NPs, CRNAs: Credentials Outdated? SMC Offers Online Bare Bones MSN
| School Overview | |
|---|---|
| Serves: | USA |
| Accredited by: | WASC |
| Enrollment: | Semesters |
| Financial Aid: | Yes |
| Scholarships: | Yes |
Contemporary MSN Degree Essential for APNs
Many online Masters of Science in Nursing degrees are designed as specialty programs; a core MSN component dovetailed with a micro-specialty, such as nurse educator or administrator/leader. Though popular and very contemporary, this leaves out many advanced practice nurses with specialties such as midwifery, anesthesia, and case management who may not have completed the fundamental MSN degree curriculum that is the current industry standard for advanced practice. Samuel Merritt College offers one online degree-the targeted, basic Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. The program is a rare find among online schools, in that it addresses specifically those RNs, whose graduate requirements may not meet the latest degree standards, holding them hostage in tight specialties with little opportunity for the same career mobility as their contemporary peers.
SMC has been providing high-quality graduate degrees designed for health professionals for decades; nursing degrees since the early 1900s, when the college and attached hospital were founded.
Nurses today are urged to earn baccalaureate and graduate degrees in order to reap the most career benefit. The healthcare arena continues to evolve, the nursing shortage grows more critical with each passing week, and micro-specialties and leadership layers have been spawned as necessary offshoots in a healthcare system going global and waxing innovative. Advanced practice nurses who have been in the field for years must not be left out. Their expertise is being mined for upper level leadership, education, and management roles, a whole-hearted attempt to make use of Nursing's best resources.
Requirements
Ideal candidates for the online MSN should have an older version of an advanced nursing degree, all the coursework considered official for a Bachelor of science in Nursing (BSN) degree with a previous GPA of 3.0, a valid RN license, and the coursework earned in the process of their specialization. Online requirements demand participants have basic computing skills, and the self-motivation to see the degree to its conclusion.
Curriculum
The coursework for the online basic MSN involves the most essential core curriculum: advanced clinical assessments, advanced nursing theory, advanced evidence-based research, roles of advanced practice nurses in contemporary healthcare systems, and management and leadership strategies for nurses.
The Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education accredits the online MSN degree.
Career Opportunity
No more holding back professionally, for "old-school" RNs with outdated graduate requirements. SMC's basic level MSN is the solution for those hungry for more challenging career positions or eager to take their place among innovative management and leadership teams.
