Nursing (MSN)

Dr. Eve Rice, DNP, APRN, CPNP
Director, School of Nursing
Location: McCord Building, Room 218
Phone: 931-221-7438
Email: ricem@apsu.edu

Dr. Michelle Robertson, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
Graduate Nursing Coordinator, Professor of Nursing
Location: McCord Building, Room 328
Phone: 931-221-7489
Email: graduatenursing@apsu.edu
Website: www.apsu.edu/nursing

The Austin Peay State University Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree consists of three concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Nurse Educator (NE), and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). All concentrations are designed to advance the education of Registered Nurses in various stages of their careers.

The APSU Graduate Nursing Program strives to ensure that graduate students are successful in their professional and academic goals. The program prepares competent graduates to significantly contribute to improving community health through advanced practice and nursing education. Graduates of the MSN program demonstrate advanced-role professional behaviors, integration of evidence-based guidelines and decision-making, and promotion of quality care and advocacy in advanced, professional nursing roles.

Program-Specific Admissions Requirements

All applicants for the Graduate Nursing Program must complete and show evidence of the following:

$45 application fee. (Non-refundable)
Official transcripts from all colleges attended (graduate and undergraduate) verifying that a bachelor’s degree in nursing has been earned with an overall GPA of 2.9 on a 4.0 scale.
Applicant Resume.
Applicant Goal Statement (e.g., reasons for pursuing graduate studies). The personal goal statement should be a one-page essay. It must be written in your own words. It should contain the following:
1. Details on your decision to obtain a Master’s degree in nursing
2. Description of your particular interest in and potential for contributing to the nursing profession, specifically as a Master’s prepared nurse.
3. Career objectives
4. Plan to be successful in the MSN program, specifically address your goal of full or part-time study and the many hours required studying and in clinical.
Licensure Verification (proof of an unencumbered, current license to practice as a Registered Nurse in Tennessee or the state in which the clinical assignments are completed). Documentation must include the licensure expiration date.
Military documents, if applicable.
Successful completion of a three-semester hour or four-quarter hour undergraduate-level Statistics course is required.
Admission decision will be rendered from APSU’s School of Nursing Graduate Curriculum, Admission, and Retention committee. Applicants are required to formally accept offer of admission.

The Graduate Nursing program admits twice each calendar year:

Summer Admission: Application due May 1 (Courses begin in Summer II term)
Spring Admission: Application due October 1 (Courses begin in the Winter term)

Some University Programs have additional requirements and information included in the Program Handbook. Program Handbooks, which are incorporated into herein by reference, are available by selecting the following link: Master of Science in Nursing.

Non-Degree Status

There are no graduate nursing courses open to students not admitted to the Graduate Nursing Program.

Clinical Requirements

Prior to beginning and throughout clinical/practicum rotations, students must:

Maintain proof of an unencumbered, current license to practice as a Registered Nurse in Tennessee or the state in which approved clinical assignments are completed. the clinical assignments are completed.
If a current student is relocating out of state, they must contact the Graduate Nursing Coordinator for approval to attend clinical. Due to individual state Board of Nursing regulations, clinical rotations cannot be completed in all states.
Hold personal health insurance.
Hold personal professional liability insurance (1/6 million), please check with the MSN Clinical Coordinator prior to purchasing.
Must present proof of immunity to or documentation of complete immunization series for MMR, Varicella, and Hepatitis B.*
Must provide documentation of current Tdap and Flu immunizations.*
Must provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination.*
Must provide documentation of current TB test to include initial two step tuberculin skin test or one-step blood test.
Undergo a criminal background check within 90 days of first clinical rotation start date.
Complete annual HIPAA and OSHA safety training.
Provide health history and physical examination documentation within 90 days of the first clinical rotation start date.
Provide evidence of current health care provider CPR certification through the American Heart Association.
Must follow the procedures to complete affiliation agreements.
If a clinical site has additional requirements, the student must meet those additional requirements in order to attend. This may include, but is not limited to drug testing, additional titers/immunizations, fingerprinting, N95 fit test, etc.
If a student does not comply with the clinical requirements by the published due date, enrollment in clinical courses will be delated.
Students may submit a vaccination decliniation form; however, the declination must be approved by every clinical facility attended each semester. Please be aware that clinical agendies may refuse to allow students to complete clinical experiences if students have not completed all facility-required health requirements or do not have an approved vaccine declinication form on file.

