Degrees Offered
PhD, DNP, MS, Postbaccalaureate Certificates
Program Description
The School of Nursing prepares students to positively impact and provide distinguished leadership in the health care field. Our rigorous programs provide opportunities for students seeking an entry into practice degree or those wishing to specialize in a variety of areas.
Postbaccalaureate Certificates
A certificate from the nursing school offers experience in emerging fields without completion of an entire degree program.
All certificates are a minimum of 12 credits. Current students in a degree program are able to share two courses between the degree and certificate. There are four certificate options:
- Environmental Health: This certificate prepares nurses to take on environmental health duties within a wide range of health care settings from local and state health departments to regulatory agencies and nonprofit/ advocacy organizations.
- Global Health: This certificate is an inclusive interprofessional certificate offered to nurses and other health professionals to build the competencies and skills needed for a global health career. Students will receive a practical global health travel experience as part of the certificate program.
- Nursing Informatics: Information technology innovations in health care have led to an increasing demand for nursing specialists with a firm grounding in informatics. This certificate was created to meet that need.
- Teaching in Nursing and Health Professions: The need for quality nursing and health care faculty has never been greater. This certificate concentrates on building essential knowledge and skills to prepare students in the most essential of roles: teacher.
Master’s Degree
The Master of Science program offers specialization options for nurses who hold a baccalaureate degree in nursing and provides an entry into practice option for those who hold a baccalaureate degree in another field. All students complete 12 credits of graduate core courses with additional credits in their area. The curriculum, including core, specialty, research, and elective components, offers preparation in a variety of specialty areas, including:
- Clinical Nurse Leader: This option prepares students with a baccalaureate or higher degree in a field other than nursing for entry into nursing practice as a clinical nurse leader (CNL). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, in collaboration with practice and academic leaders, developed the CNL role to better prepare nurses to participate in improving the quality of health care. The CNL provides direct patient care, assesses risks, collaborates in planning care for patients in a variety of settings, and evaluates patient outcomes.
- Community and Public Health Nursing: This master’s specialty will prepare you for advanced practice in community/public health nursing with a focus on health promotion and disease prevention. Graduates of this program are able to implement core public health principles and practice in a variety of settings, including local and state health departments, federal, state, and nongovernmental agencies, and schools. Graduates also are eligible for certification as Advanced Public Health- Nurse Board Certified.
- Health Services Leadership and Management: The HSLM specialty prepares students to actively meet the complex and evolving challenges facing leaders in today’s health care environment. Students will be taught to combine the business of health care with the compassion of nursing. Students have the option to select from one of the following concentrations: HSLM, HSLM Education, HSLM Business (MS/MBA dual degree).
- Nursing Informatics: Increasing demand for the adoption of electronic information systems is creating a growing need for nursing informatics in health care organizations and businesses that develop and sell health care information technology. This program prepares students to analyze nursing/health care information requirements, design system alternatives, manage information technology, identify and implement user-training strategies, and evaluate the effectiveness of clinical and/or management information systems in health care. Students also will be prepared to be leaders in the conceptualization, design, and research of computer- based information systems in health care organizations and the informatics industry.
- Nursing and Public Health: The Master of Science/Master of Public Health (MS/MPH) dual-degree option will prepare students for a diverse range of careers in nursing and public health. It’s available to students in all graduate nursing specialties. Students in the program have the opportunity to earn both degrees in less time — and at less cost — than if they pursued each degree separately. Students choose one of the MS nursing specialties and receive a MPH from the School of Medicine. Each school awards the degree separately.
Program Outcomes:
Graduates of the MS program are prepared to:
- Incorporate scientific inquiry and theoretical concepts into efforts to improve care to individuals and communities.
- Lead evidence-based and interprofessional approaches for the design and delivery of comprehensive, culturally competent care to individuals/families, communities, and populations.
- Participate in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health care systems to foster safety and excellence in health care delivery.
- Engage in ethically sound, culturally sensitive, and evidence-based practice to promote the health of individuals and communities.
- Commit to lifelong learning for self and promote lifelong learning to consumers.
- Practice advanced nursing roles in collaborative relationships across disciplines and in partnership with communities (i.e., nursing education, nursing administration, nursing informatics, advanced clinical practice, and clinical nursing leadership).
Doctoral Degrees
Two options are available for nurses seeking a terminal doctoral degree: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). For information on the DNP, visit the University of Maryland School of Nursing website: www.nursing.umaryland.edu/academics/doctoral/dnp/.
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing
This program is designed to meet the educational needs of students who are committed to playing a significant role in the continuing discovery, amplification, and refinement of nursing knowledge. The program’s purpose is to prepare scholars and researchers who will advance the theoretical and empirical basis for nursing and expand research design and methodology. Specialty courses allow students to develop individualized programs of study.
