Applying to the Practical Nursing Program Advising and Application Information

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1 Applying to the Practical Nursing Program Advising and Application Information A student must first apply and be accepted to Riverland Community College. There is a separate application to apply to the Practical Nursing (PN) program. Admission to the program is competitive and is based on the Test of Essential Academic Skills V (TEAS V). The percentage from the Adjusted Individual Total Score for each applicant will be ranked highest to lowest until seats are filled. In the event that students have the same score for the last seats available, the TEAS Reading Adjusted Individual Score will be used to determine which students get the last seats. If there is still a tie breaker, the TEAS Science Adjusted Individual Score will be used next, and lastly if necessary, the TEAS Mathematics Adjusted Individual Score will be used. The TEAS V report will also include a category ranking Exemplary, Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Developmental. *Student must achieve a minimum of the BASIC category of the TEAS V exam to be eligible to apply to the nursing program. Developmental does not meet entrance criteria. Applicants are admitted on a yearly basis. The application window opens January 1 and the Application Deadline: April 25, The Program Application is posted on the Riverland Practical Nursing Webpage. Practical Nursing Application requirements: To apply to the Practical Nursing program students must do the following: First, if not already a Riverland student, apply and become accepted to Riverland Community College. o Applicants to Riverland must be in good academic and financial standing at all previously attended MnSCU institutions or college admission may be denied. Request official transcripts. Official transcripts from every non-mnscu institution attended must be sent to Riverland Community College, ATTN: Mary Kay Wilson, Student Services. MnSCU transcripts may be available via e-transcript. Transfer credits will be evaluated and sent to you along with a Degree Audit Report (DARS). If you have questions, please contact Mary Kay Wilson at or marykay.wilson@riverland.edu As part of the general college application process one must take the placement test, the Accuplacer. If you do not test into college level coursework, you must take the college prep courses indicated to prepare you for the rigor of the nursing program. All General Ed courses in the program require a minimum score of 63 in Reading or have taken ENGL If you do not test into college level Math, it is highly recommended that you take prep Math classes up through Math This will help prepare you for TEAS exam and the licensing exam /1 1 P a g e

2 Students must have completed HCNA 1200 Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aide and BIOL1030 Human Biology OR be enrolled in them Spring or Summer session at the time of application. In addition, accepted students must finish those courses with grades of C or better and have earned certification as a Nursing Assistant and be listed on a State NA Registry before starting the NURS nursing coursework in Fall semester. TEAS V - Register for and take the most current Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) standardized Test of Essential Academic Skills V (TEAS V) pre-nursing admission exam. A student should prepare well for the exam by using an ATI study manual, which can be purchased in a Riverland bookstore, online from the ATI Testing website, or borrowed from the Riverland library. A copy of the Score Report must be included with the PN program application. Each applicant will be ranked highest to lowest on the Adjusted Individual Total Score until seats are filled. In the event that students have the same score for the last seats available, the TEAS Reading Adjusted Individual Score will be used to determine which students get the last seats. If there is still a tie breaker, the TEAS Science Adjusted Individual Score will be used next, and lastly if necessary, the TEAS Mathematics Adjusted Individual Score. *Student must achieve a minimum of the BASIC category to be eligible to apply to the nursing program. Developmental does not meet entrance criteria. TEAS V information You may choose to sign up to take the TEAS V at the MANE Riverland Community College, Albert Lea Campus. Directions for signing up for the TEAS V can also be found on the nursing webpages. To sign up go to and click Register for TEAS in the bottom right hand corner of the page. You will need to fill out a registration page for the ATI site, including creating a User Name and Password for ATI. Read everything carefully. For Institution, choose Riverland CC PN. From there it will prompt you to either choose a city and state, or just choose Minnesota and select ALL and it will show all the schools that offer the TEAS V in Minnesota. All of the MANE schools are labeled with MANE at the end. Click Register next to the time, date and location. Continue reading and following the directions. You pay for the test online and you should receive confirmation via the address you gave. OR IF the MANE locations do not work for you, you may choose to sign up to take the TEAS V at a PSI location for a higher testing fee. There are many testing sites for this option, including sites in Rochester and Mankato, the Twin Cities and even in other states. If you choose this option, click on How to register for the TEAS TEST from our Nursing Homepage at Be sure to scroll down the page for all the directions. You will need to fill out a registration page for the ATI site, including creating a User Name and Password for ATI. For Institution, you will choose Riverland CC PN. Read everything carefully /1 2 P a g e

