Nursing, MSN

Master of Science in Nursing

Introduction to the MSN in Strategic Nursing Leadership at ATSU

Health care delivery is constantly evolving and adapting to ever changing challenges, requiring nurses to respond strategically and thoughtfully. In addition to clinical skills, the nurse leader in today’s healthcare environment needs to have additional business and policy awareness, especially in the areas of human resource management, population health, fiscal services, technology enhancements and patient safety. 

The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Strategic Nursing Leadership program in A.T. Still University’s College of Graduate Health Studies prepares you to enhance and expand your leadership skills across a variety of settings. The MSN requires successful completion of nine courses and one administrative practicum course in which you focus on designing a quality improvement project in a practice environment of your choice. All didactic coursework is delivered online, with the potential to conduct your administrative practicum hours where you work. The program can be completed in 15 months.

Our MSN program at A.T. Still University is developed so that the necessary content needed for the AONL certification exam, the CENP, is included in the curriculum. If you have the prerequisite leadership experience of at least 2 years, at the end of our MSN program, you will be eligible to sit for the certification exam plus earn additional clinical hours to apply toward your DNP.

Our MSN-DNP program is designed to facilitate students who want to fast-track their career, resulting in both an MSN and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. When you enter the MSN-DNP program, certain courses in the MSN program may be applied to the DNP course requirements, lessening your coursework requirements. In addition, your clinical site selected for your MSN administrative practicum hours may be eligible to also be your DNP clinical practice site where you would develop, implement and evaluate your DNP project.

Nursing Program Purpose

The Master of Science in Nursing in Strategic Nursing Leadership prepares graduates to enhance and expand their leadership abilities and to be effective in various healthcare delivery systems. The MSN program supports developing and implementing the necessary business skills, especially in human resource management, collaborative practice, population health, fiscal services, technology enhancements, and patient safety. Additionally, graduates will learn methods to influence positive health care outcomes through evidence-based decision-making and quality enhancement while optimizing care delivery.

Vision and Values

Graduates are well regarded, socially responsible practitioners and leaders who are recognized as contributors to improving overall population health and practice, promoting whole-person healthcare, and advancing the nursing profession.

The values espoused by the Program are:

• Leadership: We value leadership development for our students, faculty, and staff and encourage participation in community and professional service.
• Integrity: We value the highest ethical principles of fairness and honesty in all of our interactions.
• Scholarship: We value scholarly thinking and the generation of ideas through inquiry, analysis, and innovation.
• Diversity: We value differences among people and their personal and professional perspectives.
• Interprofessional education: We value the combined contributions of our educational community and work to achieve an environment of teamwork and collaboration.
• Innovation: We value new and efficient mechanisms for learning, teaching, and technological delivery.

Learning Outcomes

The MSN Program prepares the graduate to achieve the following program outcomes:

• Integrate and synthesize evidence from nursing and related sciences to deliver advanced nursing care to populations in diverse practice settings.
• Apply collaborative leadership and decision-making skills within complex systems to promote high-quality nursing for diverse person-centered and population health care delivery.
• Illustrate the use of performance measures and quality improvement principles in promoting diverse person-centered and population health care, including the underserved community.
• Correlate the scholarship of nursing practice to improve patient and population care outcomes.
• Integrate person-centered care technologies to deliver and enhance advanced nursing care to diverse populations.
• Analyze the influence of policy, legal, and regulatory standards and processes have on the structure of healthcare, practice and patient outcomes. 
• Apply effective communication and consultative strategies to collaborate with interprofessional teams within the healthcare setting.
• Apply advanced nursing care into practice to influence healthcare outcomes for the individual and the community of interest.
• Develop and demonstrate a self-identity that establishes and maintains a professional and personal program of growth, leadership and career resiliency. 

Length of Program

The MSN is 33 credit hours, consisting of coursework and a professional practice portfolio. Upon completion of the MSN, students can continue on to a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), if desired.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition is due the first day of class. The tuition due each semester is based on the credit hours being taken by the student during that specific semester. Delinquent tuition penalties accrue at 1.5% per month, which is 18% per year. For more information on Student Account Collection, please reference ATSU Policy #50-112 within the Financial Policies  section of this catalog.

HIPAA Training

Health Information Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) training and certification is required for all ATSU-CGHS MSN students taking MSNP5300, Comprehensive Health Assessment and MSNP 6000, Professional Practice Portfolio. Students may submit current HIPAA training certificates of completion from their facilities or complete the training offered online by ATSU.

Courses

Descriptions & Credit Values