The Harper College nursing program prepares students to provide quality care for clients
across their lifespans in a variety of health care settings.
Harper offers degree and certificate programs for students seeking immediate employment
in nursing, as well as an RN-to-BSN completion program for those who plan to transfer
to a four-year university.
Harper is home to a state-of-the-art nursing laboratory, where real-world procedures
and situations are simulated and practiced.
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It only takes 20 seconds to get started!
Earn a nursing degree
The Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree is designed to prepare you for immediate entry into this profession. Coursework
in the AAS may also prepare you to transfer to a four-year college or university.
This is a limited-enrollment program.
Prepare for a career in health care through a certificate program. Many of Harper's certificates are stackable to a degree program through
additional coursework.
Learn more about career outcomes related to Harper's nursing programs. Each career
profile offers a complete picture on the local job market, including salaries, open
positions, top local employers and more. To learn more, visit our Nursing Careers page.
Registered Nurses
Registered Nurses
* Data sampled April 2025. Visit the Registered Nurses career profile for most current data.
$85,001 Median Salary
3.2% Projected Job Growth (2025-2032)
8,359 Job Postings
Description:
Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans,
and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent,
or disabled patients. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention
or provide case management. Licensing or registration required.
Core tasks:
Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals,
nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May
work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required.
Core tasks:
Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as
adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood
pressure, pulse, or respiration.
Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts
on patients' charts.
Provide basic patient care or treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures,
dressing wounds, treating bedsores, giving enemas or douches, rubbing with alcohol,
massaging, or performing catheterizations.
Quick facts:
Nursing Assistants
Nursing Assistants
* Data sampled April 2025. Visit the Nursing Assistants career profile for most current data.
$41,459 Median Salary
2.9% Projected Job Growth (2025-2032)
710 Job Postings
Description:
Provide or assist with basic care or support under the direction of onsite licensed
nursing staff. Perform duties such as monitoring of health status, feeding, bathing,
dressing, grooming, toileting, or ambulation of patients in a health or nursing facility.
May include medication administration and other health-related tasks. Includes nursing
care attendants, nursing aides, and nursing attendants.
Core tasks:
Turn or reposition bedridden patients.
Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine
patients' needs.
Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink.
Measure and record food and liquid intake or urinary and fecal output, reporting changes
to medical or nursing staff.
For more information about starting your nursing education at Harper, please contact
Admissions Outreach at 847.925.6700 or fill out our request information form.
