include the Licensed Practical Nurse certificate programs, which provide both instruction and training that will give students the knowledge and skills to pass the Nurse Certificate and Licensing Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN). These certificate programs provide instruction in medical areas such as geriatric and pediatric nursing, pharmacology and mental health nursing. The curriculum often also includes laboratory work and supervised clinical experience clinics, rehab centers and hospitals. Licensed nurses can also enroll in certificate programs for a specialized education in specific areas of nursing, such as geriatrics, public health or nursing education.
An associate degree in nursing is a two-year program offered at most community colleges that focuses on technical skills and clinical experience for the nursing field. The associate degree is the minimum entry-level requirement for obtaining a license as a registered nurse (R.N.) and allows a student to obtain a degree and become a working RN sooner than with the four-year bachelor's degree program. Graduates of the associate degree program in nursing will be eligible to take the NCLEX-RN exam, the national licensing exam for registered nurses.
A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) degree equips nursing students with the skills and credentials employers want, along with providing a strong foundation for career advancement and pursuing of higher-level degrees in the future, such as master's or doctoral degrees in nursing. A four-year bachelor's degree in nursing prepares the graduate to work in hospitals, nursing care, home health services and physicians' offices. Nurses with this degree often hold supervisory roles in hospitals and other health care institutions.
The nursing diploma is a two- to three-year program that prepares students for work in a hospital or other inpatient facility. This program was popular before the 1970s but is now not as common, with a limited number of colleges still offering it to students. This entry-level program is pretty much the same as an associate degree program, except for the fact that a degree program creates a platform to further the nurse's skills and education later on down the road, while the diploma program does not.