Too many choices on online nursing degree programs may sometime make you hard to decide which one to choose. Here are a few factors to consider when select an online nursing school:
1. The Online Nursing School Is Accredited
When an online school is accredited, it means that it has passed or surpassed a set of nationally recognized standards for its teaching process. The accreditation of online nursing school is optional but it is important to secure for your brighter future in your nursing career path. Many employers are more opt to hire nurses from an accredited online nursing school. Another important factor to consider pursuing your nursing degree from an accredited online nursing school is credit transferable when you want to continue your education in the future.
2. The Lecturer-to-Students Ratio
Teacher-to-students ratio is important when come to the personal attention spend by each lecturer to his/her online students. You can check with the admission department on the average online student to a lecturer. With the lower teacher-to-students ratio, the more personal attention you receive from your lecturer. Most of online nursing degrees will require some hours of physical class, labs & clinical works, you will have a better opportunity to ask questions and learn more.
3. The Lecturer-to-Students Ratio
Students who graduate from nursing school are required to undergo an examination called NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure EXamination-Registered Nurse) before receiving licensure as a registered nurse in United States. You can check out the nursing schools average NCLEX-RN pass rate, it will be a good indicator to show whether the online nursing programs offered by that nursing school are inline with the state requirement in order to become a certified nurse. Of course, you will want to compare pass rates for the last decade to get a more comprehensive picture.
4. Clinical Assignment
Most of online nursing program will require you to complete you clinical assignment in hospital; if you have transportation difficulties or you are working while earning your online nursing degree, you may not flexible enough to travel for long distance; thus, in selecting your online nursing school, you might want to consider a online nursing school which can offer you to complete your clinical assignment at hospital near at your state or near to your home.
In Summary
The best way to make that final decision about an online nursing school is to know what you want. But you should also realize that you should be looking at the details of the online nursing program of your selected nursing school as hard as the school will be looking at your application for enrollment.
