Nursing School Requirements are extremely important. Being well rounded is important. Nursing School Requirements help to gauge whether an ABSN degree is realistic for the applicant. Also these requirements help verify if the soft and hard skills needed are developed.
Pursuing a degree as a nurse through an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is no easy task. On top of that, there are various requirements for entry into different nursing programs. Nursing school requirements are more valuable than they seem, however. They provide you with vital skills that will carry over to your nursing education and to your career.
That’s why Notre Dame of Maryland University’s Accelerated 2nd Degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program has six carefully chosen prerequisite courses. We want to help make you well-prepared for anything you encounter in your nursing courses and help you enter your education with confidence.
Prerequisites for nursing school (as well as other requirements) prepare you to jump into a nursing program with a solid understanding of foundational concepts, allowing you to put your best foot forward.
What are the Requirements to Get into NDMU’s Nursing Program?
If you are thinking about starting nursing school, you’ve perhaps already spent time researching how to get into different programs. You probably already realized that most ABSN programs have different requirements of their applicants. But what exactly is the purpose of these requirements and why must they be completed?
The field of nursing is highly technical and requires specific scientific knowledge, emotional intelligence and proficient communication skills. To ensure our graduates possess these qualities, we seek applicants who demonstrate experience in completing previous college courses and prerequisite courses. Our nursing school requirements are not meant to be obstacles to starting nursing school; rather they are meant to ensure that each applicant is prepared to work and be successful in the rigorous and fast-paced program. Our program can be completed in as few as 15 months, and this accelerated and intensive curriculum will help you in your future nursing career.
Why Nursing School Requirements Matter for Success
While every program’s requirements may be different in various ways, all requirements are there to ensure that you are ready to succeed in the ABSN program. Our curriculum is meant to help you succeed as a nurse post-graduation. Our nursing school set up these requirements for good reasons, which we will now dive into in more depth.
Prerequisites Matter for Perspective and Baseline Knowledge
Why does NDMU’s ABSN program require its applicants to complete various prerequisites? As an accelerated program, this ABSN program is designed to build upon a baseline of previous education. But there is more to this requirement than that.
Prerequisite courses for NDMU’s ABSN program are designed to give you a diverse background and approach to nursing. We want you to be secure in your education before you begin as a nursing student. Regardless of the degree you previously obtained, your success in these required nursing school prerequisites shows that you have the academic foundation to take on the course material of an accelerated nursing program.
Some of the specifics of these prerequisite requirements are:
- A non-nursing bachelor’s degree, with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (on a 4-point scale)
- ABSN prerequisite courses (22 credit hours) within the minimum grade requirements
- MAT 215: Basic Statistics
- CHM 108*: Survey of General, Organic & Biochemistry
- BIO 253*: Microbiology
- BIO 201*: Anatomy & Physiology I
- BIO 202*: Anatomy & Physiology II
- PHL 330: Ethics
*Course must have been completed with a minimum grade of C or higher within five years prior to enrollment.
Getting ready to pursue a nursing degree? Check out these tips for preparing for nursing school.
A Career in Nursing Requires Proficient Writing and Communication Skills
In addition to the hard skills and technical training a nurse requires, it is critical for every nurse to be proficient in soft skills, specifically communication, so they can navigate relationships and work as part of a team. At NDMU, the main requirements that demonstrate these soft skills are:
- Current resume and personal essay
- Two letters of recommendation
These requirements show that an applicant can express themselves, as well as communicate to obtain letters of recommendation. These skills are critical in the same way that clinical knowledge is critical for a successful nursing career.
During your career you will be with patients during some of their most difficult moments in life. Having strong communication skills to relay important information clearly and sensitively is a crucial skill. Patients need to feel comfortable to be honest about their health and it is the nurse who often makes them reach this feeling.
It is only through this honesty that you can be successful in treating them. Different backgrounds, worldviews, experiences, and understanding are hard to connect with, but by having strong communication, you can begin to bridge those gaps.
Additionally, since nurses and health care professionals in general keep meticulous records for their patients’ medical files, you will need to be skillful in both written and verbal communication.
Confidence and Preparedness
Patients entrust their health to their nurses and other health care staff. While this is a rewarding aspect of nursing, it can be difficult. That is why our ABSN program has deliberately set requirements for prospective students: we want to make sure that our students will be able to provide quality care for future patients. Another one of these requirements is to:
- Earn a minimum composite score of 65% on the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)
- EXEMPTION: A student applying for admission is EXEMPT from the TEAS requirement if they have 30 or more college transfer credits completed, have not repeated any required courses, AND have a transfer GPA of 3.3 or above.
- A previous TEAS score can be submitted if the test was taken up to one year before the time of application to the accelerated nursing program.
At NDMU, we educate our students to become well-rounded nurses through our curriculum made up of:
Coursework
Your nursing coursework will be completed one of two ways: on campus or in an online-based delivery format. Both program options set the foundation for your accelerated nursing education and cover the same comprehensive curriculum and professional preparation on an abbreviated timeline; the only difference is in course delivery.
Nursing Simulation Labs and Skills Labs
Skills and nursing simulation labs serve as the bridge between your nursing theory coursework and clinical experiences, offering a risk-free yet realistic environment to combine your foundational nursing theory knowledge with hands-on skills practice.
Hybrid Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN students meet for labs at our ABSN program site in Elkridge, while students in the on-campus ABSN program complete labs at the Center for Caring with Technology at our main campus in Baltimore. Both locations offer classrooms and places to study and meet face-to-face with instructors.
Clinical Placement
Under the supervision of a highly qualified ABSN program clinical instructor, you’ll work with patients and their families in a variety of clinical settings and areas of nursing practice.
- Medical Surgical Nursing
- Advanced Medical Surgical Nursing
- Pediatrics
- Obstetrics
- Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing
- Community Health
Clinicals are a great way to network and determine which kind of nursing is best for you.
Once you graduate from NDMU’s ABSN program in as little as 15 months, you will be prepared to take care of your patients’ needs as a nurse.
Curious if you have what it takes to pursue a career in nursing? Check out these 3 signs.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
A career change to nursing is something to think about ahead of time as it will involve some planning. There are some initial steps that must be taken before entrance into the program. In the end however, those steps will be worth it as you are able to begin and thrive in a rewarding career.
If you are ready to start taking steps to completing these nursing school requirements and start earning your Bachelor of Science in Nursing, contact us today to speak with an admissions counselor about our ABSN program.