Registered Nursing Educational Requirements

With the current and pending shortages in the American nursing industry

, there has never been a better time to consider a career as a registered nurse (RN). With an estimated quarter of a million nursing positions available by the end of this decade, and the continuing move toward nursing specialization, this area of the health care industry offers unprecedented opportunities for you to choose your own area of interest, serve the community in which you live, and earn a good income at the same time. Before embarking on a career as a registered nurse, however, it is important to understand the educational requirements necessary to obtain a nursing license.

To begin with, it is important for you to ensure that you meet the standard prerequisites for entry into a registered nursing school. While each school varies slightly in the types of coursework they expect you to have completed prior to admission, there are some general guidelines that apply to all. There is, for example, an expectation that you have completed either the SAT or ACT examinations, though the minimum acceptable scores may vary. The same holds true for your grade point average - schools require a GPA of somewhere between a 2.0 and a 3.25. High school coursework should include three years of math and science, two years experience with a foreign language, and four complete years of high school English.

Your goal in nursing school will be to obtain your license as an RN - though you may eventually want to further your education to enable additional specialization. Becoming an RN will require that you eventually sit for the professional nursing examination provided by your state. The purpose of nursing school is not merely to train you to be a nurse, but to also prepare you to pass this exam and receive your license.

Before you can sit for the state exam, you will need to get either a hospital diploma or an associate's or bachelor's degree in nursing. A nursing diploma generally takes three years to complete, while an associates or bachelor's degree requires two and four years respectively. Depending upon where you take your courses, the costs of obtaining your RN license can range from three thousand dollars a year at a local community college to as much as twenty thousand dollars a year at the finer private institutions.

Financial assistance is often available to those who qualify, with grants and loans available from both private sources and government entities. Many students who know that they want to pursue a career in nursing fill out the government aid forms before they complete high school.

If you have the resolve to complete the educational requirements necessary to earn your license as a registered nurse - including often difficult coursework in anatomy, biology, and other areas of science - then you will find a host of diverse career opportunities awaiting you when your studies are done. You will also have a job market desperately in need of your services for years, if not decades, to come.

by: Karen Williams

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