Questions to Ask When Choosing a Nursing Program

So I'm gonna talk to you tonight about choosing a nursing program and how to do that. So for some of you, you may have been considering starting nursing school for a long time.

Um for some of you, maybe even this year, you know, 2020 what that's meant for health care may have inspired you to, you know, start to be a nurse like this is what I wanna do.

I wanna jump into that. And so I wanna talk to you about some really important questions that you wanna ask before you enroll because there are so many nursing programs out there, there's so many methods of delivery and nursing programs as well.

And so it's really important that just in the same manner as we shop around and as we're consumers for other things in life that we're doing the same type of due diligence for nursing school as well.

So just a quick uh little presentation here on nursing programs in the US. There's approximately 2000, just a little over that 2000 nursing programs in the US alone.

That's a lot. Um And an assert say that the National League of nursing did from the 2017, 2018 year showed that more than 235,000 people applied to nursing schools.

And we're anticipating that that number is gonna continue to grow. A lot of that is really gonna be pushed by the nursing store.

I'm sure so many of you have heard about. Right.

We're anticipating that there's going to be an exponential need for nurses in the field coming up in uh the future years.

And so with that said, there's been a push, right? There's been a lot of talk about getting students into school to become nurses so we can get you out in the field and work where we need you to be.

So with that said, with such a large number of programs that you can choose from a lot of students come to me and think uh you know, I can just pick any school, right?

And, and we know that's not necessarily true. There's a lot of things that you wanna make sure that you're doing ahead of time, kind of your homework, the research, right?

The prework to make sure that you're picking something that's a good fit for you. And most importantly, that's gonna be a really good fit for your future and where you wanna go.

So we're gonna hop right into it. The first thing approved or accredited as you're choosing a school, right?

The one thing that you wanna make sure out the gate that you're thinking about and that you ask and find out is if that program, if that school is approved and or accredited.

So what does that mean? Simply put as far as approval is concerned?

It just means that that program has state permission, right? The state has approved it, that this program can conduct business.

So the state has stamped it and said you're good to go, you can conduct business. And what that means for you is that the program can operate and that graduates of the program, you, right at the end of this, you're eligible to sit for your licensure exam and your licensure exam as an RN would be the NCLEX.

Now, accreditation takes it a notch up, right? So this is really about quality control.

So if a program is accredited, it's accredited by a certain body, we use that term and that's really an organization that sets the standard, sets the bar that says that this program is operating at a high quality and it sets that bar across the board.

So for instance, if there's a nursing program that's accredited by CCN E, let's say it's the uh you know, associates or Baster's levels accredited at that level than other programs throughout the US that have that same accreditation, they're all at that set standard.

So one is more of saying, yes, you're approved, you can do business. Whoever graduates from here is eligible to sit for the licensure exam and accreditation steps it up a little bit and says that you are a quality program and you meet these standards of being a good quality program.

Why is that important? It's very important.

Couple of reasons, financial aid, right. It's not a secret that nursing school is not cheap, right?

So we wanna make sure that you're supported in that way. If you do need financial aid, if you are attending a school that isn't approved or is not accredited, most importantly, that can affect your ability to receive financial aid, the other piece is transferring credits.

So if you have started school, let's say, at a different college and you wanna transfer to a program that has uh you know, a nursing program that you wanna join, you may wanna transfer some of those credits.

A perfect example is if you've taken general education classes, so you've taken Jed Ed classes and now you're ready to roll right into the core of the program, roll right into the nursing program.

If a program isn't accredited, then your ability to transfer credits from one place to the other and from that place to another can be affected.

And you don't wanna be in a scenario where you've done so much work, right? You've gone to school, you've earned a lot of credits, you have a great education behind you, but you can't carry that somewhere else.

So that accreditation piece is really important in that way. And on that same note furthering your education.

So let's say that you go to school and you enroll into an associate level nursing program and you've completed that you've graduated.

It was great. You've taken your test, you passed your NCLEX and now you wanna go on to earn your BSN or you wanna go on to earn your MSN.

