Vermont RN Certification and Schools - VT
Vermont took first place in America’s Health Rankings’ 2007 report, edging out Minnesota as the healthiest state in the country. A combination of access to prenatal care, low rates of impoverished children, preventable hospitalizations and obesity combined to make VT #1.
Continuing in the fight for better health care, U.S. senators Leahy and Sanders added provisions to the much-discussed health care bill that would expand the National Health Care Service Corps by 20,000. This would allow nurses and other healthcare professionals to get help paying off school loans by donating their services to charity.
Nursing and healthcare issues regularly make the news, but all too often, people only think of nurses when they are in need of healing. And that’s when registered nurses (RNs) perform their greatest feats, caring for the sick and injured, working with other healthcare providers to restore a person’s health.
Becoming a nurse requires a lot of hard work and emotional involvement. But Vermont is a state dedicated to maintaining a healthy population with its eight community health centers and 40 satellite offices. So if you decide to become an RN in VT, you’ll have a great support system behind you.
Source: Burlington Free Press
Education Required to Become a Registered Nurse in Vermont
There are a variety of nursing career options, including Licensed Practical Nurse, which requires a one-year associate’s degree and can be a stepping stone towards becoming an RN (with additional education online or through Vermont RN schools).
To become an RN, however,
- You may attend a two- or three- year junior or community college to earn an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN), which may also be upgraded to a bachelor’s degree in the future by transferring credits.
- A Diploma in Nursing (DN) takes two or three years and is typically earned at a hospital-based program.
- Four-year universities and colleges offer Bachelor of Science degrees in nursing (BSN). This is required if you wish to earn a master’s or doctorate degree or become an administrative nurse.
- Accelerated Nursing Programs (MSN or BSN) are usually 12 to 18 months long and attract people who wish to change careers into nursing and already hold bachelor’s degrees.
Nurses may also pursue their MSN or doctorate degrees in graduate school to take on jobs with higher responsibility, including nurse practitioner, (usually requiring another year’s schooling), which allows a nurse to prescribe medication to patients.
The Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP), which focuses on clinical work or Doctorate of Nursing Science (DNS), which focuses on research, are the highest degree programs available for nurses. By 2015, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) requires that entry-level nurse practitioner programs grant DNPs rather than MSNs.
Through campus or online programs, aspiring Registered Nurses in Burlington, Essex, Rutland and Colchester, Vermont 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 Fletcher Allen Health Care - Medical Center Campus, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Central Vermont Medical Center and Southwestern Vermont Health Care.