Can You Get an Accelerated Nursing Degree Without an Undergraduate Degree in Nursing?
You can get an accelerated nursing degree without an undergraduate degree in nursing as long as you have another bachelor's degree. There are accredited accelerated baccalaureate programs or non-nursing graduates. Continue reading to learn how you can get a nursing degree without having to attend a traditional four-year nursing program.
Why Have Accelerated Nursing Programs
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), more than a million new registered nurses will be needed by the year 2020. The need for qualified and accredited registered nurses grows every day. This is difficult because nursing programs must maintain their quality and integrity within a shorter and more intense time periods. Therefore, the health care industry has created accelerated bachelor's and master's degrees for nurses. Accelerated nursing bachelor's degree programs take between 11 to 18 months to complete and…show more content… The programs are designed for mature adults with previous learning and working experiences. The average student is older, highly motivated and eager to excel and gain experience. Accelerated nursing program administrators specifically look for individuals who have a proven academic and work track record. Program attendees are expected to be reliable, organized and professional. Therefore, the program objectives have short deadlines and the workload is intense. In fact, while there are no breaks between session courses, students still gain the same amount of supervised clinical hours as traditional nursing programs. The admission standards for these unique programs are very high. There is an exhaustive pre-screening process and a minimum requirement of 3.0 GPA. Students are expected to not work full time because the program completion requirements are very