Tips on Picking the Right Nursing School In California

You have many options when it comes to Nursing Schools in California.  Although your first instinct may be to go with the top nursing schools in California, you will still need to consider all your options based on a number of factors such as:

•           Proximity

•           Planned field of study

•           Cost

•           Program requirements

•           Duration of program

You may even need to consider whether or not you can take classes online if it will be more convenient for you.

Nursing Schools in Southern California

If you need to choose Nursing Schools in California based on location, you may first consider a full region before narrowing down your choices further.  For instance, there are many nursing schools in southern California such as UCLA School of Nursing, University of San Diego School of Nursing and Health Science and Cal State LA School of Nursing.  These are three of the top nursing schools in the area.

Two of these Nursing Schools in California have similar features in that they all feature bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate programs in nursing studies.  Cal State only includes bachelor’s and master’s programs with various options in each of these programs.  The University of San Diego even has a Doctor of Nursing Practice or DNP program for those who want to focus their research on a specific specialty such as mental health or family nurse practitioner.

Nursing Schools in Northern California

Of course, northern California is a long way from the southern region, so you may need to look at nursing schools in northern California.  There are two Nursing Schools in California that offer courses in nursing in this region: City College of San Francisco and California State University in Sacramento.  These schools offer very different credentials when it comes to their nursing programs, so it is important to know which one will best help you achieve your goals.

For instance, City College is one of the Nursing Schools in California that offers a certificate program for a home health aide or nursing assistant as well as a certificate of achievement for licensed vocational nursing and an associate’s degree in science.  California State offers LVN to RN programs for certified nurses and an RN to BSN for registered nurses already possessing an associate’s degree.  There are also Bachelor of Science and Master of Science programs in nursing.

Bay Area Nursing Schools and Colleges

Perhaps it would be easier to find Nursing Schools in California in and around the Bay Area.  There are nearly fifteen nursing schools in California Bay Area that offers degree programs in clinical care, forensic nursing, gerontology, home health care and hospice care.  These schools are located in Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose in addition to many online options available.

Within the Bay Area, you can look into the California State University-Hayward, Chabot College, City College of San Francisco, Evergreen Valley College, Ohlone College, Samuel Merritt College, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, University of California-San Francisco and the University of San Francisco.  Among all these Nursing Schools in California, you will be able to find programs of all kinds whether you want to work on the administrative side of the nursing field, want to practice medicine or study the theories and latest innovations in the field.

Schools According to Discipline

If you can be flexible about the school’s location, you may need to look for Nursing Schools in California according to the specific discipline you want to study.  For instance, you can look for BSN nursing schools in California if you hope to earn your bachelor’s degree.  While there are eight schools that have RN to BSN programs, you will find that there are about 25 schools that have BSN programs including the ten branches of California State University.

There are also private Nursing Schools in California including Azusa Pacific University, Biola University, Loma Linda University, Mount Saint Mary’s College, National University, Point Loma Nazarene University, Samuel Merritt Colleges and the University of San Francisco.  Of course, there are also many of the aforementioned public schools to consider in your search.

 

Even though there are traditional Nursing Schools in California available all over the state, you can also still consider online schools.  If you decide to pursue online education, you still need to be sure it is affiliated with a traditional school that will give you access to clinical facilities necessary to completing your degree.  No matter where you go to school, you want to get into a program that will get you on your proper career path.