This program is accredited by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning with Full Accreditation and by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc., 3343 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 850, Atlanta, GA, 30326, 1-404-975-5000, www.acenursing.org (continuing accreditation with a revisit in eight years, scheduled for 2026).

Legal limitations for licensure as a registered nurse:
Information related to applying for licensure to practice as a registered nurse, upon completion of the Associate Degree Nursing Program, is contained in the Mississippi Nursing Practice Law and Rules and Regulations. Graduates must apply to the Mississippi Board of Nursing to write the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN®). Applicants to the Associate Degree Nursing Program should be aware of the following restriction regarding who may qualify to write the NCLEX-RN®:

“The Board may, in its discretion, refuse to accept the application of any person who has been convicted of a criminal offense under any provision of Title 97 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as now or hereafter amended, or any provision of this chapter.”* *Mississippi Nursing Practice Law Mississippi Law now requires health care professionals or Workforce Education students enrolled in programs whose primary purpose is to prepare professionals to render patient care services to submit to criminal background checks and fingerprinting prior to beginning any clinical rotation in a licensed health care entity. If such fingerprinting or criminal background check of the student discloses a felony conviction, guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere to a felony of possession or sale of drugs, murder, manslaughter, armed robbery, rape, sexual battery, sex offense listed in Section 45-33-23 (g), child abuse, arson, grand larceny, burglary, gratification of lust, aggravated assault or felonious abuse and/or battery of a vulnerable adult which has not been reversed on appeal or for which a pardon has not been granted, the student shall not be eligible to be admitted to such health program of study, nor will he/she be eligible to participate in clinical training in a licensed entity. In addition, clinical affiliates have identified “other exclusions” or other criminal offenses that will preclude a student from participating in the clinical practicum. The student’s eligibility to participate in the clinical training phase of his/her health care program shall be voided if the student receives a disqualifying criminal record check; therefore, the student will be dismissed from the nursing program.

If a student currently enrolled in the Nursing Program is prohibited from participating in clinical experiences by any clinical affiliate of Meridian Community College (e.g., positive drug screen, gregarious behavior, violation of patient safety, non-compliance with the College’s “Student Behavior Code,” etc.), then the student will be dismissed from the program of study. The student is not eligible for program readmission until the clinical restriction is removed.