Since 1958, the North Carolina Association of Nursing Students (NCANS) has served as the statewide professionalizing vehicle of North Carolina nursing students. Conceived as a student branch of the North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA), NCANS has historically worked with and continues currently to work with NCNA to aid nursing students in making the important transition from students to licensed nurses.
Through the guidance of NCNA mentors and individual talents of NCANS board members, NCANS supports NSNA-affiliated organizations at NC nursing schools in addressing issues such as improving and diversifying student recruitment. Additionally, NCANS connects individual members with valuable information and professional opportunities. Through NCNA and our legislative director, NCANS keeps a pulse on political happenings in Raleigh that directly impact health care laws in North Carolina. NCANS also hosts an annual winter conference that allows nursing students to learn more about the latest health care issues; meet with potential employers of new nursing school graduates; and participate in mini-NCLEX review sessions.
NCANS is the state affiliate of the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA). Nursing students in North Carolina who belong to NSNA are automatically members of NCANS.
NCANS Bylaws (revised Jan. 2018)
Mission
The purpose of NCANS is:
- To assume responsibility for contributing to nursing education in order to provide for the highest quality health care
- To provide programs representative of the fundamental and current professional interest and concerns
- To aid in the development of the nursing student, their professional role, and their responsibility for the health care of people in all walks of life, and
- To represent nursing to the health care consumer, healthcare institutions, and to the public-at-large.