Working as an acute care nurse can be stressful, but this is also one of the most rewarding jobs in the nursing industry. One of the best ways to advance in your career as an acute care nurse is to become a nurse practitioner, which is a higher-level RN. To do this, you need to pursue a master of science in nursing, which is a degree program offered by many colleges both online and offline.

As an acute care nurse, you’ll have the chance to work in a number of settings, such as emergency rooms, labs, clinics, intensive care units, and private practices. With acute care, the patients you’ll care for are deeply ill or injured, and you may have to make life-or-death decisions under time constraints. You education will prepare you for dealing with these stressful situations.

You’ll also learn more about medicine so that you can diagnose and treat patients with problems are a more severe level than you could as an RN with an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree. One of the things you’ll learn as an acute care nurse in a nurse practitioner program is how to assess a problem to determine whether you can deal with it yourself or whether a doctor is needed.

Many nurse practitioners also go on to work in supervisory roles, so your education may include courses on finance management, administration, public relations, ethics, human resources, informatics, leadership, organization, and other topics relating to business administration and management. As an acute care nurse with an MSN, you can also go on to pursue a doctorate degree in your field, so your options are wide open in this industry.

Online MSN Degrees in Acute Care for Nurse Practitioners

• Drexel University — BSN to MSN – Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
• Liberty University — MSN – Acute Care

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.
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.
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.
MS in Nursing Accelerated RN to MSN MSN - Adult Health MSN - Nurse Education	South University — The degrees offered by South University – MS in nursing, accelerated RN to MSN, MSN - adult health nurse practitioner, and MSN - nurse educator – provide future students a variety of options for achieving a position in health care leadership. The curriculum for these programs enables registered nurses seeking to advance their careers by enhancing the knowledge you use as a registered nurse, develop clinical skills, and learn how to incorporate research in their clinical practice.
MSN - Clinical Nurse Leader MSN - Patient Care Services MSN - Nurse Education	Sacred Heart University — The Sacred Heart University MSN - clinical nurse leadership (CNL) program is designed to prepare graduates to deal with the complex problems facing the health care delivery system. The curriculum includes courses in patient safety, quality of care, and costs. Graduates are eligible to sit for the newly developed CNL certification exam. The MSN programs in nurse education and patient care services administration add further options for future nurse leaders.
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.
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.
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 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	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.
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	Chamberlain College of Nursing — The Chamberlain College of Nursing MS in mursing (MSN) program offers students an environment of collaboration and co-curricular learning. Chamberlain College features a dynamic curriculum that trains graduates for success in leadership roles in hospital, clinic, and home care settings.
See more Masters in Nursing degrees...