Are you curious about an advanced career in nursing? Then you might want to decide on a specialty or pursue a career in research. Some advanced nursing students also take on joint degrees in related fields such as business administration or public health to move into administrative positions upon graduation with a master’s degree in nursing.

Requirements for entering a master’s degree program in nursing often include a BSN from an accredited nursing school, an RN license and minimum GPA (grade point average) scores. Also, many graduate schools for nursing may prefer a student who has had some work experience in clinical nursing. Your past experiences and your commitment to a specialty can help greatly in deciding your future path.

The RN with an advanced degree often moves into an administrative position or into research. The business side of health care often needs an experienced and well-trained nurse, possibly one with a dual MSN/MBA degree, to help equip health care teams to manage ambulatory, acute, home-based, and chronic care. Employers, including hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and managed care organizations, among others, need RNs with advanced degrees for health planning and development, marketing, consulting, policy development, and quality assurance. Other nurses work as college and university faculty or conduct research.

According to the AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing), advanced practice nurses (APNs) include the following four categories of clinicians:

• Nurse Practitioners (NP), or nurses who can conduct many of the tasks that doctors historically have performed. Many NPs work in pediatrics, family health, women’s health, and other specialties, and some have private practices. Nurse practitioners can prescribe medications in all states, while 25 states have given NPs authority to practice independently without physician collaboration or supervision.
• Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), or nurses who can provide acute care and mental health services as well as develop quality assurance procedures and serve as educators and consultants.
• Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM) are nurses who provide prenatal and gynecological care to normal healthy women.
• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CNRA), a nurse who administers anesthetics to patients in operating or emergency rooms.

Many RNs pursue additional education to become researchers as well. These nurses usually study ways to improve nursing methods and to evaluate patterns of patient care and more. Psychiatrist nurse practitioners often perform many advanced medical functions that psychiatrists were permitted to do.

More sophisticated procedures, once performed only in hospitals, are being performed in physicians’ offices and in outpatient care centers, such as freestanding ambulatory surgical and emergency centers. Accordingly, employment is expected to grow quickly in these places as health care in general expands. This movement provides an opportunity for nurses with advanced degrees, especially those nurses who can perform duties that doctors performed in the past.

New treatments and new ways of treating patients, new medicines and new procedures provide breakthroughs in medical science. A nurse with an advanced degree can stay abreast of new developments with further education and with a top-level job. Although all nurses take continuing education courses on a regular basis, your master’s degree can carry you further than you dared dream with your BSN.

MSN - Adult Nursing MSN - Clinical Nursing MSN - Nurse Midwifery MSN - Women's Health More...	University of Cincinnati — The University of Cincinnati's online nursing programs knows no geographic bounds. Cinci offers several online master's degree programs in nursing, including MSN in clinical nursing, MSN in adult nursing, MSN in nurse midwifery, MSN in nursing administration, MSN in psychiatric health nursing, and MSN in women's health. Students of these programs are required to be BSN holders with some nursing experience.
RN to MS in Nursing MSN - Informatics MSN - Education MSN - Leadership BSN to MS in Nursing	Walden University — Walden University provides nurses with the unique opportunity to advance their careers through master's programs for registered nurses. Specialties include informatics, education, leadership and a general course to help you acquire the knowledge to educate nursing students, staff and patients-and prepare for current and future career opportunities. Walden also offers several BSN to MSN programs.
MS in Nursing MSN - Health Education MSN - Informatics MSN - Health Administration MSN - Healthcare Mgmt	University of Phoenix — The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of registered nurses with baccalaureate-degree preparation. Coursework covers advanced nursing content and process, as well as leadership skills, teaching experience and the ability to manage health care systems. Areas of specialty within their MSN program include health education, informatics, health administration, and healthcare management.
Dual Degree: MSN/MBA MSN - Nurse Education MSN - Nurse Leadership	Grand Canyon University — Earn your dual master's degree in business and nursing, along with specialties in clinical care, education, family nurse practitioner, or nursing leadership at Grand Canyon University's college of nursing and health sciences. Each course can provide you with the skills and techniques you need to become the best in your field.
RN to BSN to MSN MSN - Psychiatric Nurse MSN - Clinical Trials MSN - Adult Acute Care More...	Drexel University — The RN to BSN to MSN track offered by Drexel University is a cutting-edge program that allows students to work on their bachelor's degree while simultaneously pursuing their master's. Students enrolling in this program must be a licensed registered nurse with some prior college experience, perhaps an associate's degree. MSN programs offered: adult acute care, adult psychiatric and mental health, clinical trials research, contemporary nursing faculty, innovation and intra/entrepreneurship in advanced nursing practice, and nursing leadership in health systems management.
MSN - Nurse Education	Graceland University — The 40-credit MSN nurse educator program from Graceland University is CCNE accredited, with online courses lasting eight weeks per session. The curriculum, which includes courses in advanced health assessment, education technology, and issues in nursing education, is designed with the working RN in mind, as students are able to complete the degree from home after hours.
MS in Nursing	Liberty University — Learn how to provide expert clinical care and related health care services to individuals, families and groups of people across the lifespan in a variety of acute care and community settings through Liberty University's Master of Science in Nursing program. Liberty University incorporates core Christian values into all of their degree offerings in order to provide all students a thorough academic and spiritually enriching program of study.
MS in Nursing	Saint Xavier University — For nurses looking for a more advanced role in the workplace, consider the online MSN degree program from Saint Xavier University, which offers a Clinical Nurse Leader focus. Graduates of this program will be prepared to critically assess patient data and treatment options as well as coordinate with doctors and other nurses.
RN to MSN MSN - Informatics MSN - Case Management MSN - Leadership MSN - Infection Prevention	American Sentinel University — For registered nurses looking for further advancement in their careers, the RN to MSN degree programs offered by American Sentinel University offer the learning experience required to advance in nursing informatics, case management, organizational leadership, infection prevention, and more. Students of this program complete 21 undergraduate credits plus 36 graduate-level credits to obtain their degrees.
MS in Nursing MSN - Nurse Administration MSN - Nurse Education	Kaplan University — Earn your M.S. in Nursing with a specialty in nurse administration or nurse education with an online degree from Kaplan University. The Master of Science in Nursing is also a foundation for future doctoral studies, and these online programs makes it easy for you to keep working while you study.
MSN - Nurse Educator MSN - Nurse Educator Bridge	Capella University — The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs from Capella University Online are geared toward BSN graduates currently working as registered nurses (RNs). They offer MSN - Nurse Educator and MSN - Nurse Educator Bridge programs. For those wishing for a flexible and affordable plan to take their nursing careers to the next level, Capella is a very sound choice.
MSN - Nurse Administration MSN - Nurse Education	Norwich University — Norwich University offers master's in nursing degree programs in nurse administration and nursing education. Graduates of each of these programs will be well skilled in healthcare communication, critical thinking, and nursing leadership. Both programs consist of 36 credit hours of online coursework divided into six online seminars.
MS in Nursing	Benedictine University — Benedictine offers an MS in Nursing program that prepares students with the expert nursing knowledge and skill they will need to become specialized nurse practitioners in a variety of healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinical care units, and doctors' offices.
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