Whether you want to become a nurse educator or move into a leadership role, the Master's degree in Nursing program has been designed to help you be prepared. Advanced degrees are often necessary for many administrative, research, consulting and teaching positions.

This program takes your education to another level, preparing you for more challenging career options in administrative or higher education teaching roles. Delivery of the MS in Nursing program has been crafted with working adult schedules in mind.

We offer the Master in Nursing degree program in a bookend format where you attend the first and last classes onsite and complete the balance of the curriculum online.

• MSN program can be completed in 6-10 terms, depending on the track you select. Each term is 10 weeks.
• Program completion in 14-23 months.
• Most Master's in Nursing Courses offered in a bookend format, with students coming to campus for the first and last meetings of the 10-week term. The rest of the term instruction is delivered in an online environment.

Success-Driven Curriculum

WCU's Master's in Nursing degree program prepares nurses to build on their nursing experience and enhance their careers to prepare for administrative, practical, and teaching roles. We offer 5 nursing tracks based on guidance taken from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN) Master's Essentials. Beginning August 2013, these tracks will include:

• Generalist 
  This track is designed to prepare graduates to take on more challenging career options in administrative or higher education teaching roles, by building on prior clinical knowledge and experience.
  
  
• Nurse Educator
  Faculty shortages at nursing schools across the country are limiting student capacity at a time when our need for nurses continues to grow. This program addresses that concern by preparing graduates for the faculty role, making the graduate eligible for approval by the Board of Nursing to teach in a California pre-licensure nursing program.
  
  
• Clinical Nurse Leader
  This track will prepare graduates for clinical leadership at the unit level. Students will have the opportunity through additional coursework and clinical hours to obtain the title of Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in a specific clinical area. As a Clinical Nurse Leader, graduates will collaborate with multiple practice partners and implement quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across all health care settings.
  
  
• Family Nurse Practitioner*
  We designed this specialty to prepare graduates for state licensure and eligibility to take a national certification examination*. The Family Nurse Practitioner plays an important role in the delivery of primary health care, by providing health assessments, direct care and guidance and teaching, particularly around family self-care. The demand for more nurse Practitioners continues to grow as they present a viable solution for the growing trend of fewer physicians entering the field of family practice.
  
  
• Strategic Innovation Management
  A blend of project development, innovation and informatics, this emphasis serves as an alternative to health care management or nursing administration. The graduate of this track will use data to improve health outcomes, manage health, holistically addressing global health issues, ensure connectivity, lower healthcare costs and deliver value.

Not all tracks are offered every term.

Career Opportunities
The Master of Science degree in nursing program prepares graduates with enhanced nursing knowledge and skills to address the evolving needs of the health care system. Graduates of the MSN program will be prepared for jobs requiring the following skills:

• Staff Development
• Nursing Leadership/Management
• Academic Faculty Positions
• Nursing Quality Improvement and Case Management
• Project Management

Choose Your Graduation Date
The purpose of the graduate program in nursing is to promote foundational competencies that are core to all advanced nursing practice roles in an ever-changing and globally reaching health care environment. By pursuing more effective and innovative methodologies through which students utilize administrative expertise with the foresight to analyze problems, structure and facilitate development, and find and implement solutions, WCU graduates can and will make a positive impact on society.

* Once implemented, the FNP track will be reviewed as a substantive change to the CCNE-accredited MSN program. Once CCNE has processed the substantive change, graduates will no longer be required to pass a national certification exam for BRN certification as a Nurse Practitioner.