What Makes a Good Nursing Program Great

With so many options for nursing schools, the prospective student has some tough decisions to make before even setting foot in a classroom, let alone in a hospital or any other medical facility. There are some fairly obvious factors that require consideration, but sometimes the little details are what really differentiates programs and gives some schools a greater competitive standing.

Some of these obvious factors are things like tuition fees; a school should not cost above one's means. Another is the length of the program; not everyone has a lot of time to dedicate to education before entering the workforce. Location, or the option to pursue online courses remotely, may also be important for some students. Finally, a school with a job-placement program certainly offers advantage to their counterparts. So, what are the finer details to consider, and how does one go about researching schools to get all the necessary information?

A career like nursing requires just as much hands-on experience as theoretical training. Therefore, the school's facilities are crucial to getting the best education. Find out some details: when were the facilities built or acquired? How old is the building where the department is housed? Is the department location somewhere isolated or is it on a university campus? A great nursing school should be adjacent to a real university medical centre. But there's more, attending a school of nursing means more than getting your hands on great equipment. Some schools have actual mini-hospitals incorporated into their departments, complete with full body-simulation mannequins. Because the experience of being a nurse brings with it so many different challenges, any program that focuses on simulation of real situations should top your list.

Once you've checked out where you'll be studying and with what equipment, find out something about the classes themselves. Some nursing programs pack plenty of aspiring nurses into lecture halls, but this class atmosphere won't give you the personalized relationship with faculty that really makes a difference. If the school has clinical placement groups as well, the ideal student to teacher ratio should be around 8:1. Regarding the teachers themselves, expect nothing less than a clinically-experienced faculty consisting of both nursing professors as well as registered nurse technologists. And faculty shouldn't be the only source of education and guidance. Feedback from graduates and other peer-tutoring programs greatly increase the student's scope of education.

Nursing is a lifelong profession that never ceases to offer new challenges and greater senses of gratification. A good nursing career begins with a great nursing school, with top facilities, dedicated teachers, and a long line of successful alumni. Taking the time and effort to do your homework about which school is right for you is the first meaningful assignment in earning your degree or diploma in this rewarding field of medicine and healthcare. Not only will you know the difference once you have made the right choice, but the countless doctors you aid and the patients you serve will too.


Article Source: Michael Zunenshine