Nursing

El Camino’s nursing degree programs set you on track to becoming a registered nurse immediately after graduation or continuing your education at another college or university. They’re accessible, affordable paths to a rewarding, in-demand career.

Important Nursing Application Information

This program has additional application steps and requirements. For more information, please visit the Nursing webpage.

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Nursing Program Webpage

Application

Entrance Requirements

Our Nursing Associate of Science (AS) degree typically takes two years, plus a year to complete prerequisites. Enroll at El Camino as a pre-nursing student, then apply to the program.

Nursing education at El Camino will challenge you to be your best. We’ll be here to help.

Choose a Degree Designed for Nursing Practice or Transfer

Most El Camino nursing students want to start their careers as soon as possible. Others aim to continue their education at a four-year college or university. We offer options perfect for either goal.

Degree

Approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, this degree prepares you to take the nursing licensure exam and begin practice as a registered nurse. It’s the best option if you want to study nursing at El Camino then start taking care of patients right away.

• Discover nursing concepts, build fundamental skills, and practice them in real-world settings with emphasis on critical thinking and creative problem-solving.
• Prepare to treat everything from simple health problems to complex diseases in patients of every age.
• Take nursing courses in fields like pharmacology, obstetrics, pediatrics, and medical-surgical techniques, plus psychology, sociology, communication, and more.
• Develop the collaborative spirit, compassion, and curiosity essential to a nursing career.
• Special options for students with military or health care experience—including licensed vocational/practical nurses and psychiatric technicians—or students transferring from other nursing programs.

This degree prepares you for transfer to an undergraduate nursing program at another college or university. It’s an option if you want to complete nursing prerequisites, transfer to earn a bachelor’s degree, and then start work.

• Build a foundation in biological, physical, and social sciences, plus communication skills.
• Meet most common transfer requirements.
• Customize courses to meet additional requirements for specific college/university programs.
• Start your journey toward a bachelor’s degree, nursing practice, and even graduate study.

Pursue an Entry-Level Nursing Job or Further Education

As an El Camino nursing graduate, you’ll be ready to start work as a registered nurse (RN) immediately or to pursue a bachelor’s degree at another school. We’ll help you build the scientific knowledge and hands-on skills for any career you choose.

• Work in clinics, hospitals, or other settings in specialties ranging from pediatrics to intensive care to oncology and beyond.
• Learn to lead, teach, advise, and advocate—critical skills for professional advancement.
• Graduate knowing that despite shifts in the job market, an aging population means ongoing demand for nursing professionals.
• Take your education further to become a clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, or nurse educator.
• Median salaries for licensed graduates of nursing programs range from $99,000 for RNs to $127,000 for nurse practitioners to $200,000 for nurse anesthetists.

Build Your Nursing Network Beyond the Classroom

As an El Camino nursing student, you become part of a professional community. The perspectives and connections you develop here will prove valuable throughout your nursing career.

• Apply for membership with the National Student Nurses’ Association/California Nurse Student Association—they offer mentoring, outreach, and leadership opportunities and are great resume builders.
• Seek certification as a nursing assistant after just one semester in the program.

Meta-Major

Find related programs, support, career info and more.

Division Page

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Connect with Faculty

Find out how to get in touch with the faculty members.

Interior Accordion White Rows Title Content Accreditation

Effective May 12, 2022, this nursing program is a candidate for initial accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. This candidacy status expires on May 12, 2024.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326
(404) 975-5000
http://www.acenursing.com/candidates/candidacy.asp

Enrollment in the nursing program is open to persons regardless of sex, age, marital status, disability, ethnic group, religion or national origin. Persons with previous nursing education and/or experience may be considered for advanced placement and will be evaluated on an individual basis.

The program is a two-year (four-semester) program as long as the student stays on track. Graduates of the program are eligible to take the California State Board licensure exam for Registered Nurses.

The NCLEX pass rates for our graduates are consistently above the state and national average.

Quick Links

• Information Sessions
• Nursing Program Application

The nursing program consists of the generic program, the Advanced Placement program (LVN-RN), and the 30-unit option program. Individuals entering the program as an entry level nursing student are admitted into the generic program.