Graduates from the PhD program will be prepared to:
- Design, conduct, analyze, and disseminate research findings to expand knowledge in nursing and related disciplines.
- Initiate, facilitate, and participate in interdisciplinary research with nurses and scholars from related disciplines.
- Assume leadership roles in academic and health care settings.
Ideal candidates for the PhD program are bachelor’s- or master’s-prepared nurses who are interested in a research career. Non-nurses will be considered based on their research interests and match with research faculty. Research areas include:
- Healthy aging
- Cardiovascular health
- Chronic pain and symptom management
- Health systems outcomes
- Occupational and environmental health
- Palliative and end-of-life care
- Biological and psychosocial health
- Substance abuse
- Maternal and neonatal outcomes
- Cellular and genetic disease mechanisms
Program Admissions
Admission requirements vary depending on the program. All admission criteria are located on the School of Nursing website: http://www.nursing.umaryland.edu/admissions/.
Degree Requirements
Student must maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 to remain in good standing in the program. A complete description of progression guidelines and degree requirements is provided in the Degree Requirements section of this catalog. Students also must adhere to the policies and guidelines outline in the nursing school’s student handbook.
Certificate Curriculum
Required Courses – Environmental Health
(12 total credits)
NURS 730
| | |
NURS 735
| | |
NURS 764
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
Required Courses – Global Health
(12 total credits)
| PREV 664 | CRITICAL ISSUES IN GLOBAL HEALTH | 3 |
| Or | |
NRSG 664
| | |
| | |
NURS 769
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
NRSG 610
| | |
NRSG 611
| | |
PREV 664/NRSG 664: interprofessional course
Required Courses – Nursing Informatics
(18-19 total credits)
NURS 786
| | |
NURS 736
| | |
NURS 785
| | |
NURS 784
| | |
NURS 737
| | |
NURS 738
| | |
Required Courses – Teaching In Nursing and Health Profession (12 Total Credits)
NURS 787
| | 3 |
NURS 791
| | 3 |
NURS 792
| | 3 |
NURS TBD
| | |
Master’s Curriculum
Required Core (12 credits)
NRSG 780
| | |
NURS 782
| | |
NRSG 790
| | |
NRSG 795
| | |
Required Courses – Clinical Nurse Leader
(65 total credits)
NURS 501
| | |
NURS 503
| | |
NURS 505
| | |
NURS 507
| | |
NURS 514
| | |
NURS 625
| | |
NRSG 736
| | |
NURS 509
| | |
NURS 517
| | |
NURS 508
| | |
NURS 511
| | |
NURS 523
| | |
Required Courses – Community/Public Health Nursing (38 total credits)
NURS 761
| | |
NURS 769
| | |
NURS 671
| | |
NURS 732
| | |
NURS 762
| | |
NURS 730
| | |
NURS 730
| | |
NURS 733
| | |
NURS 753
| | |
Required Courses – Health Services Leadership and Management (38 total credits)
HSLM Core
NURS 690
| | |
NURS 691
| | |
NURS 692
| | |
NURS 695
| | |
NURS 736
| | |
HSLM Focus
NURS TBD
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
HSLM Education Focus
NURS 787
| | 3 |
NURS 791
| | 3 |
NURS TBD
| | |
MS/MBA dual degree (68 total credits for both degrees)
NURS 691
| | |
NURS 692
| | |
NURS 736
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
| Business course (at selected school of business) | |
NURS 695
| | |
Required Courses – Nursing Informatics
(40 total credits)
NURS 690
| | |
NURS 691
| | |
NURS 736
| | |
NURS 786
| | |
NURS 784
| | |
NURS 785
| | |
NURS 737
| | |
NURS 738
| | |
NURS 770
| | |
Required Courses – Nursing and Public Health
(total credits range*)
PH 600
| | |
| Or | |
NURS 671
| | |
| | |
PH 621
| | |
PH 668
| | |
PH 648
| | |
PH 610
| | |
PH 789
| | |
| PREV 803 | CLINICAL TRIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL EPIDMIOLOGY | 3 |
| PREV 659 | OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES IN EPIDEMIOLOGY | 3 |
| PREV 720 | STATISTICAL METHODS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY | 3 |
NURS TBD
| | |
* Depending on the specialty; additional credits maybe necessary to meet the core requirements.
Doctor of Philosophy Curriculum
(60 total credits)
NURS 840
| | |
NURS 850
| | |
NURS 851
| | |
NURS 802
| | |
NURS 841
| | |
NURS 814
| | |
NURS 815
| | |
NURS 818
| | |
NURS 819
| | |
NURS 811
| | |
NURS 816
| | |
NURS TBD
| | |
* Includes 12 dissertation credits
TBD: Course numbers to be determined.