subject: Why You Should Know About These 2 Accreditation Bodies For Nursing [print this page] When you are looking for a suitable nursing program, either as someone aspiring to enter this field, or even as an experienced nurse pursuing higher education, you must keep various factors in mind based on fee structure, curriculum, and how the particular program will benefit you so that you might realize your goals. But have you found out if your chosen program is accredited?
Accredited programs are those that have been approved by specific bodies on the basis of various standardized criteria. The advantages of accreditation are many. Since these programs are extremely well-structured and provide all around training and knowledge, they will have more weight age and be naturally preferred by any employer. Also if you plan to apply for financial aid, most will require the program to be accredited by a recognized body.
Therefore you should know about the following 2 accreditation bodies.
*National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC): The NLNAC is recognized on a national basis, and covers nursing programs like Diploma, Associate, Baccalaureate, Master's, Clinical Doctorate and Practical Programs. The body applies various criteria to a program or institution before granting accreditation.
These include policies and objectives in line with those of the body, well qualified staff in sufficient numbers as per stipulation, compliance with student policies and services, curriculum incorporating professional guidelines and standards aimed at developing competent nurses, proper facilities like classrooms and laboratories and systematic evaluation to gauge achievement of learning objectives.
The accreditation becomes more important if you are planning to take a distance education course, so you know the exact benefits and validity of such courses, which are often known to be exaggerated. You can always verify the accreditation by checking the NLNAC website that has a complete list of such programs and institutions.
*Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE): The CCNE is a US Secretary of Education recognized national body. It provides accreditation for all graduate, baccalaureate and residency nursing programs. The body applies national standards for its accreditation process. By using various factors it finds out if the program or institution is maintaining set standards and achieving its goals. The body also ensures that this entire process is cost-effective and completely accountable. The body thus strives to encourage continual improvement of the nursing programs. Like NLNAC, the list of accredited programs and institutions are available on the CCNE website.
The advantages of accreditation are obvious for your long-term career in nursing, so make sure your program has accreditation before committing to it.