If a school is not accredited or perhaps has a lower level of accreditation than the school that you wanna go to for that further degree, then you may not be able to transfer all of those credits that you've earned while you were earning your associates or your bachelor's.

So that's a very important piece. And then finally, it makes you more competitive in the job market.

If you graduate from a school that does have accreditation status, that's something that you can. Absolutely.

And you should put on your resume. Um And that looks much more attractive than let's say a candidate who's applying for the same exact job and doesn't have, uh you know, the background of a, from a school that has this accreditation status.

So these are really important reasons that you wanna make sure that you're asking these questions, you wanna make sure that you're getting into a school that, you know, once you graduate, you're not gonna have any issues with taking your license, your exam.

And most importantly, you wanna know that you're going to a school that when you graduate, if you wanna further your education and advance your education, which I strongly encourage you to do that.

You can transfer those and you can carry that over without running into any roadblocks and having to retake courses that you've already done.

The other piece that you wanna know is what is the application process. And so at any program that you choose any school that you choose, the admissions counselor or the admissions department can absolutely help you with this.

So you wanna know what the criteria is? Meaning?

What is it that I have to do? What is it that I have to show up with?

What do I have to provide you in order to begin this application process to the program? And in that same token, you wanna know what the deadline is.

So I'll give you an example of why those two things together are quite important. The admission criteria might say that you have to show all of your transcripts, you need to have a physical done beforehand.

You need to show me your immunizations, you have to write an essay, you have to interview and all of those things we know, take time, right?

So if the admissions deadline is in the next two weeks, you don't wanna be scrambling around right now trying to get all of those things together.

So it's really important that as much as possible you're proactive and you know exactly what is it that I need to have to apply to this program and when do I need to have it in by?

So other questions that you wanna ask during this time is how many students apply versus how many are accepted into the program?

And we're gonna talk a little bit further on about why this is important. So we wanna know what that gap is and we wanna know that if 100 students apply, uh you know, every semester to this program or every however often and only 30 are accepted, we wanna know what that gap is.

Is that because there's a waiting list, is it because they weren't meeting the required uh eligibility requirements that are in place.

What, what was that gap about? And the other thing that's gonna be important for you to think about is what's the recommendations or the requirements around working and being a student, some programs will advise you that they do not recommend or that they do not want you to work any more than 20 hours a week while you're enrolled in the program.

And there are some that might ask you to sign a statement of acknowledgment saying that I acknowledge this and I agree to that coursework in nursing school can be really heavy, that's not a secret.

And so as much as possible, you always wanna make sure that you're setting yourself up for success and a lot of nursing programs have that same mindset as well, right?

They don't want you to enroll into a program, knowing that it's gonna be a heavy load, you're gonna be responsible for a lot of learning and there's gonna be a lot on your plate and you're also working 40 plus hours a week, right?

We know that's really difficult to do and can present a big challenge for you as well. So we wanna know what that's looking like right off the bat.

And that's a really important conversation to have when you're talking to an admissions counselor about this application process and you wanna know that ahead of time, one thing that we know that's reality is we all have responsibilities, right?

We all have to work and we all have some type of obligations that we're responsible for. So as we're making this decision to say, you know what I want to enroll in this nursing program, this is what I wanna do.

We also wanna make sure we're striking that balance between getting an education so we can graduate, be gainfully employed as a nurse versus, well, these are the things I'm responsible to do right now in my life.

And how can we make those work? The next bit is how long is the program, right?

How long will the program take you to complete as a full time student or if the option exists as a part time student? And that's really important because if the program is going to take you two years or if the program is going to take you four years to complete piggybacking on what we just said before.

If you know that during this time, you're gonna have to cut down hours at work. That's something you wanna think about, right?

You wanna future think, how is that going to affect me if I'm gonna be in school for the next two years and I'm only gonna be able to just using as an example, I'm only gonna be able to work between 10 to 20 hours a week.

Is that something that I can maintain long term? So we wanna make sure we're clear about that.

Also, we wanna know if there is a waiting list, right? That's part of that program link.

