About the RN to MSN Program
The Registered Nurse to Master of Science Nursing (MSN) is an accredited, online RN to MSN program ideal for nurses who intend to work in the nursing field for a decade or longer. Experienced nurses who hold their registered nurse licenses (and RNs who hold bachelor’s degrees in other fields) can apply their associate degree toward the MSN without having to first earn a BSN. To complete the RN to MSN degree, distance education nursing students must complete 18 baccalaureate-level nursing credit hours and transfer in or complete 30 hours of general education, maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.0. Then, they complete 36 graduate credit hours.
American Sentinel’s RN to MSN online program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
With an MSN, a nurse will enjoy greater career mobility and expanded job options. In today’s health care landscape, there is a growing recognition that nurses need more education to be fully functioning members of a health care team that contributes to the improvement of patient care and patient outcomes. Increasingly, nurses are expected to advance their education to meet current health care reform initiatives and strengthen the nursing workforce.
American Sentinel online RN to MSN program students can further define their education by focusing on one of five relevant areas. All MSN students must choose one of five specializations:
- Case Management
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Nursing Education
- Nursing Informatics
- Nursing Management and Organizational Leadership
American Sentinel’s RN to MSN is a truly streamlined online nursing degree program, without sacrificing quality or meaningful content. Students take just six courses at the bachelor’s level, as compared to many RN to MSN programs, which require students to take almost a full BSN curriculum. Our accelerated nursing degree program gets you further in your career faster so that you can position yourself for new opportunities as they arise.
Relevant Curriculum
Course Highlights
Program Learning Outcomes
Career and Industry News
Disclosure Information on Gainful Employment
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Curriculum
American Sentinel's RN to MSN program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Students complete 18 hours of baccalaureate courses and transfer in or complete 30 hours of general education courses, maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.0. Then, they complete 36 graduate credit hours in a chosen specialty: nursing management and organizational leadership, case management, nursing education, nursing informatics, or infection prevention and control.
NOTE: Nurses educated outside the United States and Canada are required to take ENG105 Beginning Writing as their first course.
.| COURSES | CREDIT HOURS* |
|---|---|
| UNDERGRADUATE NURSING COURSES (18 credit hours) | |
| BSN415 Nursing Management Strategies | 3 |
| BSN420 Strategic Change and Quality Improvement | 3 |
| BSN422 Nursing Research | 3 |
| BSN425 Public Health Nursing A | 3 |
| BSN430 Public Health Nursing B | 3 |
| BSN499 Capstone Project | 3 |
Career and Industry News
Health Care
- Preventing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) >> Read Story
- 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
Successful Students and Alumni
RN Increases Hospital's Operational Effectiveness
Kathy Edwards, RN and quality advisor for a remote hospital, had wanted to earn a master’s degree since the early 1990s. But a divorce, being a single mother with three boys, and having to maintain her home by herself quashed that dream. Once she enrolled with American Sentinel, she realized that learning the business of health care would broaden her ability to help operations run more smoothly. “I learned in my courses how to provide clinical knowledge to the administrative leadership when they make decisions,” Kathy says. As she began to apply her course work to the job, she discovered something that wasn’t always evident in her past experience as a nurse: respect. >> 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.
The American Sentinel RN to MSN program will prepare you to advance your nursing career. 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.
