The Associate Degree Nursing curriculum provides knowledge, skills, and strategies to integrate safety and quality into nursing care, to practice in a dynamic environment, and to meet individual needs which impact health, quality of life, and achievement of potential.

Coursework includes and builds upon the domains of healthcare, nursing practice, and the holistic individual. Content emphasizes the nurse as a member of the interdisciplinary team providing safe, individualized care while employing evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics.

Graduates of this program are eligible to apply to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). Employment opportunities are vast within the global healthcare system and may include positions within acute, chronic, extended, industrial, and community healthcare facilities.

Admission Procedure for Advanced Placement Licensed Practical Nurse

The college has designed a Nursing Transition plan for Licensed Practical Nurses who desire to enter the Associate Degree Nursing program with advanced standing. Applicants must meet the admission requirements outlined below. After acceptance into the Associate Degree Nursing program, students will enroll in NUR-214 Nursing Transition Concepts.

Admittance to the nursing program follows the policies established by the nursing faculty and approved by the administration. The college does not guarantee admission to all students who apply to the nursing program. Admission is competitive and relies on a points-based ranking system. Completion of the nursing program does not guarantee success in passing the licensure exam.

A nursing student must be admitted/readmitted to the nursing program to receive credit for any nursing (NUR) course. Students may take curriculum courses other than NUR courses before admission to the program or after entry in the sequence offered. Applicants must complete the following courses before admission: BIO-168, BIO-169, ENG-111, DMA 010-050 or MAT-003, and PSY-150.

Nursing students are assigned clinical rotations with area healthcare agencies. Students must meet employee health standards and the criminal background and drug screening requirements of the agencies at the student’s expense at any time after admission to the program.

The nursing applicant is required to meet steps I-IV before enrollment in the spring semester. Students must complete each step of the application process before advancing to the next.

STEP I:  APPLICATION PROCESS

• Complete a Nursing Information Session between September 1, and February 28.
• Submit all by February 1:
  • An online ECC application for admission.
  • Official high school transcripts or equivalencies.
  • A partial transcript if currently enrolled in high school. Students must submit a final transcript at the time of graduation.
  • Official transcripts from all colleges attended.
  • A PN Program transcript.
  • An ADN Program application after attending the Nursing Information Session (attendance required every year a student applies to the program).
  • ATI/TEAS score (s) to Student Services. If testing occurred at a site other than ECC test results are delivered to the College through official means by the agency that administered the test. Contact atitesting.com or (800) 667-7531.

STEP II:  RANKING

• Take the Test of Essential Academic Skills (ATI/TEAS) before the application deadline.
• ATI/TEAS scores must meet the following criteria to be eligible for ranking:
  • A minimum overall score of 62%.
  • Testing occurred within the 5 years before the February 1 application deadline
  • The student has released the scores to ECC with ATI if testing occurred at a site other than at ECC OR the scores are officially delivered to ECC by the school where the student tested.
  • The applicant must take all four sections of the ATI/TEAS test.
• ATI/TEAS may be taken up to twice in an academic year, at least 28 days apart.
• The college will use the highest of up to two ATI/TEAS scores for ranking.

STEP III:  CONDITIONAL RANKING

• Students who score a 62% on the ATI/TEAS will be competitively ranked.
• Points from the ATI/TEAS score and from the GPA on all ECC ADN nursing curriculum general education courses the student has completed from all colleges, including classes with grades below a “C,” are included in the calculation. The ranking GPA also consists of all curriculum courses the student has completed more than once.
• The highest-ranking applicants will receive a letter of conditional acceptance.
• Students must accept or reject the seat in writing to the Nursing Admissions Counselor.
• The college will mail a waiting list letter to the remaining eligible applicants.
• Students will continue to be accepted from the waiting list until the program is full.

STEP IV:  FINAL ACCEPTANCE

• After accepting a nursing seat, the student must meet the following requirements to be fully accepted:
  • Successfully complete with a “C” or better ACA-122, BIO-275, ENG-112, PSY-241, and the Humanities/Fine Arts Elective.
  • Students should be MAT “ready” in order to enter the Nursing program. For clarification, students must be eligible to take MAT-110 with or without the RISE co-requisite by the program start date.
  • Hold unencumbered license to practice as an LPN in NC.
  • Attend a mandatory Nursing Orientation session.
  • Submit a completed medical form provided by the college, including required immunizations, performed within a 12-month time frame by the required deadline.
  • Submit evidence of current (within the last year) CPR certification by the American Heart Association at the healthcare provider level.
  • Demonstrate a 2.5 GPA on all ECC ADN curriculum general education courses that have been completed up to the point of enrollment in the program. The college will use the highest grade on all completed courses from all colleges in this calculation, including classes with less than a grade of “C.”
  • Submit a criminal background check and a drug screen by the required deadline.
  • Failure to meet deadlines will result in the withdrawal of acceptance status.