3 and continue to follow the directions. You will actually pay for the test before you choose the location and date. You should receive confirmation via the address you gave. **Remember to include your TEAS V score report with the nursing application even if the testing center will be sending results to the college. Complete the Practical Nursing Application Form (Download from PN webpage) and submit completed application with your TEAS V report to Marlene Wipplinger in the Austin West Building, or mail it to her attention to: Riverland Community College, th Ave NW, Austin, MN It must be delivered or postmarked by the April 25 deadline. It is recommended that the PN application be submitted prior to the deadline to allow the staff time to contact the applicant regarding any omissions. Applications will not be accepted if received or postmarked after the closing date. How will you find out if you have been accepted or not? Students will be notified by U.S. Mail of their status. Letters will go out mid-may. There are four possibilities: 1. Accepted means the student has met all requirements for application, has successfully completed BIOL1030, HCNA 1200 or equivalent, is on a State NA Registry, and is within the top scores of the number of seats available in the program. 2. Conditional Acceptance means the student has met all requirements for application, is registered for HCNA 1200 and/or BIOL1030 in Spring or Summer session and is within the top scores of the number of seats available in the program. The student must successfully complete HCNA 1200 and be on a State NA Registry and/or BIOL1030 before Fall semester starts to retain their seat in the class. If the student does not complete either course, or gets less than a C in either course, they will lose their seat in the Fall class, and that seat will be offered to the next person on the Wait List. 3. Waitlisted means the student has met all requirements for application, has completed OR is registered to take BIOL1030 and/or HCNA 1200 but is not within the top scores of the number of seats available in the program, but is among the next ten best scores. If an accepted student does not choose to take their seat, the next person on the waitlist will be offered the seat. The waitlist ends when Fall semester begins. A student on the Waitlist who does not get offered a seat this year is encouraged to meet with an Enrollment Advisor to discuss strategies to improve their chances for admission in future years. Appointments can be made by contacting the Call Center at or Due to confidential information, we are not allowed to inform the student of the number of waitlist applicants and where they rank on the list. Seats become open only when an accepted student denies the seat by submitting the denial form. This must happen before the seat can officially be offered to the waitlist applicant. The committee determines the wait list order by: a. Highest TEAS V Adjusted Individual Total Score b. Highest TEAS V Reading Adjusted Individual Score /1 3 P a g e

4 c. Highest TEAS V Science Adjusted Individual Score d. Highest TEAS V Mathematics Adjusted Individual Score 4. Denied means the student is not within the top scores of the number of seats available in the program, and/or they may NOT have met all requirements for application. Denied students may apply again for the next class the following year. Denied students are encouraged to meet with an Enrollment Advisor to discuss strategies to improve their chances for admission in future years. Appointments can be made by contacting the Call Center at or How to meet the Nursing Assistant Requirement Practical Nursing is a 39 credit diploma program at Riverland Community College. One of the course requirements of the program is the four-credit course HCNA1200 Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aide, passing the course with a grade of C or better. The student must also successfully pass the Nursing Assistant (NA) State Certification Examination to be placed on the MN Department of Health Nursing Assistant Registry. There are exceptions to this particular course requirement: 1. A student could meet the program requirement of being certified as a Nursing Assistant and on any state NA Registry by having taken an hour-based course, rather than a creditbased course. However, the applicant will be short 4 credits within the diploma program which requires a minimum of 39 credits. A student would need to make up those four credits by taking any combination of courses at the 1000 level or higher. In this event, it is highly suggested that students complete the HCNA 1200 course at Riverland to earn the 4 credits needed and will be in alignment with all students in the Practical Nursing Program. A student who is already certified and is active on any state NA Registry would not need to take the certification exam again. 2. A student who previously completed a 3 credit Nursing Assistant course that did not include the Home Health Aide component will be required to complete the 1 credit HCHH 1100 Home Health Aide course. Please contact Program Director, Carolyn Veldman at for further information on this course. Applicants must provide documentation showing proof of taking either a credit-based or hour-based Nursing Assistant course and of being currently active on any state NA Registry. This documentation must contain a valid date showing registry is active. If you are unsure of the proper documentation required, you may find a sample of the Verification of Registration form from the MN Department of Health-NA registry on the Practical Nursing webpage. If a student has taken a course in the past but is not currently listed on any state NA Registry, the Riverland Nursing Assistant Department does offer the Minnesota State Examination. For those who choose to challenge the test, please contact Program Director, Carolyn Veldman at for testing information. If it has been many years ago since the course was taken, however, it would be in your best interests to take the HCNA 1200 course. Students can access study materials for the state exam by visiting: /1 4 P a g e

5 The candidate handbook link is the skill study guide. The written exam link is a practice examination. Testing fees are as follows: $110 payable to Riverland & $64 payable to Pearson, VUE. Both payments must be separate money orders and paid in full prior to testing. If you have questions pertaining to the Minnesota Department of Health NA Registry, please call: (800) (within MN) or (651) Mandatory Nursing Orientation: Accepted nursing students are required to attend a mandatory nursing program orientation scheduled prior to the fall semester. Further information on dates and times are provided in the acceptance letter. During orientation students have an opportunity to meet their classmates, instructors, tour the lab and classrooms, purchase books and scrubs, review D2L and ATI, submit the required immunizations, CPR certification, and complete program policies and paperwork. CPR requirements for Nursing Students Nursing students are required to obtain and remain current with CPR certification for Health Professionals throughout their academic career. Proof of certification which will remain valid through the entire academic year (August May) must be turned in at the PN Nursing Program Orientation. American Heart Health Professional certification or Red Cross Professional Rescuer is the required standard for allied health and health science programs at Riverland Community College. *Note: Red Cross Adult only CPR will not be accepted. Immunizations Nursing students must provide a completed immunization form that includes proof of Measles (Rubeola), Mumps, Varicella Chicken Pox, and Rubella. Date of last Adult Td Booster, dates of a 2-step PPD, and dates of Hepatitis B vaccine. Students are not allowed on the clinical floor if they have not provided a completed immunization form. The Immunization form will be provided with the program acceptance letter with further instructions. It is imperative for students to follow the program requirements and due dates that will be included in the acceptance letter. Graduating with PN Diploma: An application for graduation must be completed and turned in by the due date in order to become eligible for a PN diploma. The graduation application due date can be found on the Riverland website under Graduation Services /1 5 P a g e