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Illinois RN Certification and Schools - IL

By an allied health world contributing writer
Published: February 12th, 2010

Of the two and a half million registered nurses in America counted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 109,000 of them tend to patients in the hospitals, clinics and homes of Illinois. They care for their charges from Chicago to Carbondale to Galena and do so much more than just check vital stats. In fact, a December, 2009 Chicago Tribune article reported how a team of registered nurses helped load a caravan of patients moving from an Elgin hospital to a new site five miles down the road. As a nurse, you may never take a break from caring.

Nurses are often the closest and most constant contact a patient has with caregivers, and the Land of Lincoln’s medical system relies heavily upon them.

Education Required to Become a Registered Nurse in Illinois

There are three basic ways to meet Illinois’ education requirement to sit for the Illinois nurse licensing exam. All Illinois RN schools must offer accredited nursing programs. You can

• earn a bachelor’s of science degree from a four-year university,
• earn an associate of science degree from a two or three-year community college,
• earn a diploma from a hospital or medical center.

There are also opportunities to earn an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree if you have earned your bachelors already.

If you have attended nursing school outside the United States, the school must be credentialed by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) Credentials Evaluation Service (CES), an educational records evaluation service or the International Education Research Foundation.

Through campus or online programs, aspiring Registered Nurses in Chicago, Aurora, Rockford and Joliet, Illinois may be able to prepare themselves for the possibility of employment in some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the state including the Chicago Lakeshore Hospital, Children's Memorial Hospital, Lincoln Park Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.