Registered Nursing

Registered nurse candidates are graduates from programs that are state approved and, in many cases, accrediated by national accrediting organizations. In the United States, the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) accredits nursing programs; the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing (CAUSN) accredits baccalaureate programs. The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) was established in 1996 as an accrediting agency of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to evaluate the quality and integrity of baccalaureate and graduate degree nursing education programs. RNs are prepared for entry into practice typically in three ways: associate degree nursing programs, hospital diploma programs, or baccalaureate degree nursing programs. Educational preparation for entry into practice has been an ongoing debate in nursing since the 1930s and 1940s, when the Brown and Goldmark reports recommended two levels of educational preparation for nurses.
ANA’s 1965 Position Statement identified two entry levels of educational preparation: minimum preparation for professional practice, baccalaureate degree; and minimum preparation for technical practice, associate degree. Again in 1985, the ANA adopted a resolution regarding titles: professional nurse, a nurse possessing the baccalaureate degree in nursing; and associate nurse, a nurse prepared in an associate degree program. Although AACN, CAUSN, and the professional nursing organizations in the United States (American Nurses Association) and Canada (Canadian Nurses Association) have supported the baccalaureate degree to be the minimum entry level for professional practice, the authority to enforce this requirement rests with the individual states and provinces. CAUSN’s mission is to promote health and wellness by advancing nursing education and nursing research. Although CAUSN supports baccalaureate education as the required educational preparation for beginning practitioners, the association established a Task Force for Collaborative Nursing Education Models to foster collaboration between diploma and university schools in Canada (CAUSN Position Statement on Education, November 1998).