Tracks leading to Master of Science in Nursing:

 

RN to MSN

The RN to MSN Degree Option in the Division of Nursing enables students who are registered nurses without a BSN to obtain a MSN degree within one of four specialty areas: Nurse-Midwifery, Family Nurse Practitioner, Health Systems Management, and Psychiatric Mental-Health Nurse Practitioner. Students in the RN to MSN program take 13 credits of undergraduate nursing Bridge Courses and between 37-48 credits of graduate courses, depending on their specialty area. Graduates have the competencies taught in their chosen specialty and, for the Nurse-Midwifery and Family Nurse Practitioner specialties, are eligible to take the appropriate national certification exams.

Family Nurse Practitioner

The FNP Track is designed to provide the nurse with the necessary skills and knowledge to assume the role of a primary health care provider in a variety of clinical settings. Didactic and clinical course content focuses on assessment and management of health promotion and health maintenance strategies, risk reduction, common acute and chronic alterations in health status for individuals and families across the lifespan, and role development.

Health Systems Management

The Health Systems Management Track is designed to prepare graduates with advanced knowledge and skills to manage health care of populations in the evolving health care delivery system. Graduates have competency in population and epidemiological assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and the ability to apply evidence-based interventions and interdisciplinary care models to design, implement, and evaluate health care programs for the population. Practica are designed to develop expertise in evaluation of outcomes data for the selected population. A unique feature of this track is the ability of the student to focus on such areas as Education, Informatics, Advanced Clinician or an individualized course of study.

Nurse-Midwifery

The Nurse-Midwifery Track is designed to provide the student with the necessary skills and knowledge to assume the role of a certified nurse-midwife in a variety of clinical settings. Didactic and clinical course content focuses on role development, assessment and management of women's health —antepartal, intrapartal, postpartal and neonatal periods, as well as primary women's health —throughout the lifespan. Clinical experiences are in a wide variety of ambulatory and community rural and medically underserved health care settings appropriate to the Nurse-Midwifery track.

Endorsement in Nurse-Midwifery:

Midwifery Initiative

The Midwifery Initiative is a collaborative arrangement that the Nurse-Midwifery Track has with other schools of nursing to offer the option for the graduate nursing student attending those schools to complete the 19 credit hours of graduate nurse-midwifery courses form Shenandoah University as they are completing their graduate degree from their home school of nursing.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Pracitioner

The Division of Nursing offers a Psychiatric Mental-Health Practitioner (PMHNP) Track for both RNs who hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree and RNs without a BSN who may enter the RN-MSN degree option.