Infection Prevention and Control Program Overview
The American Sentinel MSN, infection prevention and control specialization, prepares experienced nurses to create programs and monitor critical infection control indicators in health care delivery systems. Students will develop expertise in epidemiology, data management and data mining that improves patient care and develops infection prevention and control polices to ensuring patient safety.
The specialization prepares nurses to create programs, lead teams and projects and monitor critical infection control indicators in health care facilities, delivery systems and local communities. Graduates will be prepared to assume critical roles managing health risk and safety systems in ambulatory, acute and long-term care settings, as well as in the public health environment.
American Sentinel’s MSN, infection prevention and control specialization, was created following similar principles that are outlined in the Infection Control Professional Detailed Content Outline developed by the Certification Board for Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (The Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. is not affiliated with nor endorses any products or services provided herein.)
Students graduating with American Sentinel’s MSN, infection prevention and control specialization, complete 36 credit hours of course work. Students may be eligible to transfer up to 18 credit hours from previous graduate study.
Infection Prevention and Control Specialization Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the MSN program, infection prevention and control specialization, will be able to:
- Apply principles of epidemiology to environmental risk assessment.
- Develop a comprehensive infection prevention and control program.
- Create infection prevention and control guidelines.
- Design a surveillance system.
- Analyze and interpret infection control data.
Career and Industry News
Health Care
- Critical Care Travel Nurse Turns Her Career to Teaching >> Read Story
- Longtime Pediatric Nurse Turns to American Sentinel to Strengthen Her Skills as a Nurse Educator >> Read Story
- American Sentinel Donates to Nurse-Family Partnership in Honor of National Nurses Week 2013 >> Read Story
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Curriculum
Completion of the MSN, infection prevention and control specialization, requires 36 credit hours. Students may be eligible to transfer up to 18 credit hours from previous graduate study.
| COURSES | CREDIT HOURS* |
|---|---|
| REQUIRED COURSES (36 credit hours) | |
| Core Courses (18 credit hours) | |
| N500 Health Care Systems | 3 |
| N505 Theoretical Foundations | 3 |
| N510 Diverse Populations and Health Care | 3 |
| N515 Research Design | 3 |
| N520 Introduction to Modern Organizations and Health Care | 3 |
| N550 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care Management | 3 |
| COURSES | CREDIT HOURS* |
|---|---|
| Nursing Infection Prevention and Control Specialization (18 credit hours) | |
| BIO501 Identification of the Infectious Disease Process** | 3 |
| EPI500 Principles of Epidemiology** | 3 |
| N570 Infection Prevention and Control** | 3 |
| N571 Design of a Surveillance System | 3 |
| N572 Collection and Interpretation of Surveillance Data | 3 |
| N555IC Infection Control Capstone | 3 |
Career and Industry News
Health Care
- Critical Care Travel Nurse Turns Her Career to Teaching >> Read Story
- Longtime Pediatric Nurse Turns to American Sentinel to Strengthen Her Skills as a Nurse Educator >> Read Story
- American Sentinel Donates to Nurse-Family Partnership in Honor of National Nurses Week 2013 >> Read Story
American Sentinel University Health Care Blog:
Subscribe for updates to via RSS OR
by Email
Successful Students and Alumni
Nurse Manager Applies Informatics Course Work to Improve His Hospital
After serving four years active duty in the Army and two years in the National Guard, Warren earned his associate degree in nursing in 1990. “My mom was a nursing assistant her entire career, so I was drawn to it,” says Warren. “I took a health sciences class, and a couple of professors told me I had a knack for it.” In 2006, Warren earned his BSN, but he always had his sights set on an MSN. >> Read full story
Floor Nurse Uses MSN Course Work to Empower Staff
Using change management skills he gained from his online MSN studies at American Sentinel, Chris Kowal, RN, BSN, was able to identify a more appropriate pain assessment tool for his hospital’s critical care unit and design a pilot program to study its effectiveness. The results were remarkable. “I was able to better manage patients’ pain and get them out of the ICU more quickly,” Chris says. “And the new tool improved productivity at the same time. Thanks in part to Chris’s help, the ICU unit earned the coveted Beacon Award. The Journal of the New York State Nurses Association published an article Chris wrote documenting his success with the program. >> Read full story
Career Opportunities in Nursing
As a clinical nurse specialist, you could go into education or consulting in a health care setting. As a certified nurse anesthetist, you could work with patients and doctors to prepare patients for surgery and treat them afterward. And as a certified nurse midwife, you could work with babies and expectant mothers. MSN graduates may also choose to move out of the clinical practice setting and work in administration.
In today's rapidly changing, highly technological health care environment, nurses with a nursing informatics background and education are more valuable than ever. Nursing informatics involves the integration of information and data to support nurses and other health care professionals. American Sentinel's nursing informatics degree teaches nurses to use information technology to streamline their processes around documentation and record keeping, ultimately improving the patient experience.
The American Sentinel distance nursing degree program will prepare you to advance your nursing career with an MSN degree. Learn more about advancing your nursing career in American Sentinel’s nursing chat series with NurseTogether.com.
Job Outlook for Nursing
Today, there is a call for more highly educated nurses capable of expanded roles, from community care to acute care. RNs with an MSN degree should have excellent job prospects, including in accountable care organizations, long-term acute care, health informatics and infection prevention and control. Learn more about the Bureau of Labor Statistics outlook for nurses.





