Sacred Heart University - College of Education and Health Professions Department of Nursing

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.

RN-to-MSN

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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.

Information

If you are interested in this school and would like to find out more, please Request Information from Sacred Heart University.

For more information, visit the home page of Sacred Heart University - College of Education and Health Professions School of Nursing.