Accreditation helps a nursing school demonstrate the value of its program.
Nursing programs accredited by a national standards organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and other authorities, offer their students and graduates several important advantages. Students can apply and qualify for federal financial aid to help defray the cost of attendance and, as graduates, they will be able to present their credentials, indicating that they have gained the comprehensive training necessary to provide effective nursing care. Nursing programs and institutions must apply for accreditation and follow procedural requirements to achieve it, and once accredited, they must continue to demonstrate the quality of educational performance necessary to retain that status. Two of the most important accrediting authorities are the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC, for all forms of post-secondary nursing programs) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE, for undergraduate and graduate programs).
Instructions
National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission
1. Contact NLNAC to become a candidate program and receive a professional mentor to help you conduct self-review activities and planning. Your faculty and administration should decide when to apply for accreditation, based on a self-reviewed comparison of your program to the NLNAC standards and criteria.
2. Apply for accreditation candidacy and pay the required fees. If you achieve candidacy, you can announce that status to prospective students and the general public.
3. Submit required information to NLNAC once you are declared eligible for candidacy. This information delineates your faculty's qualifications, describes your curriculum, enumerates the resources you use to make your program available and includes a copy of your program's catalog.
4. Authorize NLNAC to conduct accreditation once your candidacy is accepted. You can halt the accreditation process up to six weeks before NLNAC conducts its site visit to your facility.
5. Prepare the Self-Study Report required by NLNAC. This report delineates the results of your self-study process and provides NLNAC with a comprehensive view of your institution, program, facilities, personnel and guiding principles. You must demonstrate your compliance with NLNAC's official accreditation standards and criteria.
6. Review the site-visit agenda prepared by NLNAC and provided to you in advance of your accreditation visit. This documentation delineates the schedule of meetings, visits, reviews and observations your program must undergo while in the process of official scrutiny.
7. Meet with NLNAC site visitors when they come to your campus to conduct your official accreditation visit. This visit requires at least three days, giving NLNAC an opportunity to gain an in-depth picture of your program and assure that your self-reported standards match their observations. Provide the site visitors with the data and access to facilities they require during their assessment.
8. Respond to the draft site-review report mailed to you no more than eight weeks after the visit was conducted. If you discover factual errors in the report, use the NLNAC response form to report and comment on them.
9. Attend the NLNAC Evaluation Review Panel meeting that validates the site visitation. Your attendance is voluntary and your role purely observational, but you will be allowed to address the panel at the end of its session.
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
10. Request applicant status to start the accreditation review process. New programs can qualify for an accreditation term of no more than five years. Your written request must be signed by the appropriate administrators of your institution and your program, show that your program is housed in an institution accredited by the U.S. Secretary of Education and that it holds any relevant state-level approval, and summarize your ability to meet CCNE standards. Enclose CCNE's Program Information Form, application fee and a print or digital version of your program's and your institution's catalogs.
11. Conduct self study of your program's viability and effectiveness. Prepare analytical documentation of your in-house review showing how you comply with CCNE standards and where and how you need to improve. Include input from faculty, staff and students. Enclose a CCNE Program Information Form with your self-review documentation.
12. Notify third-party constituents of your impending site review about three months before the review is should to take place. Solicit supporting commentary from these third parties up to 30 days before your visit begins.
13. Send printed copies of your self-review documentation to CCNE and to each member of the site-review team that will visit your program. These copies must be received at least six weeks before your site visit. Anonymous comments are not considered, regardless of whether they relate directly to your compliance with accreditation standards.
14. Draft the agenda for your site review and provide it to the review-team leader no less than eight weeks before your site review. Make sure your agenda complies with CCNE guidance.
15. Assist the on-site evaluation team in its review of your program and institution. The review process will require between 2-1/2 and 3 days.
16. Review the evaluation team's on-site visit report and its assessment of your compliance with accreditation standards. You may correct factual errors, comment on opinions and conclusions, and document improvement progress in a written response that will be appended to the site visit report.
17.Meet with the CCNE Accreditation Review Committee if you wish to make a statement regarding the site-visit report. Respond as requested to any comments by members of the site visit team to the committee.
18. Receive the CCNE Board of Commissioners' decision to accept the Accreditation Review Committee's action proposal or recommend an alternative to it. The decision may approve or deny your accreditation status.
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