Nursing

(Also see Basic Nurse Assistant Training, Medical Assistant, and Person-Centered Elder Support)

The Nursing curriculum provides nursing education as well as general education, biological sciences and social and technological concepts.

Students who successfully complete the first year of the Associate Degree Nursing curriculum may select the option of enrolling in NUR 151. Upon completion of this course, students are eligible to apply to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses.

Students who successfully complete the second year of the curriculum are eligible to apply to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. Eligibility to sit for the licensure examination is determined by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulations of the State of Illinois.

Nursing courses are a combination of classroom, lab, and clinical experiences. Nursing classes are usually held on the Des Plaines campus, while clinical experience is offered in a variety of health care settings in the community. Students must provide their own transportation between the college campus and the clinical agencies.

This is a limited enrollment program. Contact the Enrollment Center for application dates and deadlines.

Minimum Requirements to be considered for Associate in Applied Science in Nursing Program Admission

1. High school graduation or High School Equivalency Certificate¹. Students with foreign college credit should request a catalog match.
2. ACT score of 18 or higher, or SAT score of 960 or higher, or 12 hours of college credit with a minimum grade point average of 2.5.
3. One year of high school chemistry with lab or equivalent college course completed within the last five years with a minimum grade of C.
4. Complete BIO 231 Human Anatomy and Physiology I or equivalent college course with lab, within the last five years with a minimum grade of C.
5. EGL 101 placement based on Oakton’s Writing Skills Assessment Test (WSAT), or completion of EGL 101.
6. HESI (Health Education Systems Incorporated) Admission Exam within the last two years: HESI cumulative score – minimum 75; HESI English composite score – minimum 80; HESI math score – minimum 75; and HESI science composite score – minimum 80. Students may take the HESI exam once every 6 months.
7. GPA 2.5 or higher.
8. Completion of a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program and pass the Illinois State Certification Exam.
9. Completion of MAT 070 or a higher level math course within the past two years or placement above MAT 070 within the past two years.
10. Foreign high school graduates or students with foreign college credits need to send English translated copies of their transcripts to Educational Perspectives, www.edperspective.org/oakton.

First year students who meet all minimum requirements are ranked for acceptance to the program.

¹

As of January 1, 2023, the High School Equivalency Certificate became the State of Illinois High School Diploma. High School Equivalency credentials received prior to that date remain valid.

Conditional Admission

Students meeting all other Nursing prerequisites but having lower than the specified scores on the Verbal section of the HESI Admission Assessment may be admitted as “conditional students” (priority is given to in-district students). Space is limited to 20 students. Additional requirements are: completion of BIO 231 and BIO 232. Students are admitted by ranking and required to complete an 8-week summer program prior to entry in the fall Nursing program.

All students admitted to the program must submit a current and complete physical examination and proof of medical insurance coverage. All students admitted to the program and advanced placement students must also document having a current CPR certificate.

All courses must be completed prior to or during the semesters indicated below. All NUR and science courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C.

Nursing students are required to complete a minimum of ten (10) service learning hours prior to the start of NUR 217. Students will not graduate without completing the service learning requirement. For more information, please refer to the Nursing Student Handbook or contact the department chair.

NUR 151, a five-credit-hour course offered during the summer session, must be completed by the student who enters the program with the intention of becoming a licensed practical nurse. It is required for students who entered as “conditional students” and is optional for other students in the program. The availability of NUR 151 is contingent upon sufficient enrollment for the course.

NUR 153, is required for LPNs seeking advance placement into the Nursing program.

Nursing students must take Nursing courses during prescribed semesters as Nursing courses build on each other. General education courses included in the Nursing curriculum may be taken prior to entering the Nursing Program.

• First semester: BIO 232, NUR 103, NUR 104, NUR 111, PSY 120
• Second semester: BIO 251, NUR 109, NUR 110, NUR 112, SOC 103
• Summer session: NUR 151 (optional). Note: Mandatory for conditional student
• Third semester: EGL 101, NUR 214, NUR 215
• Fourth semester: EGL 102 or SPE 103, NUR 216, NUR 217

Health Career curricula are governed by specific objectives, rules and regulations formulated by the College, accrediting bodies and participating clinical facilities. Students should familiarize themselves with these standards. Students should also be aware that failure to maintain satisfactory progress in technical courses may significantly delay completion of the curriculum or may result in the student being dropped from the curriculum. Each student’s right to participation in the clinical portion of the curriculum is also contingent upon compliance with the rules of the clinical facility. The clinical facility has sole discretion to determine when its rules have been violated.

Clinical placements require a health assessment, certain immunizations, yearly vaccines, substance abuse testing, criminal background check, specific skill certification (i.e., CPR/BLS) and health insurance. The requirements represent an additional cost to the student.

All Oakton College Health Career students in a program with a clinical component must have “clear” criminal background checks and drug screens in order to participate in any and all clinical components of any health career program courses.

To comply with state statutes and clinical affiliation agreements, and to provide a safe environment for students, employees, and patients cared for by students, those accepted into Oakton’s health career programs will be required to complete a criminal background check and drug screening through a company contracted by the College. Health Career students will be charged a fee for this service.

Timelines for completing criminal background checks and drug screens may vary among the various programs. Deadline dates for each program will be provided by the individual department chairs at the time of a student’s acceptance into a health career program.

Students without a clear criminal background check and/or clear drug screen will not be allowed to enroll in clinical practicum courses or attend clinical programs. This would further necessitate that the student withdraws from the health career program at that time.

Students who refuse a criminal background check and/or drug screen will not be considered “clear” and will not be authorized to participate in the clinical component of the health career program, necessitating withdrawal from the program at that time. Individual results of student background checks and drug screens are considered confidential.

Determination of whether or not a student can participate in the clinical component of a particular health career program will be communicated to the respective department chairs by the Background Check/Drug Screen vendor. Students may view their personal results on the vendor’s website.

Nursing Courses