The Advanced Placement track is available for individuals with a current California License Vocational Nurses (LVNs) license. Individuals eligible for admission consideration are admitted into the Upward Mobility track (LVN to RN).

The program also offers the 30-unit option track, a non-degree track. Individuals interested in exploring admission to this track of the nursing program should contact the nursing director. Additional information for either of these programs can be found under the program tabs to the left.

Nursing Student Handbook

Quick Links

• Advanced Standing
• 30-Unit Option
• Degree Overview
• Courses Offered

PREREQUISITES TO THE NURSING PROGRAM

• English 1A – Reading and Composition or English 1AH – Honors Reading and Composition with a grade of C or better
• Math 150 Statistics or equivalent with a minimum grade of C or better
• Anatomy 32 and Physiology 31*
• or Anatomy and Physiology 34A and 34B*
• Microbiology 33*
• MEDT 1 – Medical Terminology I
• Psychology 116 – Lifespan Development
• Nursing 143 Introduction to Nursing
• Nursing 144 Dosage Calculation
• Nursing 146 Health Assessment- taken once admitted to the program

• *Students must have a GPA of 2.5 or better in the prerequisite science courses. All these science courses must include labs. To gain admission into the program students can only repeat ONE substandard grade in the basic science prerequisites. All science courses must be completed within seven (7) years of the application-filing period. For any course in which a grade of “C” or better was earned, the FIRST grade will be used. % see catalog for prerequisite details and chemistry 4, 20, or 21A or chemistry placement test is a required prerequisite.

COREQUISITES FROM THE GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

• English 1C, 1CH, (Note: students may substitute any of the following courses to meet the English 1C requirement – Philosophy 105, 105H, 106, Psychology 103, 103H, or Communication Studies 120)
• Communication Studies 100 (Note: any 3-unit course from Communication Studies 120, 130, or 140 may be substituted for Communication Studies 100
• Psychology 101 or 101H
• Sociology 101, 101H or Anthropology 2
• Humanities: Any 3-unit course from area 3 of the A. S. Degree requirements

Listed below are courses that may be used to substitute for Psychology 116 - Life Span Development.

• Introduction to Developmental Psychology
  Topics include a variety of issues associated with developmental psychology, such as intelligence and personality, as well as social, emotional and cognitive development. Students often examine these issues in age groups ranging from infancy to advanced adulthood.
• Infant, Child and Adolescent Development
  These age groups can be addressed together as one course or in several courses that treat each group separately. Instruction in infant development examines topics such as learning, perception and personality. Issues of childhood development often include biological, social and familial influences on language, learning and emotional expression. Adolescent development topics can include social cognition, peer group relationships and the transition from childhood to adulthood.
• Issues of Adulthood and Aging
  Students examine the changing roles adults experience in their family, workplace and social groups as they reach middle age and as they proceed on to an advanced age. A course in gerontology can be offered separately to address issues specific to the elderly, such as changes in health and levels of self-sufficiency. These intermediate-level courses focus on the psychological effects these changes have during these later periods in life.
• Theories of Lifespan Development
  Instruction in current developmental psychology theories often includes an examination of how such theories have changed over time. This course is usually offered near the end of a student's studies. Students often discuss issues such as gender, cultural influences, nature vs. nurture and sexuality, as well as the effects of major life events on a person's psychological development and how these issues factor into lifespan development research.

Since many lifespan development programs focus on research career tracks, students often take a psychology course called “Research, Statistics and Analysis.” This course focus is in research methodology, which include instruction in statistical analysis and experiment design.

Research instruction also often addresses experiment parameters, such as determining the number of experiment participants, as well as factors that affect the final analysis of the experiment's outcome, such as variance and validity. This course does not meet the requirement to substitute for Lifespan Development focus or rigor and does not meet the nursing program requirement.

El Camino College Nursing Program NCLEX Success Rate

Nursing Program Completion

Information regarding the ECC Nursing students’ completion, success, and employment rates is found here.

The Nursing Department is located in the Math, Business and Allied Health (MBA) Building room 417.