So what that means is that there can be more candidates applying to the nursing program, then they have the space to actually take and that creates a waiting list.

A waiting list can be anywhere from just a couple of months to a year or more. I have absolutely seen nursing programs that have a waiting list of two plus years.

And so that means that it would take that amount of time to pass before you can actually be enrolled into the program and start those nursing core classes.

So as you're making this decision and as you're asking, well, how long is it gonna take me to complete? Don't forget about that bit, right.

If I enroll today and that next cohort cohort, start date Excuse me? Is October 1st?

Can I start October 1st or is there a long waiting list that I have to wait for first for that? Finally, here.

How is the program delivered? This is a really important question.

So, is this an online program? Is it hybrid meaning that some of it's online, some of it's residential in the classroom on the ground?

Uh Is it completely classroom? What is it that I'm expected to engage in?

Right. As far as class and learning is concerned and this is something that you're gonna wanna consider on an individual level, right?

What does this mean to you? Some people learn perfect online in this distance, virtual uh you know, education world that we're seeing a whole lot of now, some people learn better in an actual physical classroom where they're sitting down at a table at desks surrounded by their peers and with an instructor in front of them.

So you really kinda wanna do a self assessment, think about what works best for me. How do I learn best?

What's gonna be uh the thing that's gonna set me up for the most success scholarships, opportunities, money, right? We need it.

Is there scholarships available? And if so what's the EIG excuse me, eligibility requirements to apply for that?

How much, how much is gonna be awarded? And how often is that given?

I say all the time to my students take advantage of free money when it is there for you. If scholarships are available, take advantage of that.

And so in these particular cases, we're talking about scholarships well, beyond what we think about kind of in the general terms that are available to, to anybody and everybody who wants to go to school, some nursing programs at an institutional level actually offer scholarships to students who wanna enroll.

And so that's something that you wanna ask because this can be a huge help with your semester fees, with books, with equipment, with uniform.

So just have a, you know, quick chat and ask if there's anything that's available to me to help out and you might be surprised what you find there clinical experience.

So it's part of nursing school, there's a didactic piece, right? Which is just the lecture, the learning part we think about the books and the powerpoints and being in class.

But there's also a clinical piece to this, which is when you're gonna go out to hospitals, to clinics, to skilled nursing facilities and practice all the things that you're learning on real-life patients.

You wanna know what those clinical affiliations are. Is there a variety of clinical opportunities that you're gonna be uh able to engage with specifically adult med sur do you have that experience available to you?

Pediatric nursing, maternal newborn nursing, mental health or psychiatric nursing? These are all core specialized uh lessons in, in classes that you're gonna be engaged in in nursing school and those have clinical pieces attached to it.

So you wanna make sure that when you're selecting a program that you're selecting a program that's going to expose you to these settings so that you can practice and master those skills.

That's something that's gonna be core and foundational to who you are as a registered nurse. Again, the who and the where are those chemical sites?

So if you are located, let's say I'm gonna use Brooklyn New York as an example. If you are located in Brooklyn and your program was located in Brooklyn, that commute doesn't sound so bad, right?

It's in your area. Not a huge issue.

But if the clinical sites that that program was affiliated with is 50 or 100 plus miles away from the school, that's something you probably wanna know right away.

And as an fy I programs can have clinical sites that are up to 100 miles away from where the school is actually located.

So as you're making that decision, you wanna make sure that you are prepared for that and that you really are setting yourself up always, always, always for success and being practical.

So asking where those clinical sites are located is really important, I don't know about you. I don't wanna be waking up at 530 in the morning, traveling 50 miles to get to a clinical site.

Uh you know, at 7 a.m. that can be really tricky and really challenging.

So let's establish that ahead of time. You wanna know what that clinical schedule is like?

So are you going to be doing 12 hour shifts that are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

during the clinical time? Are they night shifts?

So you'll be working seven P to seven A, are they eight hour shifts? What does that look like as much as you can establish ahead of time in the way of what that shift is like In the same token of how long is this program gonna be?

