Nursing Program Questions
Creighton is a direct-entry program. All you need to do to apply to the College of Nursing is list the college on your application for admission. If you are admitted to the College of Nursing, you have a spot in the program.
Direct-entry means that you have a seat in the nursing program when you begin college. There isn’t an additional application process after you begin college, meaning you know whether or not you’re able to study nursing at a college before you decide to enroll.
At a non-direct-entry program, you will take general education classes for a designated period of time (usually 1-3 semesters), then apply to the nursing program. This application process is competitive, and sometimes as few as 20% of the applicants gain entrance into the nursing program.
At Creighton, we have a four-year traditional nursing curriculum that allows students to finish their degree in four years.
There are a number of programs (particularly non-direct-entry programs) that explicitly state that you cannot graduate in four years, even if you are admitted in the first round of applicants to the program.
Be sure you understand how long you are eligible for scholarships and financial aid. Many schools only offer 8 semesters of aid, meaning that you are left paying the full price for any remaining semesters to complete your degree. Add in that you aren’t bringing in a salary during that time as well, and the financial impact of taking an extra year to graduate can be significant.
At some institutions, nursing students can’t study abroad due to the structure of the curriculum. However, at Creighton, our nursing students can study abroad for a full semester (and still graduate on time)!
Check out the four-year nursing curriculum that includes study abroad.
The NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) is a nationwide exam that all nurses take after graduation. The first-time NCLEX pass rate is one way to measure how prepared nursing graduates are. Creighton’s first-time average pass rate for the past five years is 93%.
Preceptorships help transition you from clinicals to a practicing registered nurse. At Creighton, you will be paired with a bachelor’s-prepared nurse. It’s essentially reverse job shadowing: you perform the nursing duties, but with your preceptor as back-up and resource.
Our students complete 244 hours in their preceptorship, which is among the highest number of preceptorship hours of any nursing programs in the nation. We will place you in a preceptorship during your second semester senior year, so no work is needed on your behalf, and the preceptorship is guaranteed. At some other schools, a preceptorship must be found by the student themselves, and therefore, isn’t guaranteed.
