Graduate Nursing Programs

The Graduate Nursing Department offers several programs for students wanting to advance in their nursing and healthcare careers. 

Not sure which of our programs best fits your goals? Explore nursing education pathways that best suits your personal interests and career goals.

Admission Requirements & Application Process

Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

DNP & Post-Graduate Certificate Options

In the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program, you’ll learn to care for adult patients with acute, critical, or chronic illnesses in a wide range of settings as an advanced practice provider.

An Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner DNP or post-graduate certificate is a good fit if you:

• are passionate about caring for and managing critically ill patients in different acute care settings
• want to enhance your critical thinking skills through diagnostic reasoning and clinical decision making
• value supporting and providing evidence-based clinical judgments
• can work independently and collaborate with others

Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist 

DNP & Post-Graduate Certificate Options

In the Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist program, you’ll learn to perform in the multi-faceted role of a clinical nurse specialist for the adult-gerontology population. 

An Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist DNP or post-graduate certificate is a good fit if you: 

• are passionate about providing advanced nursing practice directly to patients and families
• want to prepare for prescriptive authority
• value collaboration and peer coaching to improve professional practice
• are interested in providing consultation expertise with patients, families, nurses, and organizations
• want to improve systems leadership by influencing evidence-based patient and client care, the practice of other nurses and nursing personnel, and healthcare systems and organization outcomes

Family Nurse Practitioner

DNP & Post-Graduate Certificate Options

In the Family Nurse Practitioner program, you’ll learn to expand your nursing role as a primary healthcare provider.

A Family Nurse Practitioner DNP or post-graduate certificate is a good fit if you: 

• want to develop comprehensive assessments of the health status of children, adults, and families
• are interested in diagnosing and managing common, acute, and chronic health problems
• value collaboration 
• enjoy counseling and teaching health promotion and disease prevention
• are committed to participating in and using research within evidence-based practice in primary care

Nurse Educator

Master’s & Post-Graduate Certificate Options

In the Nurse Educator program, you’ll learn to teach in an academic or healthcare setting.

A Nurse Educator master’s degree or post-graduate certificate is a good fit if you:

• are passionate about educating the next generation of nurses
• have great communication and organizational skills
• appreciate the value of theory-driven practice
• want to understand the learning process in nursing
• are interested in designing curriculum and programs
• enjoy learning best practices of instruction, assessment, and evaluation

Nursing & Organizational Leadership

Master’s & DNP Options

In the Nursing and Organizational Leadership program, you’ll learn to perform in administrative and leadership positions within a healthcare setting.

A Nursing and Organizational Leadership master’s degree or DNP is a good fit if you:

• are passionate about improving the healthcare system
• value the importance of nurse well-being
• are organized, detail-oriented, and determined
• have great time-management skills
• want to support the professional development of nurses and staff who support healthcare

Practice & Leadership Innovations

DNP

In the Practice and Leadership Innovations program, you’ll learn to develop innovations in healthcare practice and leadership that improve patient care.

A Practice and Leadership Innovations DNP is a good fit if you:

• value using evidence to boldly change practice
• are innovative and courageous
• have excellent time-management and interpersonal communication skills
• enjoy the challenge of planning, implementing, and evaluating projects
• are passionate about building effective teams

Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

DNP & Post-Graduate Certificate Options

In the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, you’ll learn to provide care to individuals, families, groups, and communities of all ages with behavioral and mental health problems and disorders.

A Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner DNP or post-graduate certificate is a good fit for you if you:

• want to develop specialized skills in the psychiatric-mental health care field
• value interprofessional team practice
• have excellent interpersonal communication skills
• want to provide evidence-based psychiatric-mental health care in a variety of specialty areas
• are interested in enhancing psychiatric-mental healthcare by using advanced approaches in
  
  • psychopharmacology
  • psychopathology
  • neurobiology
  • psychiatric assessment and diagnostic interpretation
  • therapy