Really helps so that you can step back, take that information and make sure that this plugs into your life and that this works for you and that you are going to be successful at this program and graduating simulation lab.

That's another piece of clinical experience that you wanna make sure that you're aware of. Is there a simulation lab available at the school where you're going to be attending?

Uh This year I think has showed us a lot in the way of we have to have a backup plan just in case we can't get into the hospitals or if we can't get into those rehab facilities.

So this is where Sim lab comes into play. And it's a really important piece of your learning.

Um not just in the event that you can't get into these clinical sites, but also this is the place where you're gonna be able to go and that you can practice skills uh before getting with patients that you can make sure that you feel competent and comfortable in what it is that you're doing.

Uh and that you had the opportunity to collaborate with your peers and with your instructors to really fine tune all of those hands-on, you know, kind of hard skills that you're expected to know en pass rates.

Big important thing. You wanna know, what are the NCLEX pass rates for the program.

So, if you're enrolling in a prelicensure program, which just means I am going to graduate and I need to take my NCLEX in order to become an RN.

You wanna know what those pass rates are and that's a good indication of the outcomes that that program is producing. The important bits.

Are they above the national standard? Are they below the national standard right now, the national standard is about 85%.

So you wanna know where that program falls within the that standard, uh you know, passing rate? Are they above it?

Are they below it? And with that said, but there are programs that are struggling in the of maintaining their nclex pass rates.

There are some penalties that exist with that and that might be that the program is going to be put on probation for a period of time until they can raise those rates that might put a program at risk for termination.

So understanding where they are, as far as this really important outcome is gonna be important information for you. When you're making a decision, you wanna know how they prepare their students for the NCLEX.

Is it something that's threaded into the curriculum? So there's an NCLEX review, that's part of what your program is, whether it's throughout or whether it happens at the very end.

Are there tutors or study groups that are available to help support students in that way, uh, with taking the MCL? So, really important information here because this should set off kind of a light bulb in your head as far as well?

What is this program producing? Right?

Are we producing uh graduates who are able to successfully pass this test? Because that's, that's an indication of what you might be able to expect as well as a student.

And I just put here in bold that this information is public information and I included that because every now and again, I do get questions from students asking, you know, how can I find out this information?

Is, are they gonna tell me where do I go? I mean, who would know this?

It's public information. So the program can absolutely provide you with this data.

The other option that you have is logging on to your state Board of nursing site. So if you live in New York, logging on to the New York State Board of Nursing website, looking up the program and finding out what those UNCL pass rates are real student feedback.

Here's something that is easy to do and really valuable. What are the current students saying about the nursing program?

What do they say about the quality of faculty that they have? Uh how would the students rate the program?

So as far as things like rating programs, this is actual information that is collected um things like asking students just directly, hey, like, what do you think about this?

You're a student here? What can you tell me, what's your experience been like?

What's your experience been like with clinicals? What's your experience been like in the classroom?

What's your experience been like with learning? Right.

Overall, don't be shy to ask these questions. I sometimes jokingly, uh to tell my students, you know, we will log on to websites and you know, read all the reviews for a restaurant before we even decide to go there.

I want you to come with that same energy when you are picking a program because you're gonna spend a lot of time there. And this is something that's really setting you up for.

What's gonna be an important piece of your life working as a registered nurse. So you wanna know if you go to the campus and you are going to check it out, you're going to meet with the admissions department, you're gonna run into students while you're there.

Don't be shy. Absolutely.

Ask them, let them know that you're interested in the program. You're here to collect more information and you're just curious, you're curious what the program is like and if they can give you a little bit of insight and if you're not comfortable doing that or you're not actually gonna be at the school or at the program site, go online, read reviews.

Those are everywhere and get a little bit of feedback and a little bit of feel of what those students actual studentss are saying.

And, um, you know, don't be uh shy again, don't feel like you're being invasive or uh asking a lot of questions when you bring that information back, it's totally within your wheelhouse and within your purview to do that graduation rates.

So we wanna know what is the percentage of students that are entering the program that graduated within the expected time frame, right?

