Community colleges, four-year colleges, and medical schools affiliated with major universities offer nursing courses to qualified students. When choosing a school, select one accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting (NLNA) or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Enrolling in an accredited program will help to ensure that you will be qualified to work in the field of nursing of your choice upon completion of the program. Nursing programs may lead to certificate, diploma and professional degrees (associate's, bachelor's, master's).
Universities and colleges apply credit hours to each of their courses, which is a representation of the amount of time required by students to complete each course. As a general rule, the more time a student spends in the classroom for a respective class, the more credit hours that class is worth. Requirements for credit hours are not universal; each university sets its own standards and some universities require students to complete more credit hours than others. When enrolling in nursing courses, take note of the credit hours attached to each course and make sure that, by the time graduation comes, the total credit hours you take meets the minimum requirement for your university. If you do not have enough credit hours, you will not graduate.
Before earning acceptance into certain advanced courses, universities require students to complete various prerequisite courses, which are courses taken to prepare students for future education. For instance, before earning acceptance into the Health Assessment and Fundamentals nursing course at Carlow University, students must complete multiple chemistry, biology and introductory nursing courses.
The various fields in the nursing industry cover a vast array of specialties and this is reflected in the wide variety of nursing courses offered. Pharmacology, pathophysiology, gerontology, disease prevention, psychiatric, legal, ethical, political and even computer-related courses are offered to nursing students to prepare them for their future in the medical field. Some courses offer unique and specialized education in a specific function of nursing, such as prenatal care; the field of nursing women through pregnancy; pediatric care; the field of nursing children and adolescents, or geriatric care; the field of nursing elderly individuals.