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Assistant director of nursing education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an assistant director of nursing. Assistant directors of nursing usually study nursing, nursing science, or business. 47% of assistant directors of nursing hold a associate degree, and 35% hold an bachelor's degree. We analyzed 9,379 real assistant director of nursing resumes to see exactly what assistant director of nursing education sections show.

The most common colleges for assistant directors of nursing are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online assistant director of nursing courses to help get the education required to be an assistant director of nursing.

There are certain assistant director of nursing certifications that you should consider. These assistant director of nursing certifications include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and Wound Care Certified (WCC).

What education do you need to become an assistant director of nursing?

What degree do you need to be an assistant director of nursing?

The most common degree for assistant directors of nursing is associate degree, with 47% of assistant directors of nursing earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are bachelor's degree degree at 35% and bachelor's degree degree at 8%.
  • Associate, 47%
  • Bachelor's, 35%
  • Master's, 8%
  • Diploma, 6%
  • Other Degrees, 4%

What should I major in to become an assistant director of nursing?

You should major in nursing to become an assistant director of nursing. 83% of assistant directors of nursing major in nursing. Other common majors for an assistant director of nursing include nursing science and business.

Most common colleges for assistant directors of nursing

Assistant directors of nursing often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Excelsior College, and Walden University. Here are the most common colleges for assistant directors of nursing in the US based on their resumes.
Assistant director of nursing common collegePercentages
University of Phoenix21.75%
Excelsior College11.30%
Walden University6.24%
Grand Canyon University5.40%
New York University4.89%

Best majors for assistant directors of nursing

Best colleges for assistant directors of nursing

The best colleges for assistant directors of nursing are Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.

An assistant director of nursing with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for assistant directors of nursing. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become assistant directors of nursing.

1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. University of California, Irvine

Irvine, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$13,700

Enrollment

29,722

6. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

7. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

In-state tuition

$17,653

Enrollment

16,405

8. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

10. University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT • Private

In-state tuition

$15,730

Enrollment

18,830

20 best online courses for assistant directors of nursing

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1. Health for All Through Primary Health Care

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This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...

2. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

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This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

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4. Providing Trauma-Informed Care

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Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...

5. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course

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The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...

6. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

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Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

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Essential skills to manage intense emotions and develop a self-care practice to promote mental health...

9. Trauma Emergencies and Care

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Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

10. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

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Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

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Empower Your Life Coach Your Clients to Develop Self-Care, Self-Love, Boundary Setting and How to Say No...

12. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

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COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...

13. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

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Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

14. Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities

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A strong argument can be made that the health care field is one of the most information-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy and avoidance of the rapid advances in information technology is no longer an option. Consequently, the study of health care information technology and systems has become central to health care delivery effectiveness. This course covers the modern application of information technology that is critical to supporting the vision and operational knowledge of the health care...

15. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care

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In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...

16. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations

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Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...

17. Thinking About Care

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18. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

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This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

19. Introduction to Integrative Nursing

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20. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers

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COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...

Top 10 most affordable universities for assistant directors of nursing

The most affordable schools for assistant directors of nursing are University of Florida, baruch college of the city university of new york, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for assistant directors of nursing are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for assistant directors of nursing.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

5. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

6. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

7. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

8. Lehman College of the City University of New York

Bronx, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,210

Cost of attendance

14,359

9. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

10. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for assistant directors of nursing

The hardest universities for assistant directors of nursing to get into are Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.

Some great schools for assistant directors of nursing are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for assistant directors of nursing based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

Admissions rate

9%

SAT average

1,516

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

6. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

7. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,456

8. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

9. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,517

10. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for assistant directors of nursing

The easiest schools for assistant directors of nursing to get into are D'Youville College, mount saint mary's university, and barry university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an assistant director of nursing without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for assistant directors of nursing.

1. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

2. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

3. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

4. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

5. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

6. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

7. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

8. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

9. Marymount University

Arlington, VA • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,065

10. AdventHealth University

Orlando, FL • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,016

Average assistant director of nursing salary by education level

Assistant directors of nursing with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $106,720 annually. With a Master's degree, assistant directors of nursing earn a median annual income of $94,637 compared to $86,228 for assistant directors of nursing with an Bachelor's degree.
Assistant director of nursing education levelAssistant director of nursing salary
Master's Degree$94,637
Bachelor's Degree$86,228
Doctorate Degree$106,720
Some College/ Associate Degree$80,008

Assistant director of nursing education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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