Registered nurses play an important role in primary patient care. While physicians are responsible for diagnosing illnesses and devising treatments, nurses bear most of the responsibility for executing treatment plans. Registered nurses treat and educate patients individually or on a large scale as advisers to the community and advocates on health issues. Nurses administer medications and diagnostic tests, handle IVs and coach patients and their families on home care. The most ambitious may pursue graduate education and become practitioners in their own right or policymakers for national organizations.
Nursing programs, like other forms of technical training, are accredited through industry organizations. The National League for Nursing administers one such body, the NLN Accrediting Commission. Nursing schools wishing to receive NLNAC accreditation are reviewed on a number of criteria, designed to judge how high the school's standards are and how well they are delivered. The NLNAC makes its accreditation process available for public viewing on its website.
Registered nurses may launch their careers with a vocational certificate, an associate degree or a bachelor's degree. Certificate programs are now rare, with most vocational students opting for an associate degree that requires two or three years to complete. Although there are slight differences from one school's program to another, the courses taken for an associate degree are roughly equivalent to the first two years of a bachelor's degree. The program will complement foundational science courses with directed study in subjects like physiology, anatomy, nutrition and psychology. Supervised clinical experience is also part of the curriculum.
A four-year bachelor's degree provides the greatest degree of upward mobility for a new nurse. The third and fourth years of the program teach some more advanced nursing skills, but generally are geared toward management-oriented courses. Those who aspire to the highest professional or managerial positions will go on to pursue graduate degrees in nursing or related fields. Nurses beginning with an associate degree may upgrade to a higher degree later in their careers, and many employers offer tuition subsidies in varying amounts.
It is important to graduate from an accredited nursing program, but each nurse must still be individually certified before practicing by passing the National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX-RN. Some states may have additional licensing requirements, and continuing education is universal. Registered nurses may also choose certification in a number of specialized fields, including those of nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, nurse-midwife or various clinical nursing specialties.