Getting an associate's degree in nursing usually takes two to three years. Classes in this degree program include general education classes, such as physics, biology, English and humanities. Specific nursing classes can be broken down into several areas; laboratory, classroom and clinical. Classroom courses include practical nursing, nursing theory and ethics. Laboratory and clinical classes focus on practical applications, such as how to properly administer injections and medications, as well as getting familiar with a hospital's working environment. Getting an associate's degree is almost the same as getting a bachelor's degree in terms of classes tackled, but a four-year degree program has a more extensive training.
The bachelor of science in nursing is a four-year course. To get a bachelor's degree in nursing, a student has to take all the courses taken by an associate's degree student plus additional advanced classes. Internships are also far more extensive usually. Advanced classes include courses in human diseases, psychology, pharmacology, human anatomy and physiology, as well as self development courses. Clinical training and internship also requires more hours. To get a bachelor's degree in nursing, a student has to complete around 35 hours of clinical practice and around 300 hours of internship in a hospital.
Being an LPN does not require any long internship as it is an entry level position. In order to get a degree as an LPN, a student needs to complete coursework that lasts for about nine months. Classes under this coursework include practical nursing, nursing basics, fundamentals of nursing, chemistry, biology and human anatomy. The classes related to nursing are entry level classes tackling nursing skills, proper patient care and basic nursing tasks such as taking vital signs. Some schools offering LPN degrees also include some amount of practical training for students, like working in a clinic or a hospital for a short time before awarding the LPN degree.
Getting a degree in nursing is just the first step in getting a license and practicing the profession. As with other degree programs requiring a licensure exam, some nursing students need to take additional review classes to prepare for their licensure test. Nursing degree holders need to pass the National Council Licensure Examination -- Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN) in order to be recognized by the U.S. government as registered nurses. NCLEX-RN review classes are mostly refresher courses to ensure that students will remember all the information they learned within their two or four years of study.