Essentials of Baccalaureate Education in Nursing

There have been predictions made that the demand for nurses in 2010 will outdo the amount of workers there are. This means that there will be plenty of job openings available by this time. Obtaining a nursing bachelor's degree will ensure that you are able to get a job in the medical industry easily. To get into a higher specialized area, you can obtain a master's or doctorate degree to get into fields involving research and education, which offer higher pay.

Four Year Program

You will have to go through four years of school in order to obtain a nursing bachelor's degree. During the first two years, you will be studying subjects like liberal arts and science. Then the second half of your schooling will spend time focusing on nursing courses and clinical work. You will be required to work within a health care facility for a number of hours to complete your clinical training.



Academic Qualifications

In order to get into a nurse program for a bachelor's degree, you will have to have a high school diploma and a background in science and math, with good scores on SAT or ACT and a GPA no lower than 2.0 (some may want you to have a GPA much higher than that). If you would like to become a registered nurse a BSN degree (bachelor of science in nursing) would be perfect for you.

Courses

Some of the required courses you will have to take during your BSN degree include maternal child, psychiatric, pediatric, community and critical care nursing. You will be taught practical and theory experiences in those courses.

Advanced Specialization

There are a variety of areas you can specialize in within the nursing field, including clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife and certified registered nurse anesthetist. Some continue their education after obtaining a bachelor's degree in nursing and acquire a master's degree.