So if we had 50 students that came in and let's say that only 20 of them graduate on time, why, why did that happen? Is it something as far as the coursework was really heavy?

And there was just some difficulty getting through that. Was there something bigger that happened there with the program?

What's that about? Right.

We wanna make sure that we understand what's happening because that helps us to inform ourselves better to say if you are having difficulty in the program and you do need to take some more time to get through coursework or to get through the lessons or classes.

Is that an assistance available to you? Is that support available to you.

And you also wanna know what the repeat or readmission policies are for a student who might not be successful. So let's say that you don't successfully pass one of your courses or you know, one of your classes or an exam.

What's the policy on that? Can you retake it?

If so when right, how long is it gonna take you to do that? So you wanna make sure that you are gonna be present in a program that has set itself up to support you and to make sure that when you have a need and when you need a little bit of extra boost that they're able to help you do that job placement.

So we gotta work, right? You even go to school all of this time to graduate and not get a job as an RN.

So we wanna know is there a job placement department or is there a point of contact that can help you during this time? Because as you get closer to graduating and finishing your program, the one thing that you're gonna start to do is thinking about work, right?

So where am I gonna go and work? You wanna know who is that?

That's gonna help me do that. How many of the students that have graduated from the program had job offers within 3 to 6 months following graduation?

A really good um job placement department has lots of connections in the community. With different hiring facilities and they are greatly helpful and valuable for you as you are, you know, setting off on your first endeavor as finding a job as an RN.

And so having that support system in place so you can get started and enter into the field as soon as possible is really, really beneficial.

So we wanna know who is that? Where is that, what's the outlook been with these job offers?

And finally you got this right? If you have set out to do this, you wanna be an RN something that's been on your mind for a while, maybe it's just been on your mind this year with everything that's going on, go for it.

You can do this. My biggest, biggest, biggest piece of advice is to really make sure that as you're making the decision of where you wanna enroll and but program you wanna go to, you're asking these questions, at least some of these questions, right?

Um There's a lot of programs that are out there and there's a lot of different attractive things about them that might really catch your eye.

But one thing that I really wanna make sure that you're thinking about is what are those outcomes gonna be for me? Right.

If I enroll into this program, am I gonna be secure with the job? Am I gonna be secure with being prepared for the young cle to get my license?

Am I gonna be secure and come out with the knowledge that I need to practice competently and comfortably. So that's something that you wanna set yourself up for versus maybe just thinking about.

I wanna go to the school. That's the cheapest and the fastest you wanna make sure that it's about you, right?

You wanna be successful. This is your career, it's your education and being somewhere present that's going to support, that is absolutely vital.

So if you have any questions about any of that, that we've just spoke about, please let me know jot something in the chat.

Um Otherwise, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for joining me. I hope that you found this helpful.

I hope that you take consideration in some of these questions. Don't be shy, take it with you when you go to these programs, they have the answers and they're absolutely there to help you and make sure that you feel comfortable and you feel really sound in the decision that you're making.

So I'm gonna open up the chart here for the Q and A and let's see if we have anything before we hop off. Let's see.

OK, so great question about the NCL is changing and what schools? Yeah, great question.

The nclex is changing. So, uh the next Gen nclex is the new ENCL by new.

What I mean is some of those question formats are changing and that's something that's not gonna happen until 2023. So right now, uh you know, any students that are in school and that are gonna be graduating soon before that time are still gonna be on what we think about as a traditional kind of regular nclex, regular questions that we're used to seeing.

But in 2023 that's when that an X gen Un is going to roll around. Um, what you wanna ask schools about as far as that is concerned is really, how are they preparing you for that?

Right. So it's been this kind of same that we've seen for a long time for a lot of years, you wanna ask them what they are doing to prepare their students for this newer version of this coming out and these new questions, a new way of thinking so that you're prepared for that excellent question.

Excellent question. I have another one come in just reading that here.

Ok. Yeah.

Um it's so hard to get in the nursing program. It can be right.

So asking that questions with the admissions department about really what those eligibility requirements are is really important.

