A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to obtain a nursing license. An RN's scope of practice is determined by legislation, and is regulated by a professional body or council.
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing also known in some countries as a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) or Bachelor of Science (BS) with a Major in Nursing is an academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by an accredited tertiary education provider. The course of study is typically three or four years. The difference in degree designation may relate to the amount of basic science courses required as part of the degree, with BScN and BSN degree curriculums requiring completion of more courses on math and natural sciences that are more typical of BSc degrees and BN curriculums more focused on nursing theory, nursing process, and teaching versions of general science topics that are adapted to be more specific and relevant to nursing practice. Nursing school students are generally required to take courses in social and behavioral sciences and liberal arts, including nutrition, anatomy, chemistry, mathematics, and English. In addition to those courses, experience in physical and social sciences, communication, leadership, and critical thinking is required for a bachelor's degree. BSN programs typically last 2–4 years. Someone who holds a BSN can work in private or public medical and surgical hospitals, physician's offices, home health care services, and nursing facilities. Having a BSN can result in more opportunities and better salary than just an associate degree.
HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owns and operates 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 21 states and the United Kingdom. As of 2021, HCA Healthcare is ranked #62 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Beal University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It specializes in professional programs such as healthcare and business.
An Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) is a tertiary education nursing degree which typically takes 2–3 years to complete. In the United States, this type of degree is usually awarded by community colleges or similar nursing schools. Some four-year colleges also offer this degree. Students awarded an Associate of Science in Nursing are qualified to sit for the NCLEX-RN and apply for licensure as a Registered Nurse.
Nursing credentials and certifications are the various credentials and certifications that a person must have to practice nursing legally. Nurses' postnominal letters reflect their credentials—that is, their achievements in nursing education, licensure, certification, and fellowship. The letters usually appear in the following order:
Texas A&M Health, also known as Texas A&M University Health, and Texas A&M University Health Science Center, is the medical education component of Texas A&M University, and offers health professions research, education and patient care in dentistry, medicine, nursing, biomedical sciences, public health, and pharmacy on its several campuses. One of the fastest-growing academic health centers in the nation, Texas A&M Health encompasses six schools and numerous centers and institutes. It was established in 1999 as an independent institution of the Texas A&M University System and received accreditation in December 2002 from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, doctoral and professional degrees. The institution and its colleges merged with Texas A&M University on July 12, 2013.
Nurses in the United States practice nursing in a wide variety of specialties and departments.
The University of Virginia School of Nursing, established in 1901, is a school of nursing education. It has an enrollment of approximately 800 students, and is consistently rated in the top 4% of U.S. nursing schools. After the retirement of Dorrie K. Fontaine as the fifth dean of the School, two-term American Nurses Association President Pam Cipriano, a research faculty member at UVA for years, stepped in as interim dean in August 2019.
The Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences (NWCNHS) at Florida International University, located in Miami, Florida in the United States is one of the university's 26 schools and colleges and was founded in 1982. The Dean of the college is Dr. Ora Strickland and the college has more than 3,500 alumni nurses.
The University of South Florida College of Nursing is one of 14 colleges at the University of South Florida. The college has three campuses: Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee.
Nursing is a profession within the healthcare sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other healthcare providers by their approach to patient care, training, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in many specialties with differing levels of prescription authority. Nurses comprise the largest component of most healthcare environments; but there is evidence of international shortages of qualified nurses. Nurses collaborate with other healthcare providers such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and psychologists. Unlike nurse practitioners, nurses typically cannot prescribe medications in the US. Nurse practitioners are nurses with a graduate degree in advanced practice nursing. They practice independently in a variety of settings in more than half of the United States. Since the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing.
West Coast University (WCU) is a private, for-profit university focused on healthcare degrees with campus locations in Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Ontario, California; Richardson, Texas; and Miami, Florida. David Pyle founded American Career College in 1979 under the name of American College of Optics. Originally the school focused only on optical dispensing. In May 1997, Pyle purchased West Coast University, which was chartered by the State of California in 1909, out of bankruptcy, and developed a program for the training of registered nurses.
Healthcare professional credentials are credentials awarded to many healthcare practitioners as a way to standardize the level of education and ability to provide care.
Jersey College is a private for-profit career college specializing in nursing education with its main campus in Teterboro, New Jersey. The college was established in 2003 and started its first class in 2004. Jersey College has thirteen other locations in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
Nursing is the largest healthcare profession in the United States, with more than 3.1 million registered nurses. Between 2012 and 2022, employment for nurses is projected to grow by 19 percent, which is more than any other profession. Nurses make up the largest component of staff in hospitals but are also able to provide care in clinic settings, patient's homes, schools, nursing homes, public health agencies, and mental health centers. In addition, nurses can be found in the military, in industry, nursing education, and do health care research. Nurses in these various roles and settings can provide direct patient care and case management, but also develop and establish nursing practice and quality standards within complex healthcare systems. As each degree can provide a different level of care for patients and function in vastly different roles, it is important to differentiate between them. The levels of nursing degrees have different educational requirements, licensure, and credentialing that can vary state to state.
The Alan and Sue Leighton School of Nursing is part of Marian University, a private, non-profit school located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
