Nursing Schools
A nursing school is an educational institute like any other professional institute, with the exception that students enroll here to train as a professional nurse. With the growth in education systems, institutes and vocational learning, more and more people prefer to learn varieties of subjects and specialize in courses that are a tad bit different than regular courses. For one, today’s students prefer professional courses a lot more than any other.
For the past few years, there has been a major change in the education process over the world. People prefer to study subjects that are more practical based and have a set training structure rather than theoretical data. A course in nursing training is today more vocational than many others, and incorporates a wider awareness off the world of medicine and health-care. The course-work often involves special nurse training sessions, research into the world of clinical organization, administration and similar organizational behavior. And though long term orthodox educational methods have proved successful earlier, the new and improved training structures are not only effective but also less time-consuming and easier to learn.
One of the pioneers in starts the idea of nursing schools was none other than Florence Nightingale herself who open the first nursing home in 1860 and named it the Nightingale Training School for Nurses, operating right from her base located at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. The reason behind her opening a nurse training school was to be able to train nurses, helping them gain the required level of specialization and qualification, and even more than the usual requirement at times. Her intention was that, this level of specialization would help them more observational skills and cater to extreme patient need, thus giving them a greater chance to work in different hospitals across the country, and eventually overseas. This was perhaps one of the main reasons for the widespread growth of nursing education all over the United Kingdom and soon to other parts of the world. Founded in 1873 in NYC, the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing soon followed Nightingale’s footsteps, followed by John Hopkins in 1189 and the University of Minnesota. It was the Yale Nursing School to become the first autonomous nursing facility in 1923 in the U.S.
Today’s top nursing schools provide the best practical education that helps develop confident and smart graduate students who are fit to function in today’s competitive environment. There are certain rules and regulations before one becomes a registered nurse. There are basic three year graduate courses one can apply for, or opt for the many diplomas in nursing available today. The American Nursing Council specifies rules on their official website, and most of these have to be taken into account by the institute offering a career in nursing.

In other countries, the entry level courses including five Standard grade subjects like English, Math, and Biology, including two A-levels. Professionals who are already in the nursing field can also take up a short-term professional course to better their current position in the field. In a regular course, the first year includes basic foundation structure that includes teaching the students physiology, anatomy and the most basic health care techniques. The next year involves a major branch-out that gives them a choice of splitting into – adult, mental health, paediatric or learning disability nursing, from which the candidate can choose the one they prefer to specialize in. This helps them to learn the skills specific to that branch and involves working in the chosen sector. The third and final year is completed with practical application of their course-work in the medical health sector.
There a variety of nursing programs that include an Auxiliary Nurse and Midwifery program which requires a minimum of 10pass and is a 1 & half year program, the General Nurse & Midwife course requiring a 10+2 pass grade and which is a 3 and half year course. Apart from these, one can also apply for the B.Sc (Basic or Post Basic) which are a 4 year course and require a minimum of class 12 pass and 45% pass marks. One can even opt for a distance learning option for a B.Sc Post Basic course in case they so require. There are, even Master, M Phil and PhD level courses one can go for, after finishing a Bachelor of Science degree, while there are also short-term certificate nursing courses available for candidates that run a duration of around 12 to 15 months.
Not just that, but with the rise in popularity, online nursing schools have opened their doors for students who cannot make it to an actual college or institute to learn the art of nursing. This helps them not only to become compatible and effective nursing professionals but also prepares them thoroughly to handle all medical emergencies in any kind of environment. No longer is nursing looked at as an easy substitute to medicine, but in fact, as an excellent companion to it, because, without a good, guided nurse, it is impossible for even the best doctors to function.
