ADN programs in Wyoming prepare you to take the NCLEX-RN, attain your RN license, and start earning a good salary faster than a four-year bachelor’s program will do. Most associate degrees in nursing in the Cowboy State take only two years or less to complete! You’ll spend less on tuition, and as a registered nurse in Wyoming with an associate degree in nursing, your average salary will amount to $81,010 annually. Your job prospects will be solid: Experts project that employment opportunities for ADN-educated RNs in the Cowboy State will increase by 11 percent within the next 10 years. Find out more by reading the list below of the 6 best ADN programs in Wyoming.
Based on our Ranking Methodology, the following are the 6 best nursing schools for ADN programs in Wyoming. You can complete most of these programs in 2 years.
Program Details: Central Wyoming College prides itself on its student-centric approach to teaching nursing fundamentals. You can enroll in this ADN program in Wyoming and take classes on the Riverton campus or sit in on classes via videoconferencing at the college’s outreach site in Jackson. Some lecture coursework and simulation skills labs may be delivered online using the Canvas Learning Management System.
The program’s 66-credit curriculum includes core nursing coursework like “Professional Nursing Care in Health Promotion,” “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Chronic Illness,” and “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Complex Illness.” Each “Professional Nursing Care” course is accompanied by a complementary pharmacology class.
High-fidelity simulation learning exercises are integrated throughout the program, and clinical rotations begin in your first semester of core nursing classes. In the final semester of the program, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a preceptorship under the guidance of a working registered nurse at a healthcare facility in Riverton, Jackson, or one of the surrounding communities.
Why Choose This Program
• Central Wyoming College offers an LPN-to-RN program in which licensed practical nurses receive advanced placement into the traditional ADN program.Program Details: Western Wyoming Community College offers a synchronous online option for the classroom portion of its 2-year nursing program in Wyoming. However, students are still expected to travel to campus to learn and practice skills in the college’s nursing simulation lab. Students will also be expected to travel to clinical location sites, which are healthcare facilities throughout Rock Springs and other communities in Sweetwater County.
It will take you two semesters to complete the prerequisites before you enroll in this program and another four semesters to complete core nursing coursework. Core nursing coursework includes classes like “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Chronic Illness,” “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Acute Illness,” and “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Complex Illness.” The entire program requires 65 credits. Forty students are admitted into this program each fall.
Why Choose This Program
• Western Wyoming Community College is one of the ADN programs in Wyoming that offers LPN applicants advanced placement into the second year of its traditional associate nursing degree program.Program Details: To attend Casper College’s ADN program in Wyoming, you must hold certification as a nurse’s aide and apply separately to the college and the nursing program. This ADN track admits 16 new students in both the spring and fall semesters.
Your curriculum will comprise 68 credits, including general education, prerequisite, and core nursing courses. You’ll take classes like “Professional Nursing Care in Health Promotion,” “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Chronic Illness,” and “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient with Complex Illness.” Although this ADN program is taught on campus, the college utilizes the Internet to distribute many of its educational materials. You’ll be taught hands-on skills in Casper College’s high-tech Health Science Simulation Center, which replicates many of the practice settings you’ll find in real life. You’ll also participate in clinical rotations and preceptorships throughout Casper and adjacent communities while you’re completing the core nursing curriculum.
Why Choose This Program
• Casper College offers advanced placement to LPNs who enter this ADN program.Program Details: Northern Wyoming Community College District offers its 2-year RN program in Wyoming at Sheridan College and at its branch in Gillette. To earn your associate degree in nursing, you’ll need to take 15 credits of prerequisites and 53 credits of core nursing courses. Core nursing courses include “Nursing Care in Health Promotion,” “Nursing Care of the Patient with Chronic Illness,” and “Nursing Care in Complex Illness.”
Skills labs and clinical experiences are integrated into this program from the very beginning. You’ll hone your bedside skills in the district’s Simulation Center, which includes a replica of a six-bed clinic and two high-fidelity manikins. Clinical rotations are scheduled at hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout Sheridan and Johnson Counties, including Sheridan Memorial Hospital and the Sheridan Veterans Affairs Health Care System.
Why Choose This Program
• This may be one of the best ADN programs in Wyoming for students who need to work while they’re in school because, at the end of the first two semesters, you’ll have the option to earn a practical nursing certificate, which will qualify you to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam.Program Details: 32 to 40 students are admitted into Laramie County College’s ADN program in Wyoming twice a year: in the fall and spring. The nursing program is only available at the college’s campus in Cheyenne, not in the city of Laramie. The intensive 70-credit curriculum includes courses like “Professional Nursing Care in Health Promotion,” “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient With Chronic Illness,” and “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient With Complex Illness,” and you’ll begin participating in clinical experiences during your first semester.
The practice settings where you’ll be doing your clinical rotations range from acute care centers in hospitals to long-term care facilities, and they may be as far as 60 miles from Cheyenne. The college has a simulation lab equipped with manikins where you can practice the hands-on skills you’ll need when you begin providing direct patient care.
Why Choose This Program
• At the end of your second semester, you can attain an LPN Certificate of Completion and sit for the NCLEX-PN examination.Program Details: Northwest College offers its ADN program in Wyoming as a hybrid option and a classroom option. Students who want to access their nursing theory coursework online must apply to its associate nursing degree program for fall admission; students opting for a more traditional campus experience are advised to apply for spring admission. Both cohorts must be physically present at the college’s campus in Powell or its instructional site in Cody, however, for skills labs and simulation exercises and at healthcare sites throughout the area for clinical experiences.
Nursing theory coursework includes classes like “Professional Nursing Care in Health Promotion,” “Professional Nursing Care of the Patient With Complex Illness,” and “Nursing Pharmacology I, II, & III.” In both Powell and Cody, simulation facilities where students can learn and practice basic nursing skills are available. In their fourth semester, students will participate in a guided experience where they will work under the supervision of an assigned nurse preceptor to help complete required patient care responsibilities.
Why Choose This Program
• After successfully completing the first two semesters of this ADN program, you’ll be eligible to apply to take the NCLEX-PN exam.