MSN – Masters of Nurturing
A new era in medicine is rapidly overtaking us all. And perhaps it is really an ancient era, wonderfully reborn, just when we need it most.
Nursing at the highest level has overtaken fields of care once absolutely dominated by M.D.’s. The Master’s degree in Nursing, the MSN, has brought this tremendous change in increased availability of care, once the sole domain of the M.D.
Masters programs in Nursing have created highly advanced practice nursing specialties.
Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Midwife, and Psychiatric Nurse— each speciality affords their patients highly-skilled, essential treatment and care.
But can these Master’s-degree-equipped Nurses effectively replace Doctors? Let’s take a look.
The Nurse Practitioner is an internist, and more, and often takes the place of the family M.D., especially in rural centers and social networks.
The Nurse Anesthetist provides stand-alone anesthesia and life support during surgery (often without M.D. Anesthesiologist supervision— in fact, our military employs Nurse Anesthetists solely, without M.D. management.) The Nurse Anesthetist is also a Nurse Practitioner, indicating the solid depth of that Master’s Program in Science.
The Nurse Midwife, equipped with the Master’s, can do any birth delivery except C-sections— as traditional midwifes did, for many thousands of years before there were doctors at all.
The Psychiatric Nurse gives psychotherapy, with intense counseling, rather than drug prescription approach of the M.D. Psychiatrist.
So… Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Midwife, Psychiatric Nurse. These highly important nursing specialties require great depth of skill and knowledge, and they bring duties equal in critical importance to the health work done by Medical Doctors. All of these specialties require at least a master’s degree.
Most Master’s of Nursing programs include about 2 years of full-time study and require a BSN degree for entry; some programs require at least 1 to 2 years of clinical experience as an RN for admission.
There are three major educational paths to qualify for a Master’s program in registered nursing—a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing (BSN), an associate degree in nursing (ADN), and a diploma. BSN programs, offered by colleges and universities, take about 4 years to complete.
In 2006, 709 nursing programs offered degrees at the bachelor’s level. ADN programs, offered by community and junior colleges, take about 2 to 3 years to complete. About 850 RN programs granted associate degrees. Diploma programs, administered in hospitals, last about 3 years.
Only about 70 programs offered diplomas. Generally, licensed graduates of any of the three types of educational programs qualify for entry-level positions.
Many RNs with an ADN or diploma later enter bachelor’s programs to prepare for a broader scope of nursing practice. Often, they can find an entry-level position and then take advantage of tuition reimbursement benefits to work toward a BSN by completing an RN-to-BSN program.
In 2006, there were 629 RN-to-BSN programs in the United States.
Accelerated master’s degree in nursing (MSN) programs also are available by combining 1 year of an accelerated BSN program with 2 years of graduate study. In 2006, there were 149 RN-to-MSN programs.
Individuals considering nursing should carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of enrolling in an MSN program. Their advancement opportunities usually are broader. In fact, some career paths are open only to nurses with a master’s degree— education beyond a bachelor’s degree will qualify you for certain highly-skilled fields, while increasing advancement opportunities.
In 2006, in the USA, 448 nursing schools offered master’s degrees, 108 offered doctoral degrees, and 58 offered accelerated BSN-to-doctoral programs. The M.S.N. curriculum helps nurses hone their research, communication, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills. Students must take about forty credits beyond their undergraduate degree, depending on the program. In general, the M.S.N. requires students to complete a series of nursing courses, clinical work, and research.
Many programs entail the writing and defense of a thesis, while others require a final project. Students’ program of study centers on their area of interest. The M.S.N. usually takes between eighteen and twenty-four months of full-time study to finish, but many institutions offer part-time options.
To enter most M.S.N. programs, Nurses with a B.S.N. from an accredited institution need a satisfactory GPA, a current RN license, clinical experience, and GRE scores. Specific requirements vary by school. The majority of M.S.N. students have a B.S.N., but some accelerated programs are available to RNs (with a diploma or an associate degree in nursing).
So, let’s take a much deeper look into the top 5 MSN programs. (We explore them in no particular order of salary or critical need. Each specialty stands alone.)
- NURSE ANESTHETISTS
In the USA, 106 Master’s programs for Nurse Anesthetists are offered.
Nurse Anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for nearly 150 years. M.D.’s became involved much more recently.
The credential CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) came into existence in 1956. CRNAs are anesthesia professionals who safely administer approximately 30 million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists’ (AANA) 2007 Practice Profile Survey.
