The University of Colorado Denver School of Nursing

Our move this fall to the new Anschutz Medical Campus provides exciting opportunities for collaborative, interdisciplinary research and education, representing the future of health care, health sciences education and research. On this visionary world-class research, educational and clinical site we are joined by the University of Colorado Hospital, The Children's Hospital and soon the Denver Veterans Administration Medical Center and bioscience research park.

The School of Nursing

The University of Colorado Denver School of Nursing celebrated our Centennial Year in 1998. We have such a rich history of innovations in shaping important milestones in the nursing profession to share with you. For example, we are the birthplace of the nurse practitioner and caring movements, and have made significant contributions in the areas of school-based health care and nursing informatics. The School of Nursing has many excellent academic programs. In addition to our Bachelor of Science (BS) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, we are known for our pioneering and ongoing efforts in outreach, particularly in the Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs that enable us to meet rural, regional and national health care needs.

As the School of Nursing moves forward as one of the leading schools in this nation in the 21st century, we will continue this important and historical trend. Our faculty and students will partner with the community in creating insightful educational innovations, uses of technology and creative curricula to address health care needs. We are creating an environment that shifts from the traditional faculty-student relations to one in which the student is a partner-colleague in the teaching/learning process.

We have strong faculty practices for care across the lifespan including pediatrics, midwifery and adult health. These practices also support the education of students and the connection of research to practice. In addition, we have a reputation for theory-based research, particularly in the areas of pain, rural health, migrant health and pediatric nursing. For the future, we are advancing the development of additional research strengths in informatics, cost and quality outcomes, and the role of nursing in environmental health.

The University of Colorado Denver School of Nursing has an atmosphere that is student friendly and future-oriented. A prospective student will be joining a community of distinguished faculty and student scholars in which students have a major role in shaping their personal futures, the future of the nursing and the School. You will have the opportunity to interact closely with faculty and students from the Schools of Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy and you can expect a faculty who strive to prepare the highest level professional nurse.

University of Colorado students are prepared to meet current and future health care demands in today's challenging and evolving health care system. Our curriculum is designed to ensure that advanced practice nurses contribute as an equal partner in the interdisciplinary health care arena.

Bachelor of Science

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The baccalaureate program builds on a foundation of lower division arts and sciences. The curriculum design is consistent with the school's philosophy that nursing is theory-guided, evidence-based and focused on relationship-centered caring. Course work is designed to broaden the student's theoretical knowledge base and provide experiences with a variety of caring modalities in environments that promote health and healing.

The student is prepared for practice as a professional nurse in a variety of settings through the study of individuals, families, communities and health care systems and their interrelationships.

Master of Science in Nursing

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This program is designed to prepare nurses for advanced practice roles. Advanced practice nurses are prepared to formulate clinical, administrative or policy decisions to promote health with clients experiencing wellness, acute or chronic illness, and to develop, manage and evaluate the care within communities and health care systems. The program is structured to provide a foundation for career paths for future leaders in advanced nursing practice.

There are three areas of study in the Master of Science program. Each of the areas encompasses a number of options for specialty study:

• Women's Health: (Nurse Midwifery, Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner)
  
  
• Primary, Acute and Chronic Care: (Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult/Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist)
  
  
• Populations, Health Systems and Informatics: (Public Health Nursing, Health Care Informatics, Nursing Leadership: Pediatric Special Needs)

RN-to-Master of Science in Nursing

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The RN-Master of Science admission option provides the opportunity for RN's who have an associate degree in nursing to articulate into the Master of Science program. A student's program of study is designed individually with the evaluation of the applicant's portfolio to make it possible to matriculate into the Master of Science program as efficiently as possible.

Post-Master's Certificate Options

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Post-master's certificate study is available in selected options of the master of science program. Programs of study are designed for nurses with a Master of Science in Nursing who wish to qualify to sit for advanced practice nursing certification or to expand into a new area of specialization. The following programs of study are available:

• Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Adult/Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner
• Health Care Informatics
• Nurse Midwifery
• Nursing Leadership: Pediatrics Special Needs
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
• Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

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The DNP will appeal to nurses with an MS or BS degree in Nursing who are interested in a practice-focused doctorate, as well as graduates from other fields who want to become nurses and continue graduate study. DNP graduates will build on nursing specialty practice and will be prepared as leaders who will design models of health care delivery, evaluate clinical outcomes, identify and manage health care needs of populations, and use technology and information to transform health care systems.

The DNP program will provide a seamless transition to doctoral preparation for nurses wanting to specialize because requirements for the MS degree will be completed as part of the DNP program. A 42-credit DNP curriculum for MS-prepared nurses with specialty preparation is available.

PhD in Nursing

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This program is designed to prepare nurse scholars who advance the art, science and practice of the discipline. Doctoral preparation in nursing develops abilities to engage in all dimensions of professional and scholarly life, including the conduct of scholarly inquiry, leadership in health care delivery systems and public policy formation.

Students in the PhD program select one of four practice-inquiry focus areas for special emphasis, congruent with their research goals:

• The human experience of health illness healing
• The human technology interface
• The environmental contexts of health and health care delivery
• Quality and cost-effective outcomes

Information

If you are interested in this school and would like to find out more, please Request Information from University of Colorado Denver School of Nursing.

For more information, visit the home page of University of Colorado Denver School of Nursing.