Graduate Nursing Specific Policies

The Graduate Nursing program has certain policies that are more rigorous than those that exist for other graduate programs (See the Graduate University Academic Regulations ). Please see the Graduate Student Guidelines (Handbook) for more details.

Program Length: MSN students must complete all degree requirements within 12 full academic semesters (including summers).

Progression: Once accepted into the Graduate Nursing program, students must enroll every semester as indicated on the plan of study and make satisfactory progress toward the degree. A student who does not enroll for a semester must submit a re-enrollment request. Re-enrolled/Re-admitted students must follow the most current Graduate Nursing Student Guidelines (Handbooks) and APSU Graduate Bulletin requirements, including any updated policies and prerequisities.

Withdrawals: MSN students may no exceed three course withdrawals while enrolled in the program. After the third withdrawal, the student will be placed on academic probation. A fourth withdrawal will result in dismissal from the program. Students who withdrawal from a course after the “last day to drop or withdraw” from a class as indicated on the academic calendar will receive a ‘W’ grade only if their current course average is 80% or greater.

Incomplete Grades: The grade of “I” (incomplete) will only be assigned if a student is unable to complete coursework due to rare and extraordinary events that were unforeseeable at the start of the semester and beyond the student’s control. All “I” grades myst be pre-approved by the Graduate Nursing Coordinator, and coursework must be completed within 60 days, or the “I” will convert to an “F”. For clinical courses, at least 80% of clinical hours must be completed before an “I” grade will be considered. Students may not progress in the program until the “I” is converted to a passing grade.

Comprehenive Exam Requirement: Every graduate nursing student must pass a final comprehensive examination before graduation. This exam measures role competency and emphasizes the student’s area of concentration. It is administered during the sesmeter in which the students expects to graduate. Students must be registered during the semester the exam is taken. Those who do not pass the exam in their expected graduation semester must enroll in NURS 5992 the following semester and complete a remediation plan before retaking the exam.

Program CIP Code

31.51.3801.00

Program Modality

Online

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Family Nurse Practitioner Concentration

Demonstrate safe, quality, and effective care in the Primary Care environment.
Demonstrate effective clinical reasoning in the management of patient-centered care.
Demonstrate knowledge of ethical decision making in patient management.
Demonstrate patient advocacy using effective communication.
Demonstrate the ability to use evidence-based decision making in the primary care environment.
Demonstrate the ability to use scientific inquiry as a basis for clinical decision making and quality improvement in clinical practice.
Demonstrate knowledge of community and population health in a practice setting.
Demonstrate advanced role development, professional behaviors, and leadership competency, including effective communication and collaboration in the sage care of patients across the lifespan.
Integrate appropriate technologies for knowledge management to improve health care.

Nurse Educator Concentration

Demonstrate competence in developing, implementing, revising, and evaluating nursing curricula among individuals and groups using relevant theories of nursing, teaching and learning, evaluation, and technological innovation.
Apply educational theory and research to the development and evaluation of nursing and healthcare curricula.
Analyze the impact of societal and technological changes on nursing education.
Analyze evidence-based research to guide decisions in selecting education interventions to improve nursing practice, patient outcomes, safety, and population health.
Demonstrate knowledge of the tropartite role in educational environments of higher learning.
Demonstrate advanced role development, ethical and professional behaviors, and leadership competency, including effective communication, collaboration, and advocacy in the care of diverse patients across the life/span.
Demonstrate graduate level clinical knowledge and expertise to execute safe and effective patient-focused assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation in a specialized clinical area of nursing.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Concentration

Use evidence and practice guidelines to create a safe, quality, and effective care environment.
Apply effective clinical reasoning in the management of patient-centered care.
Practice ethical decision making in patient management.
Apply patient advocacy and effective communication in diverse clinical settings.
Demonstrate evidence-based decision making in the clinical setting.
Formulate the ability to use scientific inquiry as a basis for clinical decision-making and quality improvement in clinical practice.
Assess community and population health in the clinical setting.
Demonstrate advanced role development, professional behaviors, and leadership competency, including effective communication and collaboration in the care of diverse patients across the lifespan.
Integrate appropriate technologies for knowledge management to improve health care.