There many courses available online these days, but not all are accredited. Find suitable online nursing programs that will be worth your time.
Those interested in getting a nursing degree would probably prefer to get their degree from one of the top ranked nursing schools. The most well known ranking of university degree programs is that done by the US News and World Report.
Graduate programs in nursing are ranked every three years. As of the 2009 rankings, the US News of World Report said that the top ranked nursing schools were University of Washington, University of California San Francisco, University of Pennsylvania, John Hopkins University, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Oregon Health and Science University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Pittsburgh, and Yale University. For the full list of rankings you can go to the US News and World Report website.
The US News and World Report also lists the top ranked nursing schools for each specialty. For adult nursing and geriatric nursing the top school is the University of Pennsylvania, for adult/medical surgical nursing the top school is the University of California San Francisco, for family nursing and psychiatric nursing the top school is the University of Washington, for nursing service administration the top school is the University of Iowa and for pediatric nursing the top schools are University of Pennsylvania and Yale University
However, just because these are the top ranked nursing schools does not mean that these are the only nursing schools that you should consider. Other nursing schools are also good and offer a high quality education as well. The difference in rankings between universities is very small. Any accredited nursing program will likely teach you the skills you need to know.
When using the rankings, you have to take into consideration how they determined which schools were the top ranked nursing schools. They are based on surveys, and the criteria they use to rank the university might not match the criteria you would use.
When you are choosing a school, there are some things that can be more important than whether the school you attend is one of the top ranked nursing schools. You want to make sure the university has the specialty you would like, that it is located where you would like to study, that the school and class size are right for you, and that the tuition is within your means. Any school you choose should be fully accredited, provide enough time for clinical rotations, and have a high rate of students passing the NCLEX examination. You may visit http://www.bestonlinenursingprograms.com for more information on nursing programs.
If you are torn between a few different schools, the list of the top ranked nursing schools can help you to decide which might be the better school for you. You should check out the rankings of the school in the different categories as well as its overall ranking. The top ranked nursing schools on your list might have a higher overall ranking but a lower ranking in what you might consider a key area for your nursing school.
