If bachelor degrees become a requirement for working nurses, as many suggest they should, students can continue work and attend to family responsibilities with minimal interruption by opting for online nursing school offerings.
A February Inside Higher Education article reported that 18 states are considering laws requiring nurses with associate degrees enroll in Bachelor of Science nursing degree programs within ten years of obtaining an associate degree. A recently released Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching report asserts that all working nurses should have a bachelor degree. If you need more information about nurses school, look on the internet.
Increasing numbers of students of all ages are reportedly already expressing interest in nursing degrees. The percentage of college freshmen planning to pursue a nursing degree was only 1.7 percent in 1988 and grew to 4.5 percent in 2008, according to a Higher Education Research Institute report cited in the Dallas Morning News. Professionals seeking job stability and to fill what’s been called a nurse shortage are, at the mid-career level, also becoming interested in nursing, the Dallas Morning News reported. And preliminary results from an American Association of Colleges of Nursing survey shows that 2009 enrollment in entry-level nursing degree programs at the bachelor level increased for the ninth year in a row. Enrollments in graduate nursing programs also surged during this time, the association noted.
Online nursing school programs are accommodating a demand for college nursing programs that exceeds the supply, according to the National League for Nursing and Dallas Morning News.
Colleges are moving programs in nursing online at a fast rate, with 96 fully online Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programs growing to 129 between 2007 and 2009, the Inside Higher Education article noted. And educational opportunities might have to expand even more to turn out enough nurses to care for an aging baby boomer population, according to a 2009 Health Affairs report. There is an abundance of information about nursing school college on the web.
Nurses are reportedly learning and working in different ways as a result of technology. It seems more and more that videoconferencing, hand-held devices and online learning strategies are a part of many nursing degree programs. And with healthcare educators reportedly also placing greater importance on viewing patients holistically, students in some programs are said to care for virtual patients as part of their coursework. Nursing degree programs require clinical training, and many online nursing schools accept transfer credits for clinical hours that have already been logged. Some online nursing degree programs combine in-person and Internet-based offerings to accommodate clinical offerings. Others are challenged by clinical offering shortages and, according to the National League for Nursing, are as a result experimenting with “simulated” clinical trials.
A March 2010 report in the Journal of Professional Nursing noted that the nursing profession since 1965 has considered making bachelor degrees a requirement. The finest nursing care, writer and Registered Nurse Ellen Olshansky noted, involves a greater need to understand and apply new technologies and to practice new findings.
But even the recent Carnegie Foundation report has spurred controversy, in part over college affordability concerns. At least one non-profit college has priced its bachelor of nursing degree program at what’s considered a competitive $207 per credit hour, the Inside Higher Education report noted. Students interested in pursuing a nursing online degree can also apply for grants, scholarships and fellowships to help pay for their education.
Nursing school scholarships, grants and fellowships are offered by schools and federal and state governments. When exploring online nursing school, be aware that companies have also made tuition assistance offerings available.
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