Nursing Community College of Philadelphia

The Department of Nursing offers three options for students applying to the nursing program.

Traditional Admission: Students are admitted once a year in September. This option offers the four nursing courses over two academic years – Fall/Spring, Fall/Spring. There are no nursing courses in the summer in this option. Students may be first-time college students or have had previous college experience.

Post Baccalaureate Accelerated Associate Degree Option: Students are admitted once a year in May (summer session). The four nursing courses are offered in Summer/Fall/Spring/Summer spanning a 14 month time period. This option is limited to only those students who have a bachelor's degree or higher in a non-nursing major and have met additional prerequisites.

Advanced Placement Option: Students are admitted once a year beginning with a noncredit transition course in the fall semester. The course focuses on bridging the information between the role of the Licensed Practical Nursing and the Registered Nurse. Students then join the Nursing 132 course in the spring semester and complete the sequence of three courses as stated in the Traditional option. Priority is given to LPN's and military medics for admission.

Upon successful completion, students receive credit for Prior Learning for Nursing 101.

The Nursing curriculum prepares students for beginning staff nurse positions in acute, long-term care and community-based facilities. Staff nurses plan, provide and evaluate nursing care for individual health maintenance or health promotion needs. Upon successful completion of the curriculum, students receive an Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree and are eligible to sit for the state licensure examination to become a registered nurse (R.N.).

Nursing students attend classes at the College. Selected clinical laboratory learning experiences under the guidance of nursing faculty are provided at a variety of health care agencies in Philadelphia. These experiences provide students with the opportunity to apply classroom learning in client care situations. The availability of learning experiences may necessitate evening or weekend clinical laboratory assignments for students.

Community College of Philadelphia was found in the year 1965. It is the largest public institution of the higher education in Philadelphia and the sixth largest in Pennsylvania with more than 70 degree and certificate programs. Many of the degree seeking students transfer to four-year institutions while others seek employment in the Philadelphia region. More than 90% of the students remain in the area and seek employment strengthening the local economy and workforce.