Before you can begin a career as a CNO, you will need to satisfy a few educational requirements. First, you’ll need a qualifying bachelor’s degree in nursing or healthcare, where you’ll learn the basics of patient care, medical assessment practices, and diagnostic evaluation. It’s ideal for a chief nursing officer to have worked as an RN before they pursue this next level of their career. If you’re a current RN pursuing this bachelor’s degree in nursing, a tailored RN-to-BSN degree program helps you take steps toward an improved education, one that can yield real dividends in a healthcare organization.
After earning a bachelor’s degree and working as a nurse or in another healthcare role, you’ll need to continue your education with a Master of Science Nursing Leadership and Management degree. For those that are current nurses that need both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, an RN to MSN bridge program can help you earn both of the degrees you need at one time. An MSN program focused on leadership and management allows you to further hone your skills in nurse leadership, healthcare management, and global health trends — all skills that are useful when fulfilling a chief nursing officer position.