Requirements
Program Overview
The Master of Science degree in Nursing is designed for registered nurses who are seeking advanced preparation and leadership roles. The nurse educator concentration prepares graduates to assume faculty roles in nursing education at the pre-licensure program levels or roles in staff development in healthcare settings. In the program, graduates participate in clinical experiences in selected settings and in teaching environments.
Graduate Outcomes
The following graduate outcomes were adapted from the 2011 American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN) The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing.
The graduate will be able to:
- Integrate knowledge gained from nursing, bio-psychosocial fields, genetics/genomics, public health, quality improvement, and organizational sciences for the continual improvement of nursing education in diverse settings.
- Incorporate leadership, collaborative skills, and organizational skills and systems leadership into nursing into educational practice in order to emphasize ethical and critical decision-making, effective working relationships, and a system-perspective to promote high quality and safe patient care.
- Integrate the principles of quality improvement and evaluation outcomes related to advanced practice, education, and policy development.
- Apply and disseminate research outcomes, evidence-based practice, and collaborative skills to affect accountable change in nursing practice, education, and policy.
- Analyze practice, legal, and ethical considerations of current and emerging patient care and communication technologies utilized to enhance patient care and nursing education.
- Incorporate knowledge of current nursing policy and nursing policy development through systems level management and utilize advocacy strategies to influence health and health care.
- Function as a member and leader of inter-professional teams in the management and coordination of care.
- Integrate the principles of patient-centered care, advocacy, amid culturally appropriate concepts of planning, delivering, and evaluating clinical prevention and population care into nursing education and advanced clinical practice.
- Incorporate an advanced level of understanding of nursing and relevant sciences with the ability to integrate concepts into nursing education and clinical practice.
- Utilize Christian principles in the delivery of nursing interventions that influence healthcare and educational outcomes for individuals, populations and systems.
Admission Requirements for the M.S.N. Program
To be admitted as a regular student, the applicant will:
- Submit a completed application to William Carey University for the graduate school.
- Pay the application fee.
- Submit official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.
- Submit a statement of professional goals
- Submit current resume.
- Submit two nursing recommendations.
- Have a clear criminal background check that meets program requirements.
- Have a baccalaureate degree from a nationally accredited school of nursing.
- Have an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher or a GPA of 2.5 or higher on the last 30 undergraduate hours.
- Have an active unencumbered Registered Nurse license with no pending legal or state board action.
Admission Status
An applicant for the Master of Science in Nursing degree program is admitted to regular or nondegree graduate status as follows:
Regular—Regular graduate status will be granted to those students who meet all requirements for admission to the program and are actively pursuing a degree.
Nondegree—Nondegree status may be assigned to those students who meet the requirements for admission, but do not wish to become a candidate for a degree. No more than 12 hours of credit earned in a nondegree status may apply toward a degree.
Incomplete–Incomplete admission status may be granted for one term for a student who appears to be eligible for admission but is unable to supply certain required records prior to registration (see Admissions Information for further explanation.)
Transfer Credit
Transfer credit is available for any student. Approval of transfer hours is considered on an individual basis. The student must apply for transfer credit to the program coordinator prior to the first term in the nursing program. Baccalaureate level credit cannot be accepted for master’s level courses. Transfer credit cannot be received for NUR 668 and NUR 669. Refer to the university’s graduate transfer requirements for more information.
Attendance
Students are to attend class meetings and participate in courses and to verify and submit course work on a weekly basis either online or in-person as required. Refer to the School of Nursing Graduate Student Handbook and individual course syllabi for specific course requirements.
Progression
Successful progression through the program requires the following:
- Demonstrate competency in scholarly writing by submission of GRE analytical writing score of 3.5 or better within the last five years or passing NUR 692 Scholarly Writing for Healthcare Professionals with a grade of B or better prior to taking courses within the program.
- Complete all assignments with a passing grade. A grade of F must be repeated for a grade of C or higher.
- See Graduate Catalog-Academic Regulations-Academic Standing for grades below a B.
- Student grades will be reviewed at the end of each term by the administrator of the graduate program and other WCU SON administration to determine status in achieving the GPA necessary to progress and graduate.
Requirements for the Master of Science in Nursing Degree
These general requirements apply to all candidates for the Master of Science in Nursing degree:
- Each student must have acquired regular graduate admissions status.
- All required courses must be completed with a minimum grade point average of 3.0
- A student must complete all required work within a period of six years after enrolling in graduate nursing courses
- Student must submit a degree application to the Registrar’s Office and follow the required guidelines from the Registrar’s Office.
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