The MBA Building is located directly behind the Police Department on the corner of Crenshaw and Redondo Beach.

Additional Information about Nursing Program

Admission to the program is based on a multi-criteria selection process after successful completion of the program prerequisites. For additional information regarding admission to the program, visit the Application Process.

The expenses for the first semester nursing student average $5000 or more.

Students in need of financial assistance should immediately contact the college Financial Aid Office at 310-660-3493 located in the Student Services Building room 248.

Scholarship information from various agencies, companies, etc., will be available for nursing students once admitted to the program.

The entire program expense is approximately $8000.

At the completion of the program, the cost for the Board of Registered Nursing application, licensure exam, interim permit, and Live Scan is approximately $500 or more.

Students enrolled in the ECC Nursing Program are required to undergo a physical exam prior to entering the first clinical course in the program and then annually while enrolled in the nursing program. Health examination forms are available in the Nursing Department Office. The purpose of this examination, by a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant, is to verify that the student is in a state of mental and physical health compatible with the responsibilities of nursing practice.

The physical examination requirements consists of:

• health history
• physical examination
• lab work (CBC and urinalysis)
• immunizations (copy of immunization record should be submitted)

This requirement must be updated before progression to the second year of the nursing program. Student must provide evidence of immunity by submitting titers results for the following immunizations:

Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella titers Evidence of immunization for hepatitis B (a series of three vaccines regimen) as well as evidence of immunity (titer). 2-step Tuberculous Skin Test (TST) OR QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT) or Interferon-Gamma elease Assays (IGRAs) blood test ANNUALLY

Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis (whooping cough)Tdap is given only once during your lifetime; a booster shot of the Td vaccine every 10 years is required thereafter.

• Influenza (flu) vaccine is an ANNUAL requirement during the flu season (September through March).

Students admitted into the nursing program are required to complete a Background Check and Drug screen upon entrance into the program and each semester thereafter.

The Joint Commission requires any health care facility that requires health care providers, students, and volunteers involved in patient care to complete a criminal background check prior to conducting patient care.

Students are required to sign a consent form each semester to release information related to the drug screen and background check.

Students arrested while enrolled in the nursing program are considered to have an open criminal court case. Individuals known as child, spouse or elder abuser, or known drug dealers will not be allowed to enroll in the nursing program.

Students convicted of a misdemeanor or felony are required to disclose this information to the Director of Nursing or the Director’s designee prior to acceptance to the nursing program as well as on the application to take the RN licensure exam. A conviction may affect eligibility for admission as well as the ability to take the NCLEX-RN exam. Students who have concerns about these circumstances should contact the Board of Registered Nursing (916-322-3350) or www.rn.ca.gov before starting the nursing program.

The California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) protects the public by screening applicants for licensure in order to identify potentially unsafe practitioners. The BRN may deny applications for permanent licensure, interim permits, and temporary licenses if the applicant has been found guilty of dishonesty; fraud or deceit; felony; child abuse; sex offender crimes; acts involving narcotics; dangerous drugs or devices; assault and/or battery; and other crimes.

Applicants who have questions regarding limitations related to licensure should contact the California Board of Registered Nursing. Applicants are advised to explore other career opportunities prior to investing substantial time in a nursing program if it appears that a prior serious act or conviction may jeopardize licensure.

The California Board of Registered Nursing is located at 1747 North Market Boulevard, Suite 150, Sacramento, CA 95834.

National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA) | California Nurse Student Association (CNSA)

NSNA/CNSA is your professional membership organization that connects you with opportunities to develop leadership roles, network with future and current nurse leaders at the state and national conventions, and help with student mentoring, scholarship fundraising, and community outreach.

Current and potential nursing students are encouraged to apply to become a member of this great organization. It is a nice resume builder and places you one-step ahead of a successful career as a nurse!

Your membership connects you with students and professionals who share your vision and who are shaping the future of nursing. The membership will also give you access to professional role models, as well as a wealth of benefits and opportunities to network and plan your career.

Questions? Contact Us

El Camino College Nursing Department

Math, Business and Allied Health (MBA) Building, Room 417