So you’ve decided to attend nursing school. Congratulations!  Nursing is an absolutely vital part of the health care field, and upon graduation you’ll be working closely with patients who need your care.

And, of course, nursing is a great field to get into right now! Currently, there are more open positions in nursing than there are qualified candidates to fill them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of registered nurses is expected to grow 16 percent between 2014 and 2024. Specifically in Connecticut, opportunities for promising nurses are exceeding those for nearly all other occupations. According to the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, there will be approximately 1,100,000 nursing job openings by 2024.

But you might be wondering, just what does it take to get into nursing school? At Goodwin College, we’ve laid out exactly the steps you need to follow. Just follow these few steps, and you could be on your way towards becoming a registered nurse!

Apply to College

For many colleges, applying to a select admissions nursing program means that you first must meet the requirements for admission to that College in general. This is true at Goodwin, where applicants to the nursing program must first meet the requirements for admission and be accepted into Goodwin College.

At Goodwin you can apply online or in person. And definitely make an appointment with an , who can help walk you through the steps to your nursing degree personally! You can also attend a nursing information session to get a feel for the college’s nursing program.

Complete the Nursing Program Application

On top of your normal college application, you must also fill out an application for admission to the nursing program. Official college transcripts are required with the application if you have courses from another institution that will need to be transferred in to meet the prerequisite courses required for admission or to use as proof of your level of education for the admission point system. Any prerequisite courses transferred from another college must be equivalent to Goodwin College courses and must meet the grade requirement of C+.

Applicants are strongly advised to complete Microbiology (must be completed with a C+ or better) prior to entering the Nursing program. If a student takes NUR 100 and Microbiology together and then decides to withdraw from NUR 100 he/she will need to reapply to the nursing program. Microbiology must be completed by the end of NUR 110 in order for students to advance to NUR 200.

Nursing applicants who have satisfied all of the admission criteria will be selected according to the point system found in the catalog.

Steps Once You’ve Been Accepted

Once you’ve applied, now it’s time to play a short waiting game. At Goodwin, applicants will typically be notified of acceptance approximately two months before the semester starts.

Once accepted, there are a few steps left to take to finalize your path to nursing school. Students are required to submit a tuition deposit to hold their place in the class. Students must obtain their own Malpractice Insurance and also become members of the National Student Nurse Association (NSNA); your advisor can help walk you through this process.

Admitted students must submit a medical examination report by a physician which describes the student’s physical and emotional health, two weeks prior to starting the program. All required immunizations must be completed before the start of the first Nursing course excluding the Hepatitis B vaccine series which may be in progress. If a student elects to not have the Hepatitis B vaccine series, a signed declination form must be in his/her file. All students in the program must receive a flu shot annually.

Students are also required to become certified in Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (Health Provider or Professional Rescuer) by the American Heart Association or the Red Cross before entering the Nursing program and must maintain certification throughout the nursing degree program. The cost related to obtaining and maintaining CPR certification is the responsibility of the student. Proof of certification must be submitted each year.

Interested in learning more about nursing at Goodwin College? Learn more to see why we’re a leader in healthcare education in CT! You can also interact with us on Facebookor Twitter!