The bachelor’s degree has become the desired minimum academic credential for entry-level nursing, particularly at hospitals seeking Magnet status from the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center.
A four-year education will help you navigate the complexities of the health-care field. In its Future of Nursing Report, the Institute of Medicine, which is a division of the National Academy of Sciences, recommends that 80 percent of all nurses hold a baccalaureate degree by 2020. With a bachelor’s degree you’ll enjoy higher pay scales and greater career opportunities, since the four-year degree is the foundation for the advanced education needed to become a nurse educator, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist, nurse administrator, or nurse researcher.
Why Penn State Behrend?
In our state-of-the-art Nursing Technology Lab and Simulation Center you’ll prepare for patient-care environments using high-, moderate-, and low-fidelity simulators and other task-specific trainers. These full-body adult and pediatric human patient simulation mannequins generate realistic physiological responses to illness and injury—and respond to your interventions!
Other anatomic models help you to learn central line placement, oral tracheal intubation, placement of nasogastric tubes, tracheostomy care, peripheral IV insertion, and central line care. In these simulation labs you’ll learn and practice your patient-care skills in a low-risk, forgiving setting so that you can enter the clinical component of your training with confidence in your abilities.
At the completion of your degree, you will be eligible to take the NCLEX, the national examination for licensure as a Registered Nurse.
Admission to the Nursing Pre-Major
The majority of Nursing students begin their studies in the Nursing Pre-Major Program (NRCOM). This most often happens when an applicant’s high school grade-point average or standardized test scores don’t meet the criteria for admission to the B.S. degree program, yet a comprehensive review of their academic record indicates readiness for college-level work. For students enrolled in NRCOM, admission to the Nursing degree program will be based on first-semester grades and other academic criteria. Admission also may depend on space availability within the program.
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Accreditation
The College of Nursing is approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.
The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master's degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and post graduate APRN certificate program at The Pennsylvania State University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, D.C. 20001; 202-887-6791.
The Pennsylvania State University College of Nursing has postponed the accreditation visit by the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), originally scheduled for March 18-20, 2020, for all of Penn State’s nursing programs, in alignment with the CDC and the state of Pennsylvania's coronavirus mitigation efforts. The College of Nursing will announce the new accreditation visit date once it is determined. To learn more about the visit, read a Message from the Dean.