Offered Online Only
The Master of Science in Nursing Education program promotes the application of didactic course content to the role of the nurse educator within academia and other educational venues. The program consists of 36 credits of coursework distributed among three categories. Nine credits of core courses include theory, research and health policy. Six credits of cognate courses includes legal and regulatory issues, and grant proposal. The remaining 21 credits include specialty courses and electives.
The culminating internship provides over 150 hours of directed educational experiences as a nurse educator, with an emphasis on teaching. The practicum is intended to provide a format for the learner to integrate content from all courses within the Master of Nursing in Education program, and apply the material to their teaching-learning environment.
Current trends in nursing education reflect a growing need for nursing faculty. According to American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) over 70,000 nursing school applicants were denied admission to the nation’s nursing programs. Although several factors contribute to decreased admission of students into nursing programs, insufficient number of nursing faculty is cited as a key issue. Reasons for faculty shortages are due to retirements, as well as newly developed faculty positions. Nationally, the average age of doctoral and master prepared nursing faculty is over 55 years old, with the average retirement age identified as 62. All indicators stress the present and growing need for qualified nurse educators.
The program accommodates both full-time and part-time students. Full time students can complete the program in two years; part-time completion will generally take three to four years.
Degree Requirements
Pre-Requisite Undergraduate Courses
Statistics
Program Requirements
The MS in Nursing with a major in Nursing Education consists of 36 credit hours:
- NUR 500 Theoretical Foundations for Nursing Practice (3 credits)
- NUR 503 Advanced Nursing, Health Policy and the Health System (3 credits)
- NUR 526 Legal and Regulatory Issues in Health Care (3 credits)
- NUR 535 Curriculum Developments in Nursing Education (3 credits)
- NUR 536 Measurement and Assessment (3 credits)
- NUR 545 Instructional Methodologies and Design in Nursing Education (3 credits)
- NUR 560 Nursing Research Methods (3 credits)
- NUR 624 Grant Proposal (3 credits)
- NUR 635 Evaluation Approaches in Nursing Education (3 credits)
- NUR 645 Culminating Internship in Nursing Education (3 credits)
- Graduate Elective ** (3 credits)
- Graduate Elective ** (3 credits)
** Recommended graduate electives include: NUR 570 Clinical Pathophysiology, NUR 555 Clinical Pharmacology, and HIM 501 Health Informatics.
Special Program Notes
- Regardless of overall GPA, students can apply only two “C” grades in courses taken towards the degree.
- All students must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher to graduate.
- Graduate students may repeat a graduate nursing course only once.
- Students may transfer up to nine credit hours, if applicable, from another graduate program.
- Students must maintain continuous registration, equal to or greater than one credit while completing degree requirements. MS Nursing students can do this by registering for CMT 600 – Continuous Registration. This only applies to students who have and incomplete in their last semester and it can only be applied once.
Sample Curriculum Plan for Full-Time Study
| Year 1: | Fall Semester | Credits |
| NUR 500 | Theoretical Foundations for Nursing Practice | 3 |
| NUR 535 | Curriculum Development in Nursing Education | 3 |
| NUR 545 | Instructional Design in Nursing Education | 3 |
| Semester Total | 9 | |
| Year 1: | Spring Semester | Credits |
| NUR 526 | Legal and Regulatory Issues in Health Care | 3 |
| NUR 536 | Measurement and Assessment | 3 |
| NUR 560 | Nursing Research Methods | 3 |
| Semester Total | 9 | |
| Year 2: | Fall Semester | Credits |
| NUR 503 | Advanced Nursing, Health Policy & Health System | 3 |
| NUR 635 | Evaluation Approaches in Nursing Education | 3 |
| Graduate Elective | 3 | |
| Semester Total | 9 | |
| Year 2: | Spring Semester | Credits |
| NUR 624 | Grant Proposal | 3 |
| NUR 645 | Culminating Internship in Nursing Education | |
| Graduate Elective | 3 | |
| Semester Total | 9 | |
| Program Total | 36 credits |
Sample Curriculum Plan for Part-Time Study
| Year 1 | Fall Semester | Credits |
| NUR 500 | Theoretical Foundations for Nursing Practice | 3 |
| NUR 503 | Advanced Nursing, Health Policy and the Health System | 3 |
| 6 | ||
| Year 1 | Spring Semester | Credits |
| NUR 526 | Legal and Regulatory Issues in Health Care | 3 |
| NUR 560 | Nursing Research Methods | 3 |
| 6 | ||
| Year 2 | Fall Semester | Credits |
| NUR 535 | Curriculum Development in Nursing Education | 3 |
| NUR 545 | Instructional Design in Nursing Education | 3 |
| 6 | ||
| Year 2 | Spring Semester | Credits |
| NUR 536 | Measurement and Assessment | 3 |
| Graduate Elective (recommend NUR 555 or NUR 570) | 3 | |
| 6 | ||
| Year 3 | Fall Semester | Credits |
| NUR 624 | Grant Proposal | 3 |
| NUR 635 | Evaluation Approaches in Nursing Education | 3 |
| 6 | ||
| Year 3 | Spring Semester | Credits |
| NUR 645 | Culminating Internship in Nursing Education | 3 |
| Graduate Elective | 3 | |
| 6 | ||