Um Each program and each school is gonna have their own set of rules if you will as far as what it is that they're looking for.

So in that way, it can be competitive, let's say if there's a program that is going to say I need you to have the uh have been a CNA before you're rolling into the RN program or you need to have this XYZ experience and this XYZ education before entering the nursing program.

So in those respects, that can be a little bit tricky. Um But for the most part, uh, if you are having challenge, I'm just reading your question here.

There are, there are several different options. Um, for instance, LPN or N A, right?

So, licensed practical nurse or licensed vocational nurse, depending on where you're located in the region. That's another option if you're unable to get into our in school or maybe you're feeling like I'm not sure if I wanna take that step just yet.

And if we kind of think even just a little before that going to a program and rolling into a program to be a nursing assistant and getting that education, right.

So there are absolutely different avenues that you can do if our in school perhaps, maybe is not the best fit for you right now or if it's becoming a really big challenge in a roadblock, but you wanna be in the field, don't forget about things like LP and don't forget about things like uh being a nursing assistant that helps to get you right into the field in integrate into the nursing team.

And so you get that experience and that different kind of view about, you know, where it is that you wanna go. Awesome, awesome question.

Reading another one here. How did you decide to become a nurse over different?

Yeah, that's a good one too. Um, I think what's really important is considering what the scope of practice is of a nurse versus any other healthcare profession.

Uh, there's actually really good websites out there too that if you're thinking about, I don't know if I wanna be a nurse or maybe I wanna be a PA, or maybe II, wanna be a nursing assistant or maybe I wanna do something in dentistry.

Right. It's really thinking about and, and educating yourself on.

Well, what's the scope? Right?

What is it that I'm expected to do as a nurse? So for me personally, I chose to be a nurse because I knew that I want to be in the healthcare field.

I knew I loved the health science, right? I knew that piece, but I wanted to be able to work really closely with patients and help to educate them as well as participate in all of their health promotion that we're doing and all of the fun skills that we get to learn about.

I really want it to be a point of contact for patients to help optimize their health from a holistic point of view. And that's a little bit different than different healthcare professions.

So one thing that you should definitely do is consider just doing a little bit of research, right? And looking at all these different professions and what a day in the life is for that, that person, right?

What their responsibilities are, what's their experience like and what speaks most to you? Good question.

And the final one here, what makes an excellent nurse a candidate and excellent. Oh, that's great.

So I would say, um you know, this is gonna be unpopular opinion, but I can tell you from uh being a nursing instructor for different programs, being a director of nursing for different programs.

One misconception is that you must have experience in the health care field in order to be an attractive candidate or really good candidate uh for an RN program or even an NP program.

And that's not true. That's not true at all.

Sometimes it's much easier to come into the field without any type of experience. But that can vary based off of programs and what they wanna see.

I think that what makes a really good candidate is somebody who is um prepared and is really excited about committing themselves to this and committing ourselves to the field, right?

And understands that, yeah, it's gonna be heavy sometimes the course load is gonna be heavy sometimes, but I am here. I am 100% in it.

Um I wanna learn, I wanna be engaged and uh this is something that if I could pick anything else in the world, I would always come back to these things.

So it's really just showing that you are really committed and that you are really uh you know, excited and that you're geared to doing this.

Um We need nurses of all different backgrounds and of all different, uh, you know, demographics. And so the programs are really happy to interview lots of candidates and see, you know, who's gonna be in it for the long haul, who's really gonna be committed to being here and being successful.

And that's something that's quite important when I interviewed students. It's something that's quite important still is that, um, you know, we're here to support you and you're here to learn and we just wanna make sure that this is gonna be a perfect connection in the sense of we have that commitment there.

Thank you for those questions. Those were excellent.

Those were excellent questions. So good luck to all of you who are choosing nursing school.

I'm excited for you. I can't wait to, to see all the amazing new faces in the field.

It's really exciting to see all these new nurses. I wish you the best, best of luck and keep in touch and connected with osmosis.

There's some really cool things happening and coming along in uh the nursing field from here. So we hope to see more of you.