There are a variety of nursing degrees and dozens of specialties within the career, but there are certain courses that all nurses are going to have to take at one point in their journey to becoming an RN. From basic life sciences to advanced clinicals, learn about the courses that most nursing programs require.

Prerequisite Courses

Before being admitted to a nursing program, students are usually required to take a series of prerequisites that can include biology, chemistry, anatomy, mathematics and English communication classes.

Prerequisites give prospective nursing students a strong foundation in the life sciences. It also allows students the chance to decide if they are suited to the nursing profession before they apply for admission to the degree program.

Here is what a student can expect to learn in each course:

• Biology: Introduction to biology and/or microbiology that includes study of bacteria, viruses and how they cause disease.
• Chemistry: Fundamentals of chemistry, organic chemistry and/or biochemistry and how it relates to human health.
• Anatomy: Covers the basics of human anatomy, including skeletal structure and the body’s other major life-sustaining systems (circulatory, digestive, nervous, respiratory, etc.)
• Mathematics: Depending on the school, students may have to take basic college algebra, statistics or both.
• English communication: An introductory writing course is usually required to develop written communication skills because writing is a key component in many nursing courses.

Orientation Courses

Once students have been accepted into a nursing program, they often start by taking a foundational course that introduces them to the profession. They learn what a nursing job entails and how they should conduct themselves as professionals.

These courses explain the history and theory of nursing and how it has changed over time. They also delve into the ethical and legal issues of health care.

Students also discover the many career options within nursing. This helps them identify if they want to pursue a specialty like oncology or prenatal. They learn about the myriad of institutions where they can work (i.e. hospitals, doctor’s offices, schools, etc.)

Common introductory nursing course titles:

• The Fundamentals of Nursing
• The Foundations of Caring
• Skills for Health Professionals
• Theory for Nursing Practice
• Professional Nurse Attributes

Diagnostics Courses

In these classes, students are taught to observe patients and detect signs of illness, track vital signs, and analyze patient history. They also learn the signs of emergency, such as heart attack or stroke. Students learn to take all this information into consideration when caring for a patient of any age, gender or race.

Diagnostic learning is often applied in a clinical setting. Nursing students may often refer to real-life scenarios from their clinical assignments and observation.

Diagnostic nursing course titles include the following:

• Foundational Nursing Assessment
• Assessment and Skill Development
• Nursing Concepts for Adult Health

Pharmacology

These courses give students an understanding of the drugs and medications they will use as nurses. Students will understand how drugs are classified and how they are used to treat patients. They will learn how to administer proper dosages, how to determine which drugs cannot be given simultaneously and how drugs may react with a patient’s preexisting conditions.

These courses often require extensive memorization of drug names and terms.

Pathophysiology

In these courses, students dive into the world of disease. They learn how the human body reacts to different types of disease, what medications are needed to treat disease, and how the body heals from disease. Students will learn how to detect disease in patients and decide how patients should be treated.

The course name is  as it sounds: Pathophysiology.

Medical-Surgical Courses

These courses are designed to teach students to treat patients hospitalized for any medical condition or surgery. Students learn how to provide general care for most patients admitted to the hospital. Advanced med-surg courses focus on caring for patients with severe conditions, such as patients admitted to the ICU.

These classes are generally labeled as medical-surgical.

Courses for Special Populations

Most nursing programs will require students to take upper-level courses that specialize in treating specific populations. The three most common populations are:

• Children (pediatric nursing)
• Pregnant women (maternity nursing)
• Patients with mental health disorders (mental health nursing)

Here, students learn skills specific to these groups. In maternity nursing, students learn about reproductive health and how to care for a woman before, during and after pregnancy. In pediatric nursing, students learn how children’s bodies differ from adults’ and how treatment should be modified.

Community Health Courses

Students learn to communicate effectively with diverse populations, focusing primarily on how to educate patients on ways to live healthier, cope with illness, and prevent disease. Students learn how to approach delicate situations and explain difficult information in ways that patients can understand.

Common titles for community health courses

• Health Promotion in Diverse Populations
• Public Health Nursing
• Population Health and Community Nursing
• Concepts for Community and Public Health

Clinicals

Many courses will require a clinical component in which students apply their knowledge in a real-world setting. Clinicals can be integrated into other courses. For example, a student may attend lectures for a med-surg course on Mondays and go to an ambulatory care center for clinicals on Wednesdays. Both components count toward the student’s grade for the same med-surg course.

Students can usually expect clinical assignments to fall within normal business hours, but some programs devote the last semester to a capstone course where students shadow an RN, meaning they must work the hours that the RN works whether they fall within normal business hours or not.

Licensing

After completing the nursing program, students must register for and pass the National Council Licensure Examination administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. There is fee associated with the exam. Some states may have additional requirements.

Tips for Success

Nursing school is hard work, but here are a few more strategies to stay ahead of the game:

• Assess your skills early. Nursing school is a big commitment. Students who don’t like math and science or can’t stand blood and urine shouldn’t apply to nursing school.
• Be patient. Getting in to nursing school can be competitive. Impacted schools often put students on wait lists and require that they pass entrance exams.
• Partner with classmates. Some nursing programs group same-year students into cohorts. While this can sometimes create competition, it can also create community. Study groups and friendships can help alleviate stress during crunch time.
• Jump right in. Students need to be comfortable with participating in class activities, group work and in a clinical setting. Don’t be afraid to raise a hand or volunteer.
• Hit the books. Nursing programs are academically rigorous. Students are expected to study textbooks, write papers and pass exams just as in most other majors.
• Stick with it. Nursing isn’t an easy program of study. There are times when the pressure is high, but hard work and dedication pay off. Nurses earn generous pay, have job security, and enjoy the pleasure of keeping people healthy.