Program Purpose:
To prepare students to function effectively and safely in entry-level registered nursing positions.
This program meets all requirements of the Florida Department of Health’s Board of Nursing standards and has been granted full national accreditation by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (www.nlnac.org; 3343 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 850, Atlanta, GA 30326).
Employment Types:
Registered nurses are employed in a variety of settings, including hospitals, home health, public health, schools, physician’s offices, nursing homes, educational organizations and other settings.
Program Length:
72 credit hours
Admission Requirements:
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and meet all admission requirements of the College.
Nursing is a limited-access program. Students are admitted using a point system. Students with the most points will be offered admission. These students must accept by official TCC e-mail and complete all admission requirements to finalize admission. Students who are not admitted may submit a new nursing application for a future semester. There is no waiting list.
Applicants earn points toward admission from the following sources:
A minimum score of 75% on each subtest is required to be considered for admission. The test scores are translated into points. For example, a score of 81% provides 81 points toward admission. Only scores on the following subtests are considered for admission: reading, vocabulary, grammar, math.
Students may earn additional points by achieving certain subtest scores. The score ranges required to earn additional points for a subtest are as follows:
o 80.0-89.99% = 3 additional points
o 90.0-100% = 5 additional points
A total of 20 additional points toward admission may be earned in this manner.
- Grade Point Average (GPA for Nursing ) on courses that are prerequisites to the nursing program: Total possible points = 40
- GPA x 10 = number of points toward admission
The points earned from the HESI A2 and GPA are added together, and this total determines who is offered admission. The total maximum points possible = 160.
If two or more students have an equal number of points, residents of TCC’s service district, veterans and students who have completed all the corequisite non-nursing courses will receive first consideration. Corequisites include one general education humanities course, plus MCB2004 General Microbiology and MCB2004L Microbiology Laboratory .
Click here to view admission information for transfer students .
The following are required upon acceptance and before final acceptance into the nursing program is granted:
- FDLE / FBI Background Check: Area healthcare agencies require that all students participating in clinical rotations at the agencies have a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check, including fingerprints. The cost of background checks is the responsibility of the applicant.
- Local Background Check: From the applicant’s county of residence, paid for by the applicant.
- Background check results will be returned to the TCC Division of Healthcare Professions designee. Information returned to TCC about the local background check will remain confidential. All information that appears on a background check will be submitted to the designated person of the healthcare affiliate agency that requires such background checks of students. The agency will decide whether or not a student may participate in a clinical experience in that agency.
- A student who is not accepted by an agency for clinical experience will not be able to meet program objectives and, therefore, will not be granted final acceptance into the program. The costs will be not reimbursed.
- Drug Screen: Area healthcare agencies require a satisfactory (negative) drug screen of all healthcare program students that will be in clinical rotations at their facilities. This drug test will be performed by a designee of TCC. Students with an unsatisfactory (positive) result will be given an opportunity to explain the confirmed positive test result. If the explanation is unacceptable and/or cannot be satisfactorily documented by the applicant’s physician, the applicant shall not be accepted into the program. Costs will not be reimbursed.
- Immunizations/screening:
- Seasonal flu vaccine
- TB screening yearly: either a negative PPD test or chest x-ray
- Two immunizations for MMR (unless not indicated): MMR consists of vacines against measles (rubeola), mumps and rubella (German measles)
- Documented varicella immunity or a history of the disease or two immunizations
- Completion of the Hepatitis B series of three injections or a signed declination
- Basic Life Support (BLS) for Health Care Provider certification from the American Heart Association or American Red Cross. No other courses will be accepted. The course must be hands-on; online courses are not acceptable. The BLS certification must be kept current while enrolled in the Nursing Program.
Program Application:
The program accepts students for each Fall and each Spring semester program entrance. This is a limited-access program with a limited number of seats per class; applicants are accepted based on academic achievement.
Applicants must submit both a general TCC application and a separate healthcare program application by 5 p.m. on the published deadline.
See important information in the Additional Healthcare Degree Requirements section of this catalog.
Academic Division:
Healthcare Professions, Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education
Contact:
Visit www.tcc.fl.edu/nursing, contact Dianne Douglas at (850) 558-4523 or douglasd@tcc.fl.edu, or contact the nursing office at (850) 558-4500 or healthedu@tcc.fl.edu
Return to: