Frequently Asked Questions
- What is required for admission?
- How does a prior conviction affect my eligibility for licensure?
- How much do the programs cost?
- How long does it take to complete a program?
- Can I continue working while enrolled in the nursing program?
- What if I decide to leave my program early?
- Are there paid internship experiences available?
- What types of financial aid and loans are available?
- Whom should I contact regarding the Medical Assistant (medical transcription, insurance, medical office procedures) programs?
- How can I challenge the CNA prerequisite?
- What is the NET test and why do I need to take it?
- What is the CPR requirement?
- How is the waiting list established?
- How can I find out where I am on the waiting list?
- Do you have weekend and evening labs?
- Do you have a part time program for ADN?
- What type of criminal background check is done?
- What is required for admission?
- How does a prior conviction affect my eligibility for licensure?
- How much do the programs cost?
- How long does it take to complete a program?
- Can I continue working while enrolled in the nursing program?
- What if I decide to leave my program early?
- Are there paid internship experiences available?
- What types of financial aid and loans are available?
- Who should I contact regarding the Medical Assistant (medical transcription, insurance, medical office procedures) programs?
- How can I challenge the CNA prerequisite?
- What is the NET test and why do I need to take it?
- What is the CPR requirement?
- How is the waiting list established?
- How can I find out where I am on the waiting list?
- Do you have weekend and evening labs?
- Do you have a part time program for ADN?
- What type of criminal background check is done?
Both Nursing Science and Paramedic Studies require a high school diploma or GED, mathematical aptitude equivalent to elementary algebra, and anatomy & physiology. For a complete list of requirements for either Nursing Science or Paramedic Studies, drop by the counseling office or Health Sciences, located in the O-building.
The Board of Registered Nursing screens applications fairly but cautiously, applying the following criteria. Schools of nursing are encouraged when counseling prospective nursing students to make them aware that there could be potential licensure problems due to serious acts or convictions as described below. In this manner, students have the opportunity to explore other career options prior to investing substantial time in a nursing program if it appears that a prior serious act or conviction may jeopardize licensure due to its substantial relationship to the practice of nursing. Please click on the appropriate link below for further detailed information.
The complete Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program, including tuition, books, fees, insurance, uniforms, equipment, dues, badges, and testing, potentially costs $3,000 to $3,500. Financial aid, loans, Board of Governors' Waivers and Grants, and the nursing scholarship fund can help offset this cost for exceptional candidates. The Paramedic Studies program can cost $600 to $1600, depending on whether you decide to pursue the associate's degree option.
The Certified Nurse Assistant, Home Health Aide, and Emergency Medical Technology programs range in cost from $400 to $800. Again, financial aid, loans, Board of Governors' Waivers and Grants can help with costs.
Current and former students can give the most up-to-date information on costs and dealing with them. Don't hesitate to get more information.
The Associate Degree Nursing program requires two years. The Paramedic Studies program alone requires one year (more than one year if pursuing the associate's degree). The Certified Nurse Assistant, Home Health Aide, and Emergency Medical Technology programs are all one-semester programs. However, the ADN, Paramedic and Home Health Aide programs have prerequisite courses that must be completed prior to enrolling/applying.
The nursing faculty strongly recommends that students work 20 hours or less weekly while enrolled in nursing courses. Although a few students have done so and have been successful in the program, many students who work more than 20 hours weekly are not successful. In addition, the California Board of Registered Nursing recently published results of a focus group study of NCLEX-RN scores that indicated that students who worked more than 20 hours weekly while in nursing school were less likely to pass the licensure examination.
There are many reasons why a student would be unable to complete the nursing courses in the two-year time frame. When a student leaves for any reason, he/she must request reentry by submitting a letter to the nursing faculty stating the reason for leaving and how that issue has been resolved. Students may be allowed a maximum of two opportunities (entries) to successfully complete the program. The first admission is considered the first opportunity or entry. The faculty will consider requests for readmission beyond the policy limit when there are special circumstances, but reentry is not guaranteed and is always on a space-available basis. This means that a student may have to wait one or more semesters after approved for reentry until a space becomes available at that level.
A work experience or work/study program for nursing students allows students to practice the skills they have mastered as students while working for pay in a clinical setting. This allows students to enhance skills while working and benefits the employer by providing an employee with a higher level of practice capability.
The work/study program was initiated in Fall 2002. A student may enroll in work/study each semester after the completion of NS10 until graduation. Students must work 225 hours for 3 units or 300 hours for 4 units. Shift, unit assignments and salary are determined by the employing agency.
This program has been approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and is available on a credit/no credit basis.
The Financial Aid office helps academically capable students by offering grants, loans and work-study employment to those with demonstrated financial need. Financial need is determined by comparing student resources (family contribution, student assets and student earnings) with the cost of attendance. Due to limitations in funding, financial assistance is not always able to fulfill all student needs, but efforts are made to help eligible students.
Students may receive an enrollment fee waiver from the Board of Governors (BOGW). Grants are awarded when exceptional financial need is demonstrated. They do not have to be repaid as long as the student fulfills requirements for eligibility. Loans allow students to defer costs by borrowing money and repaying it with interest after graduating or withdrawing from college. Work-study enables students to earn a portion of their financial aid through part-time employment. Scholarships are also available. They are specific gifts of money that do not need to be repaid.
