Dominican University of California

At Dominican University of California, in the midst of the bustling San Francisco Bay Area, graceful old buildings and shady tree-lined paths are the setting for serious learning and lively debate. Here, you'll find a diverse group of students from around the world who will become classmates, project partners, roommates, and friends. You'll find a wealth of resources and support services to help you determine a major or find a career.

What you won't find at Dominican are large lecture classes -- there aren't any. The average class size is 13. Our faculty are here because they are dedicated to teaching you. The administration and faculty are available to guide, support, and advise you -- academically, spiritually, socially and emotionally. You won't slip through the system. You will be challenged to understand the world and cultures around you; you will be able to analyze, create, contemplate, reason, persuade, compare, adjust, think, collaborate and solve.

The Department of Nursing

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Dominican is a private university of Catholic heritage with a strong commitment to nursing excellence and relationship-centered education. Our graduate nursing curriculum offers registered nurses the opportunity to prepare themselves as leaders and innovators in today's changing health care system by addressing three major demographic trends. These are: the needs of an aging population, the urgent need for nurse educators, and the integration of complementary and alternative therapies into mainstream health care.

The Dominican nursing program follows guidelines defined by the California Board of Registered Nursing for Clinical Nurse Specialist status and is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Master of Science in Nursing - Geriatric (Clinical Nurse Specialist) & Nurse Educator

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No other program in the San Francisco Bay Area combines the two specialties of educator and geriatric clinical nurse specialist. This unique combination offers a broad spectrum of career opportunities to our graduates. Dominican's program offers the advanced practice skills and theoretical foundations to provide health care and health guidance for the geriatric client.

Graduates will fill two critical roles in health care, that of the nursing instructor/nursing faculty and the nurse who specializes in care of the fastest growing U.S. cohort: the elderly. Courses blend theory and practice in geriatric nursing and nurse education and incorporate knowledge and skills in both clinical and academic environments.

An acute shortage of nurses trained to care for the rapidly aging population and a diminished supply of nursing faculty able to train these professionals has led to a huge demand for both geriatric clinical nurse specialists and nurse educators. The geriatric focus of this program will qualify graduates for a California Board of Registered Nursing approved Clinical Nurse Specialist designation in Geriatric Nursing Practice. The nurse educator focus of the program will qualify graduates to teach in undergraduate or graduate programs of nursing and be education specialists for both hospitals and community health agencies.

Master of Science in Nursing - Integrated Health Practices (Clinical Nurse Specialist)

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The Master of Science in Nursing in Integrated Health Practices (Clinical Nurse Specialist) provides students with a solid base in advanced traditional, Western nursing practice and affords them a sound foundation for understanding holistic, complementary and alternative approaches to health care.

The program is designed to address the community's increased use of non-medical forms of health care and healing practices. Special attention is placed on cultural diversity and providing care and guidance for underserved populations and the chronically ill, disabled and elderly. Courses focus on advanced nursing practice and on alternative health practices, systems and beliefs.

Graduates of the program become Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) in Integrated Health Practices and are qualified for the California Board of Registered Nursing certification and eligible to sit for American Holistic Nurses certification. The curriculum prepares nurses for advance practice as expert clinicians, educators, consultants or researchers, and qualifies them to apply for studies at the doctoral level as they continue their nursing careers. Dominican nursing alumni excel in all facets of this dynamic field, practicing throughout the nation and the world.

ADN-to-MSN Accelerated Program

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The associate's-to-master's accelerated degree program is designed for the Registered Nurse (RN) with an associate's degree who wants to advance quickly to the master's level. The first year in the program is a year of bridge work, after which the student advances into the graduate program, and proceeds through the usual course work after the third semester.

This program results in a Master of Science of Nursing in as little as 3 years for associate's-prepared students. Students entering the program with a bachelor's degree complete the program in as little as five semesters, or 21 months. Those students completing the 500 hours of clinical course work are eligible for advanced practice licensure as clinical nurse specialists.

Information

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

For more information, visit the home page of Dominican University of California - Department of Nursing.