Master of Science in Nursing

Mission Statement

The Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) program is committed to preparing ethical leaders of conscience who demonstrate high level critical thinking, professional competencies in nursing education and nursing leadership, and who make significant contributions to the local and global communities. Graduates are change agents in diverse healthcare arenas who collaboratively effect improvements inpatient outcomes through education of healthcare workers and leadership in healthcare delivery systems.

The curriculum is rooted in the generation, evaluation, and utilization of evidence to support best practices in nursing education and nursing leadership. Graduates are prepared to utilize scholarly inquiry to provide evidence-based healthcare.

Admission Prerequisites

Admission prerequisites to the Master of Science in Nursing program are track dependent:

• Track 1 is the Registered Nurse with a baccalaureate in nursing.
• Track 2 is the Registered Nurse with a non-nursing bachelor's degree.
• Track 3 is the Registered Nurse with an associate degree or diploma in nursing.

Admission requirements include:

• Completion of the Franklin Pierce University Graduate Admission online application (all tracks)
• Resume (all tracks)
• Statement of professional goals including reasons for pursuing graduate study (all tracks)
• Receipt of all official transcripts from colleges and/or universities previously attended (all tracks)
• Unencumbered license to practice as a registered nurse in the U.S. (all tracks)
• Achievement of a minimum undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 2.8 or higher on a 4.0 scale (all tracks)
• Successful completion of an undergraduate statistics course with a C or higher (all tracks)
• Interview with nursing faculty (Tracks 1 and 2)

Application Requirements for the Nursing Education Certificate

• Completion of the Franklin Pierce University Graduate Admission online application
• Professional resume
• Achievement of a minimum undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 2.8 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• Receipt of all official transcripts from colleges and/or universities previously attended

Learner Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the Master of Science in Nursing program, a graduate will be able to:• Demonstrate critical thinking and decision-making based on biopsychosocial and organizational sciences to improve healthcare qualityand outcomes in a variety of settings.• Integrate organizational and systems leadership to guide and direct clinical decision making and evaluation of patient outcomes andsafety.• Advocate for ethical and culturally sensitive strategies in the design of high quality and cost-effective healthcare delivery.• Apply clinical scholarship and implementation of best practices for the improvement of healthcare delivery.• Incorporate technology to support and coordinate delivery of high quality, safe patient care.• Demonstrate advocacy strategies to influence healthcare policy to improve health of the public.• Collaborate with the inter-professional team to influence the shared goals of disease prevention, health promotion, and patient-centeredcare to diverse populations.

The Nurse Educator concentration prepares the graduate to:

• Practice as a nurse educator in an academic or healthcare delivery setting, applying principles consistent with evidence based practice.
• Apply teaching and learning theories, current research findings, and knowledge of educational trends and professional standards tocurriculum and instructional design.
• Utilize knowledge of continuous quality improvement methodology to evaluate all components of instructional design and delivery.
• Design and implement change projects in health care delivery systems and evaluate their impact.
• Incorporate knowledge of evidence in clinical and organizational management to improve client outcomes.

The Nurse Leader concentration prepares the graduate to:

• Assume leadership roles in healthcare organizations.
• Integrate leadership skills that facilitate collaborative relationships while functioning as a member of the team.
• Apply knowledge of healthcare payment systems to improve the utilization of clinical and fiscal resources.
• Design and implement change projects in healthcare delivery systems and evaluate their impact.
• Incorporate interdisciplinary knowledge of evidence in clinical and organizational management to improve client outcomes.