Nursing school can be difficult to get into. While the actual GPA requirements will vary from program to program, it’s typical to require a 3.0 to 4.0 point average just to get in.
To complete the program itself, students need to be able to successfully comprehend and complete complex course materials. Nursing is not easy.
Has it become so hard that the academic standards are causing nursing shortages?
Let’s take a look.
Does Modern Nursing Education Make Things Too Hard for New Nurses?
To say that academic rigor is what is causing nursing shortages would be to miss the point. Nursing school is hard, but it should be.
Nursing is a complex job, and it’s important to ensure that the people doing it fully understand the work. Excluding job candidates from a position based on academic ability is neither wrong nor uncommon for sensitive positions.
There is a case to be made that certain educational criteria don’t deserve the level of weight they’ve historically been given.
For example, nurses need to take a long-form standardized test to be licensed in the United States.
The NCLEX has a pass rate of about 85%, which is high, until you factor in that approximately 15% of people who graduate from nursing school can’t pass the test that would guarantee them a job.
That’s a bit of a problem, and one that doesn’t necessarily support high professional standards.
There are a lot of reasons a person might fail a standardized test, and they don’t all relate to competency.
Some people’s brains simply aren’t wired toward formalized evaluations of that kind. They may still comprehend the material and be able to apply it successfully to the job.
The fact that they’ve already passed nursing school supports this, but due to testing anxiety or a minor learning impairment, they might not be able to successfully test for long periods of time.
That’s one example of how modern education could potentially re-evaluate standards to help create more nursing jobs and give more people opportunities in nursing.
Why Four-Year Nursing Programs Can Be a Barrier to Entry
It’s also worth pointing out that the traditional college environment has been met with some skepticism by recent generations.
Setting aside four years and tens of thousands of dollars for a degree hasn’t been seen as the most practical solution for debt-resistant Gen Zers who want high-paying work that can be confident won’t be replaced by automation in two years.
Granted, nursing meets both of these criteria, but the format still might not be friendly for everyone. If someone needs to work to support themselves after high school, for example, they might be less inclined to pursue a traditional program.
Online nursing programs can help. Online nursing school will usually still take four years to complete, but the majority of the work can be done when it suits the student. While clinical rotations will still be required with less flexibility, this is ultimately a strong option for people who would love a career in nursing but can’t quite manage the traditional college model of work.
ASN Programs Are a Good Entry Point
ASN programs, Associate of Science in Nursing, allow people to enter nursing after just two years of education, though they do still need to complete the NCLEX.
This is an associate-level degree. It allows nurses to do many of the same responsibilities that they would with a four-year degree, though the amount of responsibilities they have may be regionally limited. (Some states have a higher level of regulatory scrutiny for ASN recipients over BSN holders.)
Accelerated Programs
It’s also worth keeping in mind that accelerated programs provide quick ways in for people who already have a bachelor’s degree. While they do not necessarily lower the education barrier to nursing, they do make it a viable option for more people.
Accelerated programs make it possible for a disenfranchised advertising executive in their late 30s to move into a career path that makes more sense to them.
Or a burnt-out business person. Or even a teacher who prefers scrubs to chalkboards. Better yet, it’s often people who make these mid-career pivots who are most likely to stay in healthcare. They already know what they don’t like in a job and are making a more informed choice than, say, an 18-year-old college freshman.
Accelerated programs are difficult in that they condense a lot of material into a compact time frame. For that reason, many people struggle to complete them while working a full-time job. Still, it’s an option for some that may make the barrier to entry into nursing a little less severe.
Alternative Positions
It’s also worth mentioning that, though doctors and nurses are often seen as the face of medicine, there are actually many support positions that are just as important.
Phlebotomists, technicians, and aides help eliminate bottlenecks while providing compassionate care to people who need it.
These positions rarely require a college degree and can often be earned by completing training programs that might take as little as several weeks to finish.
Conclusion
Healthcare careers are difficult to get, but they’re difficult for a reason. We don’t want to dilute the quality of doctors, nurses, or pharmacists by lowering requirements.
We simply want to make the jobs accessible to as many people who can do them well as is humanly possible.
That’s not going to be accomplished by making the work easier. It could be achieved by highlighting the diversity of options that are already available.
A case also could be made for reconsidering standardized test requirements, both as an admission criterion into college programs and as an element of how aspiring nurses achieve their licenses. There are many ways to work in healthcare. For the people who are interested, it’s all about finding the fit that makes the most sense for them.
