Nursing at Sacred Heart University is vibrant and growing! Our
unique community of educators is dedicated to your success--and
the University statement, "Personal attention leads to personal
achievement," is more than a slogan to us! Faculty and staff are
committed to working with you to develop your special talents and
gifts within a holistic context for both students and the
recipients of our care.
The need for highly competent and caring nurses has never been
greater; thus, opportunities for nurses with higher levels of
education abound in a variety of health care settings. Our
faculty is grounded in practice and constantly innovating the
educational experience to assure that graduates are highly
competent and prepared to lead effectively at every level of
nursing practice and administration. We have established many
relationships with leading health care organizations in the
region to keep us actively involved with and focused on relevant
and important knowledge and skills for contemporary nursing
roles. And we have developed significant expertise in
state-of-the-art educational methods including interdisciplinary
studies.
The Department of Nursing offers online certifications,
RN-to-MSN, MSN degrees and Post-Master's Certifications. We
adhere to the belief that distance education in nursing is not
distant relationships. Faculty work with each student, no matter
their geographical location, to design a program of study to
ensure each student's successful progression through the courses
leading to a degree.
This program is designed for registered nurses who do not hold a
bachelor's degree to enter an accelerated path to the Master of
Science degree in one of three tracks: Clinical Nurse Leader,
Patient Care Services Administration or Family Nurse
Practitioner. The baccalaureate upper division nursing major
includes both undergraduate and graduate level courses to satisfy
the requirement for the baccalaureate degree. If you already hold
a bachelors degree in any area with an RN license, you can enter
directly into the Masters program. The RN-MSN degree is only for
someone who does not hold a bachelors degree.
MSN in Clinical Nurse Leader
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The Clinical Nurse Leader program is designed to prepare RNs with
a bachelor's degree for the newly designed and evolving role of
Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL). The CNL is a generalist prepared at
the master's level with advanced clinical skills who will be
responsible for a group of patients in a specific patient unit or
healthcare setting. The major roles of the CNL are expected to be
clinical care coordinator, outcomes manager, patient advocate,
educator, information manager and care team leader. Students will
take core courses totaling 12 credits and 24 credits of course
work designed for the Clinical Nurse Leader track.
MSN in Family Nurse Practitioner
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The Family Primary Care program is designed to prepare the RN
with a bachelor's degree to become a certified family nurse
practitioner. Students will take core courses totaling 13 credits
and 33 credits of course work designed for the Family Nurse
Practitioner program. Graduates are eligible to take the
certification examination for family nurse practitioners.
MSN in Patient Care Services Administration
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The Patient Care Services Administration program is designed to
prepare RNs with a bachelor's degree for positions of
administrative responsibility in health care organizations. The
Master of Science in Nursing in Patient Care Services
Administration consists of a total of 40 graduate credit hours.
Students take five core courses, totaling 13 credits, in addition
to 27 credits in the Patient Care Services track.
MSN/MBA Dual Degree
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In conjunction with the MBA program, students may elect to
complete an MSN/MBA dual degree. This program is designed to
prepare RNs with a Baccalaureate degree for positions of
administrative responsibility in health care organizations. The
program requires a minimum of 61 credits, 36 of which must be in
the MBA concentration.
Certificate in Nursing Education
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This Certificate in Nursing Education is a 10 credit course
sequence covering educational theory and curriculum design and
evaluation, culminating in a role practicum experience. The
certificate will develop the student's knowledge and skills in
education to apply to practice as a faculty member in schools of
nursing or positions in educational departments in hospitals or
other health care organizations.
This Certificate in Nursing Education can be awarded as either an
undergraduate certificate for nurses holding a BSN or as a
graduate certificate for post-master's students. Credits will be
awarded at either the graduate or undergraduate level depending
on the educational background of the student and credits can be
used towards the MSN degree.
Certificate in Patient Care Services Administration
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This 12 credit certificate program is ideal for experienced nurse
managers who wish to update their leadership and management
knowledge and skills or for nursing staff moving into management
positions. Courses in both nursing and business address advanced
management skills which will enhance leadership and role
competence of the patient care services administrator.
This program is available for both on-campus and distance
students. Some courses are offered exclusively online whereas
others are offered both on-campus and online.
Post-Master's Certificate in Family Nurse Practitioner
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The post-master's certificate program at Sacred Heart University
consists of 31 credit hours of study. It is designed to prepare
the student who currently possesses a master's degree in nursing
to become a certified family nurse practitioner. Students in the
post-master's certificate program will take 31 credits of course
work designed for the nurse practitioner.
