Tips to choose the Best Nursing College
Are you a student who has completed school education and is seeking the Best Nursing College to become a nurse? Are you searching for the best nursing college in India so that you can have a good nursing career? You are at the right place to start the search. We have made it easier for you to identify the right college that you can join.
Here is a checklist that will help you to make sure if the college that you have selected is one of the best colleges or not.
Before checking out the facilities of the college you have shortlisted, you need to find if the college is recognized by the Indian Nursing Council. The list of undergraduate courses approved by the Nursing council is listed on their website.
Student checklist for choosing the best nursing college
1. INC Affiliation status:
Check if the college selected by you is affiliated to the Indian Nursing Council. You can check this from the website of the Indian Nursing Council. Remember some colleges may be advertising themselves as INC recognized, when they may not be actually recognized and this is why you should check the INC website. The INC updates its website every year. So, some colleges that were recognized in the year 2018 may not be recognized in the year 2019. So you have to check out the website each year.
2. Hospital attachment for clinical practice:
Check if the college selected by you is having a hospital attached to it, where you can practice your clinical skills. The hospital should preferably be a multi specialty hospital so that you will be able to gain experience in various specialties. Even if the college is not attached to a multi specialty hospital, the college authorities should be able to obtain affiliation with other hospitals for the nursing students to get clinical experience. Some of the best nursing colleges have their own hospitals. The other institutions send their students to the nearest multi specialty hospital for clinical exposure and practice.
3. Hostel facility :
Check if the college selected by you is having adequate hostel facilities. Safety in the hostels is very important. Along with the hostel, there should also be good mess / canteen facilities available for the students to obtain healthy and nutritious food. The hostel should also have adequate toilets in the same floors where the students are staying. As per the requirement of the INC, the hostel building should have separate hostels for boys and girls. The built up area for the hostel area should be about 20,000 square foot. The hostel block should have visitors rooms and should also have many other facilities as laid down in the INC guidelines to start a BSc Course.
4. Faculty:
Check if the college selected by you is having adequate faculty. The Indian nursing council is very specific that every college has enough experienced and qualified faculty. If there is not adequate faculty, the college is likely to be derecognized at the next inspection. It is usual to have one faculty for every 10 students. There should be faculty in all the different specialties of nursing. The Principal of the nursing college should have at least 1 years of experience after her post graduate qualification. The college should have a vice principal and also faculty in every nursing specialty. Also, there should be 1 clinical tutor for every 10 students studying in the college.
5. Lab facilities:
Check if the college selected by you is having adequate class rooms and other clinical lab facilities. The Indian Nursing Council specifies that there should be separate Anatomy labs, Nutrition lab, Community lab, Skill demonstration lab, Maternity lab and Pediatric lab. Each of these laboratories should have at least an area of 900 square foot for 40 students. If the number of students are more, the area should be proportionately higher. This is when the INC will consider the institution as the best nursing college for intake of students.
6. Academic block
The academic block of the best nursing college should be a minimum of 24,000 square feet. This is for a minimum student intake of 40. The academic block consists of faculty rooms, class rooms, laboratories, toilets, library and audio visual rooms. This is the most important block in the nursing college. If the institution has a post graduate course, the requirements will be higher.
7. Class rooms:
There should be enough space in the well furnished class rooms. Class rooms should also be adequate in number for the various courses and number of students. A minimum area of 1200 square foot area is needed in classrooms to accommodate 40 students. If the number of student intake by the college is more, the college should have a larger classroom.
8. Library facilities:
Check if the college selected by you is having a large library. According to the Indian Nursing Council, there should be at least 5000 nursing books in the library on various specialties. There should also be some journals in the library.Of the journals subscribed by the college, there should be a few national journals and there should be a few international journals. If these journals are not available in the college library as hard copies, the college should have subscribed to online journals.
9. Check if the college selected by you has regular classes for the students.
The Indian Nursing Council makes it mandatory for students to have a good curriculum transaction. There should be adequate classes every day all through the year. There should also be weekly or monthly assessment of student knowledge through tests. Other curricular activities like clinical postings and clinical exposure make the institution to be a best nursing college.
10. Teaching materials and AV aids:
Check if the college selected by you has got good audio visual aids. This is something that is easy for many colleges to exhibit. This is because all that the college needs to do is to buy these audio visual aids. So, you may usually find that most colleges have invested and obtained good audio visual aids. If the college does not even have these AV aids, you can be assured they the management is not interested in student education, but wants to use the money collected as fees for their benefit.
11. Job opportunities / Campus selection :
Good Jobs are the ultimate reason for most nurses to complete this course. Before you start college, you need to find out if the students who are studying in a particular college are all well placed in jobs. If students are not able to get good or even reasonable jobs, it is not worth studying in such a college. You would do well to search for some other college that has all the above facilities and also gives you a better chance of getting a high paid job. The Government of India has fixed allowances and pay for nurses that are available on the Ministry of Health and Family welfare website. This can be used as a guide by nurses to select jobs that they prefer.
12. Course that you prefer:
This is especially true for Masters students who are interested in a particular specialty. If you select a college, you need to check if that specialty is available in the college. Even for undergraduate nursing students, it is imperative to know if they can continue their post graduation education in that institution.
13.Auditorium:
The college should also have an auditorium and this is when it will be recognized by the statutory body. The auditorium should have an area of 3000 square foot. This auditorium is to be used for all cultural programmes held for the students.
Remember that when you start studying in the best nursing college, you will be spending the prime of your life in the college. You will also consider the college as your alma mater. So, it is worth the time and effort to select the best nursing college. Use the above checklist as a guide to help you identify the best nursing college where you can start your education.
Do you still have any doubts about selecting the best nursing college? Contact us to voice your queries and we will help you identify the right college where you have a good chance at getting kick started in a good job and career. We do have tie ups with various colleges around India that will help you get admission in a good, well established and recognized college.
You can also check your eligibility to know if you are eligible to study a particular nursing course – Nursing courses and their eligibility criteria.
Other aspects that you need to check before selecting the best nursing college
1. Location: If you prefer to study and live in a city, then select a college that is located in a city. If you prefer to study in a small town or village, select a college in such a location.
2. Specialty: You may want to specialize in a particular field when you study your post graduation. If you have already planned on a specialty, you can select the best nursing college that has the specialty.
3. Class size and college size: Select the best nursing college that has a small class. On the other hand, the size of the college should be large as such a college will have more facilities.
If you have shortlisted a college, you need to get prepared for the interview process. Read on to know more about the interview questions for nurses in this article:Common admission interview questions for nurses.
