Tag: NLN’s commitment

Does an NLN Accreditation Matter?

Many people are unsure about what an accreditation means to a program or a school. Accreditation is a process by which educational programs are evaluated by an outside body that determines if professional standards are being met. In a nursing school or program, one of the national organizations that have an accreditation entity is the NLN or the National League for Nursing.

NLN, a membership organization for nursing faculty and leaders in education, has created the NLNAC (National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission) that is responsible for the accreditation of nursing education schools and programs. The NLNAC, as detailed in the organization’s website, is responsible for the specialized accreditation of a wide variety of nursing programs, including clinical doctorate, master’s, bachelor’s, associate, diploma, and practical programs. The NLNAC accreditation serves to provide assurance that schools and nursing programs meet or exceed certain standards and criteria.

Other benefits of the accreditation are: enables a program to improve through self-evaluation, helps a program recruit students, assures employers that graduates have competent skills, helps guide students in their job and education choices, enables transfer of education credits, and helps students be eligible for financial assistance from government sources.

How does an accreditation affect you? Students who choose to attend non-accredited programs may not be eligible for financial aid and credit may not be transferred as well when they decide to change programs or further education. Job possibilities may also be limited for students who graduated in a non-accredited program especially in working for the government.

Therefore, an NLN accreditation does matter. You want to be confident that everything you are taught meets professional standards and you want to know that the program will prepare you to enter the healthcare industry with the most current skills and knowledge in that field. Attending an NLNAC accredited program is an investment for your future.

Taking the NLN Pre-Admission exam

If you are planning to enter the field of nursing, you need to acquire certain requirements. You need to pass first the National League for Nursing Pre-Admission Examination (NLN PAX). It is actually a standard entrance exam for potential student nurses seeking admittance into nursing schools countrywide. Every nursing student is required to take this examination before you are permitted to sign up to a certain program.

The NLN PAX RN and PN comprise three primary areas which are the verbal, mathematics and science. The verbal skills of the student will be measured by testing their word understanding and reading comprehension. The mathematics area includes basic calculations, problem solving, algebra, conversions, graphs, applied mathematics and geometry. In science, subject matters include physics, chemistry and general biology. You are given an hour for each section. All in all you, need to answer 214 questions. Each section includes all multiple-choice questions and experimental questions with regards to future test development. Answers to those questions aren’t counted in the scoring because it will be utilized as a baseline or test questions for future use.

Candidates may register online, just do as instructed online to sign up and take the Pre-Admission National League for Nursing for RN Examination.  Remember and take note of your login and password you created in the NLN website, because you will need these details in your examination date. Students are permitted to take the NLN Pre-Admission Exam once every six weeks. Though the subjects involved with the exam are covered in high school, you still need to have a review. Make some preparations by reviewing your notes in high school or picking a review center. Just review the basics and some important details of the subjects mentioned and you will be fine.

National League for Nursing

Members who wish to join in the NLN need to first engage in a course in nursing. NLN generally encourages quality in nursing education. This results in motivated and different nursing employees. Many learners, before starting on a profession in nursing, always wish to understand what is nursing. This is a royal profession that has been around for hundreds of years and generally includes helping physicians for and supporting sufferers so they get well. Once a college student studies this course, whether at degree or diploma level, they will graduate college and then get a well-paying job. Basically, a nurse will receive an eye-catching program upon employment in line with the national nursing wage at the time.

However, the road to getting nursing qualifications starts with enrolling in a nursing course at a university or college. This is what most learners do. There are certain conditions before a college student can be registered to study a nursing course at an accepted school. Courses trained at nursing educational institutions, whether university or college, degree, diploma or master’s stage, have to be accepted by the NLN. This is an important body that works with nursing staff and nursing educational institutions, guaranteeing that the needs of the individuals, learners and nursing staff and their instructors and trainers are taken care of always.

At these organizations of greater learning such as at college, students get to understand what is nursing when they seek various medical qualifications. These qualifications programs include nursing degrees in various areas of nursing. Many graduate nurses have gone on to have a successful career in nursing. The nurses can specialize in a chosen field of practice. There are theater nurses, internal medication nurses, medical nurses, dental nurses and so on. The choice of a career is determined by nurses. When learning for a nursing degree under a nursing program at any school, a student can at all times receive help, assistance, guidance and support from the NLN.

NLN and Nursing Education

Two recent NLN documents address the NLN’s commitment to improving the science of nursing education and nursing education research while maintaining a focus on patient-centered care and safe medical practice. “For three decades, the NLN has devoted programming and resources to develop a powerful community of nurse educator scholars that complement the growth and improvement of programs that prepare clinical nurse researchers,” said NLN president Judith Halstead, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF. “We are proud of that legacy. The new ‘NLN Vision: Transforming Research in Nursing Education’ and ‘Priorities for Research in Nursing Education’ develop on our mission to promote quality in medical knowledge to develop a powerful and diverse workforce to relocate the nation’s health.”

As stated in the NLN Vision: “The new times for medical and wellness care engendered by wellness care change require partnerships, collaboration, and systems integration. The NLN’s ‘Priorities for Research in Nursing Education’ call for building linkages between practice and education; improving the science of nursing education through the growth of more rigorous and robust analysis designs and evaluation protocols; determining and developing effective emerging technologies to transform pedagogical approaches; and creating leadership possibilities for faculty and nursing education research scholars.”

“The research main concerns were developed in consultation with nursing management in practice and education who came together at the behest of the NLN to develop an experienced strategy for guiding research projects in the years ahead,” added NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. “With the help of colleagues, the NLN continues to define and improve the research necessary to relocate quality in nursing education.” Dedicated to quality in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nursing faculty and management in nursing education. The NLN offers faculty growth, networking possibilities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy projects to its 37,000 individual and more than 1,200 institutional members who represent nursing teaching programs across the variety of higher education.