Are you sure you want to be a nurse? If you have no experience in health care, you may want to consider volunteering in a hospital, nursing home or other setting before committing time, money and energy to a specific program. Then you'll know whether nursing is a good fit for you. Most nursing-school applications include a question about how much health care experience you have.
What kind of degree do you want? A two-year degree is the minimum requirement for most nursing jobs. A bachelor's degree, or B.S.N., takes four years to complete, but it may open more doors for you in the long run. Unless you know precisely which job you hope to land and are certain a two-year degree will suffice, a longer program is probably the safer bet. Ask prospective schools what degrees they offer and the requirements for each.
Do you want to study in a large, competitive environment? Or do you thrive in smaller settings? It's important to consider your temperament and learning style when selecting a nursing program.
A good nursing school is affiliated with quality hospitals and clinics and affords its students the opportunity to learn from the nursing staffs in those facilities. For example, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing in New York City has affiliations with Columbia University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medical Center and other top hospitals. Ask your prospective schools about their affiliations, and then verify the quality of the hospitals and clinics they list.
Consult "U.S. News & World Report," "Peterson's" and other rankings of nursing programs to see how the schools you are considering are rated. Another mark of quality is the National League for Nursing's "Centers of Excellence" designation.
Ask about clinical rotations -- the time you will spend in a hospital or other health care setting learning in a hands-on environment. What proportion of your training will be in a clinical setting? This is one of the most important questions you can ask about any program. Most people learn best by actually performing a task under the guidance of people already on the job.
How easy is it to interact with faculty at the schools you are considering? Better yet, what is the faculty-to-student ratio -- the number of faculty for every student? This ratio is a good indicator of how much personal attention you can expect during your education.
How much does the program cost, and how are you planning to pay for it? If you don't have money saved or other means of satisfying tuition costs, be sure to ask whether the school offers financial aid, what forms of aid it provides and when and how to apply.
What is the school environment like? Once you've narrowed your list of prospective schools down to a few, it's a good idea to visit each campus to see the facilities, meet some of the faculty and administrators and hear what school representatives have to say. Many times you can rule out a school -- or choose it -- based on this visit alone. If the school's guidance counselors are available during your visit, talk to them about special areas of concern.