Nursing Education Program Overview
The American Sentinel MSN, nursing education online specialization, is designed for experienced nurses who wish to pursue educator roles within a clinical environment or become faculty members at traditional or non-traditional schools of nursing. The specialization emphasizes curriculum development, teaching various learning styles and teaching via distance technology.
Students may choose between two capstone courses: Academic Program Leadership or Educational Leadership. The Academic Program Leadership capstone is for students interested in leadership positions in academic environments and has a special emphasis on institutional and programmatic accreditation. The Educational Leadership capstone is for students who wish to continue their education in doctoral studies with the ultimate goal of becoming a faculty member at a university or college.
Students graduating with American Sentinel’s CCNE-accredited MSN, nursing education specialization, complete 36 credit hours of course work. Students may be eligible to transfer up to 18 credit hours from previous graduate study.
Nursing Education Specialization Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the MSN program, nursing education specialization, will be able to:
- Design curriculum and develop guidelines for curriculum development, implementation and evaluation.
- Evaluate emerging trends in technology and computer-assisted educational programs.
- Develop assessment and performance evaluations of individual students.
- Develop a plan for evaluating program effectiveness in an academic or institutional setting.
- Analyze problem-based nursing education and clinical-based competency assessments.
- Analyze standards for national and regional accreditation, as well as those for specific health specialties.
HRSA Loan Program Available to Instructors in Health Professions
Instructors who teach in the health professions and who come from disadvantaged backgrounds may qualify for as much as $40,000 toward repayment of their student loans.
Sponsored by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the Faculty Loan Repayment Program is open to faculty members who are health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Individuals selected to participate in the program agree to serve on the faculty of an accredited health professions institution (college or university) for a minimum of two years.
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Curriculum
Completion of the MSN, nursing education 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 Education Specialization (18 credit hours) | |
| N531 Curriculum Design and Learning Outcomes | 3 |
| N532 Teaching to Diverse Learning Styles | 3 |
| N533 Assessment of Learning | 3 |
| N534 Distance Education | 3 |
| N537 Organizational Dynamics of Higher Education | 3 |
| N555E Nursing Education Capstone - Academic OR N555EL Nursing Education Capstone - Educational Leadership | 3 |
Career and Industry News
Health Care
- Overcoming “Catheter Apathy” to Prevent Hospital-Acquired UTIs >> Read Story
- Another One Percent is Making Headlines >> Read Story
- Are Policy Issues Killing Home Health Technology? >> 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.





