Massachusetts state law authorizes the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing (BORN) to regulate nursing education and nursing practice. The board also approve nursing programs for initial licensure and monitor each program for compliances with the standard set by the law for the safe nursing practice by the program graduates. In accordance with the law, all nursing education programs in the state must receive approval from the Board. The approval designation of the programs includes Prerequisite Approval, Initial Approval, Full Approval, and Approval with Warning.
The state of Massachusetts is most sought after destination among the nursing students for Registered Nurse Training programs because the state offers best employment opportunities, high standard education, and attractive salaries to licensed nurses. They can seek employments in Physicians office, schools, home health, Hospital-based ambulatory, extended care facilities, Community Hospital/Inpatient, Chronic Care units, outpatients department, Academic Medical Center, and other health care facilities. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) informs that in 2013, 121,469 Registered Nurses were registered in Massachusetts and out of these, 8.2 percent nurses were licensed as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses.
According to the Massachusetts Health Professions Data Series: Registered Nurses 2012 survey fact sheet, out of 93,566 nurses working in the state, 41 percent (38,397) have completed Bachelor’s, 14 per cent Master’s, 14 per cent Diploma, 1 per cent Doctoral, and 1 per cent Practice Doctorate programs. 20 per cent respondents, however, informed that they will pursue additional education.
RN Training Programs are also one of the crucial requirements for nursing careers in the state because the law requires nurses to be competent in nursing knowledge and skills. In order to earn nursing competencies and work permission, nurses should enrol and graduate from Registered Nurse Schools in Massachusetts and pass the NCLEX-RN exam for RN Licensure because the examination is a tool with the state government for assessing the nursing skills of nurses. The additional requirements include criminal background screening and possessing good moral character.
RN Programs features theory, lab, and clinical training, and the course curriculum include arts, humanities, science, and foundations of the profession. There are also few requirements that must be completed by the students for the admission to the program including the submission of the secondary school graduation evidence and compliance of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health specified immunization requirements.
The students to instructor ratio for clinical hands-on experience must not exceed 10:1.According to the BORN, there are 20 Associate Degree, 20 Baccalaureate, 7 entry-level graduate programs, and 1 Hospital-Based Diploma Program in the state.
According to the American association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), in 2013, there were 24 AACN member schools in the state. These schools enrolled 8,643 baccalaureate, 2,842 master’s, and 761 doctoral students.
There are also different types of state, federal, and private party Financial Aids for students who wish to pursue nursing and higher education. These aids are in the form of Loans, Grants, Scholarships, and Federal Work Study. The students can apply to these aids to ease their tuition and additional program related burdens.