Nursing Major: What It Includes, Classes and Careers

A Nursing major prepares you to assess, treat and educate patients as part of a healthcare team. Nursing programs combine science courses with supervised clinical experience in hospitals and other care settings.

A Nursing major includes coursework in anatomy and physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, health assessment, and medical-surgical nursing and more. You build skills such as patient assessment, medication administration, clinical judgment, and communication with patients and families. Programs often include clinical rotations. Typical degrees: practical nursing certificate, associate degree (ADN), bachelor's degree (BSN), and master's and doctoral degrees for advanced practice.

Typical courses include anatomy and physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, health assessment, medical-surgical nursing, pediatric, maternal and mental health nursing, and clinical rotations. Exact course names and requirements vary by college, and most degrees also include general education courses.

It depends on the level. Nursing is offered as certificate, associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards at U.S. colleges; certificates take from a few months to about two years, an associate degree usually takes about two years of full-time study, a bachelor’s degree usually takes about four years of full-time study, a master’s degree usually takes one to two years after a bachelor’s, and a doctoral or professional degree takes several more years beyond that. Part-time study takes longer.

Practical nursing certificate, associate degree (ADN), bachelor's degree (BSN), and master's and doctoral degrees for advanced practice. In the latest federal data, 1,150 colleges reported certificate awards, 1,137 colleges reported associate awards, 1,167 colleges reported bachelor’s awards, 630 colleges reported master’s awards, and 418 colleges reported doctoral awards.

Career paths connected to nursing include registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, certified nursing assistant, nurse practitioner, home health aide, nursing instructor, nurse anesthetist, and nurse midwife. Some roles need additional training, experience, certification or a license.

Examples include registered nurse (typical training: 2–4 years), licensed practical nurse (typical training: 12–18 months), certified nursing assistant (typical training: 4–12 weeks), nurse practitioner (typical training: 6–8 years including RN education), home health aide (typical training: 2–6 weeks), and nursing instructor (typical training: 6–8 years).

Nursing majors build skills such as patient assessment, medication administration, clinical judgment, communication with patients and families, infection control, and documentation in electronic health records.

Good pairings include Psychology (helps you understand patient behavior, mental health and how people cope with illness), Public Health (adds a community view of disease prevention that fits public health and school nursing), Healthcare Administration (builds management and policy knowledge for charge nurse and nurse manager roles), and Spanish (lets you communicate directly with Spanish-speaking patients and families).

Often, yes. Programs commonly include clinical rotations. Ask each college how its program arranges hands-on work.

It can be a good fit if you are interested in the work it leads to, such as registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, and certified nursing assistant, and enjoy subjects like anatomy and physiology and microbiology. No major guarantees a job, so compare the coursework, the careers and the education each career requires before deciding.

How hard it feels depends on your strengths. Core coursework includes anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and pharmacology; if those subjects interest you, the major is likely to feel more manageable. Reviewing a college’s course list and talking to current students helps you judge.

2,205 U.S. colleges reported awarding degrees or certificates in this field in the latest federal (IPEDS) data. Programs can have different names at different schools.

California (189), Texas (124), New York (113), Ohio (100), and Florida (99), based on the colleges that reported awards in this field.

1,788 of the colleges that offer nursing also report offering at least one program entirely online, though not necessarily this one. Use the college search with this major and “Offers fully online programs”, then confirm with the school.

Nursing prepares you to assess, treat and educate patients as part of a healthcare team. Healthcare Administration teaches you to manage the business side of hospitals, clinics and health systems. Nursing leads to careers such as registered nurse and licensed practical nurse, while Healthcare Administration leads to careers such as medical and health services manager and medical administrative assistant.

Nursing prepares you to assess, treat and educate patients as part of a healthcare team. Public Health studies how to prevent disease and improve the health of whole communities. Nursing leads to careers such as registered nurse and licensed practical nurse, while Public Health leads to careers such as health educator and community health worker.

Yes. Short online career training can help you understand a specific job and build practical knowledge alongside your classes. It does not replace your degree or any required license.

No. Career Education Institute is not a college and does not award degrees. It offers short, non-credit online trainings about jobs connected to nursing, such as Registered Nurse Training.