The Medical Assistant programs are offered through the Business and Technology Division of Ventura College. Please call (805) 654-6342 for information about these programs and classes.
Certification as a nursing assistant is required of all students entering the ADN program. For those of you who may have experience that is equivalent to CNA certification, an optional challenge test is available to demonstrate that you have competence in these content areas. This test has both theory and clinical components. Applicants must complete the theory component with a score of 75% and must perform all critical elements of the clinical skill being tested within the given time period. Applicants can take the challenge test only once. Equivalent experience must be documented in writing and accompanied by letters from employers attesting to date and duration of job experience. Upon request, the required curriculum for the certified nursing assistant as outlined in Title 22 can be provided to assist you in determining if you have equivalent experience. You will need to pass the theory exam and provide evidence of equivalent experience before being scheduled for the clinical exam. There is no charge for the theory exam but the clinical exam requires payment of a $50.00 fee. Testing is offered twice each semester.
All entering students must have completed the Nursing Entrance Test (NET). This test helps evaluate reading comprehension, math skills, learning styles, stress level and other factors that may affect performance in nursing school. There is no minimum score that you must make on this exam and there is no way to study for it. This test is administered through the School of Nursing and has a fee, usually around $10. This test is offered twice each semester.
The NET test will provide feedback about skills necessary to be successful in nursing. Classes offered through the Educational Assistance Center may assist you in overcoming problem areas identified by the NET. For instance, LS V02: Reading Comprehension (actually called Improving Learning Potential), LS V03A: Study Skills, LS V03B: Test Taking, and LS V06: Critical Thinking, may provide additional skills in these particular areas.
All students entering a program in the School of Nursing and Allied Health are required to have certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for health care providers (American Heart Association) or professional rescuers (American Red Cross). You can contact local hospitals, the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross for information about classes. In addition, Ventura College offers CPR classes the week before school begins. Please consult the Schedule of Classes for HED V84, CPR for Professional Rescuers. Once a person has completed the initial CPR course, recertification courses are required annually or biannually.
Some confusion has existed regarding the need for recertification of CPR by those who have received a two-year card. Contracts with the various clinical facilities in which we place students absolutely require that annual proficiency be demonstrated. This is defined as successful demonstration of four fifteen-second cycles of resuscitation. To obtain verification of annual proficiency, attend a scheduled class at one of the hospitals or other facilities. Obtain the instructor's signature and date on the back of your current card. Present your card to our skills lab assistant.
For many years now, the ADN program has had a waiting list. This means that each semester we have more applicants than we can admit to the nursing program. Currently, the waiting list is approximately 1 to 1 1/2 years long. Each qualified applicant in an applicant pool is assigned a number by the use of random number tables. New applicants are added (in order determined by the random number tables) to the bottom of the existing waiting list.
The class is selected on the basis of available openings in the order determined by the random numbers assigned. Those qualified applicants who are not selected due to limited openings retain their names in the order assigned by the random tables on a waiting list. These applicants then have priority for admission to the next classes.
The School of Nursing sends a letter to each applicant after each random selection has been completed for the last applicant pool. We update the existing waiting list after each random selection, after the fall semester starts, and after the spring semester starts. We do not send applicants a letter to update their number. We accept 48 students in the spring and again in the fall. Each applicant can make a rough estimate by subtracting 48 until their number is within a group of 48. An applicant who has been on the list for a year or more is welcome to call us at 654-6342 for an update of their status. The Health Science counselors can also provide this information.
Applicants are also strongly advised to call us if they change their address or phone number. Applicants are withdrawn from the waiting list if their acceptance letter is returned because we do not have a current address or phone number. If this occurs, the applicant must reapply and become part of the next random number assignment. It is important that you call the School of Nursing as well as the Admissions and Records Office to update your address if a change has been made.
All ADN students will have some evening classes, including evening labs, at some time during the ADN program but it is not possible to complete the entire program in this format. During the clinical portion of the last half of the nursing program (NS 40B) students may be assigned to work weekends and any shift, including nights. There are no evening labs at this time for CNA or HHA.
At this time, no part-time programs are offered through the School of Nursing and Allied Health.
Before beginning clinical rotation in the certified nursing program, students must submit their fingerprints to the California Department of Health Services. Each student must receive clearance before he/she can complete the certification process. There are certain penal code convictions that will result in automatic denial or revocation of CNA and HHA certification. A copy of this list can be provided to you upon request.
Upon completion of the Associate Degree Nursing program, the graduate submits another set of fingerprints to the Board of Registered Nursing for licensure. Statutory authority for denial of licensure is set out in Business and Professions Code Sections 480-487, 492, 493, 496, 810, 820-828, 2750-2765 and 2795-2797.
The School of Nursing is currently working with the clinical agencies to determine a procedure for background checks that will meet hospital accreditation requirements. The Board may deny licensure on the basis of conviction of a crime substantially related to the practice of nursing, an act involving dishonesty, fraud or deceit with intent to substantially benefit self or another or to substantially injure another, making a false statement on the application for licensure and breach of examination security. The Board considers most convictions involving sex crimes, drug or alcohol crimes, and crimes of violence to be substantially related to nursing practice.