CRNAs are the primary anesthesia providers in rural America, enabling healthcare facilities in these medically underserved areas to offer obstetrical, surgical, and trauma stabilization services. In some states, CRNAs are the sole providers in nearly 100 percent of the rural hospitals.
According to a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, anesthesia care is nearly 50 times safer than it was in the early 1980s. Numerous outcomes studies have demonstrated that there is no difference in the quality of care provided by CRNAs and their physician counterparts.*
CRNAs provide anesthesia in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other qualified healthcare professionals. When anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is recognized as the practice of nursing; when administered by an anesthesiologist, it is recognized as the practice of medicine. Regardless of whether their educational background is in nursing or medicine, all anesthesia professionals give anesthesia the same way.
As advanced practice nurses, CRNAs practice with a high degree of autonomy and professional respect. They carry a heavy load of responsibility and are compensated accordingly.
Nurse Anesthetists earn the highest salaries by far of all MSN fields.
CRNAs practice in every setting in which anesthesia is delivered: traditional hospital surgical suites and obstetrical delivery rooms; critical access hospitals; ambulatory surgical centers; the offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists; and U.S. military, Public Health Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities.
Little-known fact— Nurses created the practice of anesthesia. (The concept of “M.D. Anesthesiologist” did not even exist, for the first full century of anesthesia.) Nurse Anesthetists are the true mercy-givers of the Operating Room.
Nurse anesthetists have been the main providers of anesthesia care to U.S. military men and women on the front lines since WWI, including the conflict in Iraq.
Inventive and deeply caring Nurses pioneered anesthesia, moved by the great suffering of wounded soldiers during the American Civil War.
- NURSE MIDWIVES
- Evaluating patients’ conditions and test results.
- Educating women about reproductive health issues.
- Conducting pelvic exams, breast exams, and Pap smears.
- Assisting women with labor and childbirth.
- Providing some neonatal care.
In the USA, there about approx. 39 Master’s programs for Nurse-Midwives.
A nurse midwife is an advanced practice registered nurse who has had training in obstetrics and works under the supervision of an obstetrician. Some nurse midwives can have their own private practice, but most work in hospitals, family planning centers, and the public health service.
Duties often include:
Students must complete all of the education requirements to become a baccalaureate prepared registered nurse. They must then complete additional training that leads to a master’s degree or graduate-level certification. Before beginning practice, they must also pass a written examination given by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
- NURSE PRACTITIONERS
- Diagnosing, treating, evaluating and managing acute and chronic illness and disease (e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure)
- Obtaining medical histories and conducting physical examinations
- Ordering, performing, and interpreting diagnostic studies (e.g., routine lab tests, bone x-rays, EKGs)
- Prescribing physical therapy and other rehabilitation treatments
- Prescribing pharmacologic treatments and therapies for acute and chronic illness (extent of prescriptive authority varies by state regulations)
- Providing prenatal care and family planning services
- Providing well-child care, including screening and immunizations
- Providing primary and specialty care services, health-maintenance care for adults, including annual physicals
- Providing care for patients in acute and critical care settings
- Assisting in minor surgeries and procedures (with additional training and usually under supervision) (e.g., dermatological biopsies, suturing, casting)
- Counseling and educating patients on health behaviors, self-care skills, and treatment options
There were 342 master’s and post-master’s programs offered for Nurse practitioners (NP’s). NP’s provide high-quality, cost-effective individualized care, that is comparable to the health care provided by physicians, and NP services are often covered by insurance providers.
In many states, nurse practitioners work completely independently and autonomously of physicians. In some states, a collaborative agreement with a physician is required for practice, mostly for prescriptions issues.
A Nurse Practitioner’s job may include the following:
- CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALISTS
There are about 230 US master’s and post-master’s programs for clinical nurse specialists.
A clinical nurse specialist (CNS) is an advanced practice nurse, with graduate preparation (earned master’s or doctorate) from a program that prepares CNSs. CNSs are clinical experts in the diagnosis and treatment of illness, and the delivery of evidence-based nursing interventions (ANA, 2004). CNSs work with other nurses to advance their nursing practices and improve outcomes, and provide clinical expertise to effect system-wide changes to improve programs of care.
The three domains of CNS practice, known as the three “spheres of influence” are the patient/family, nursing personnel and system/network organization. The three spheres are overlapping and interrelated, but each sphere possesses a distinctive focus. In each of the spheres of influence, the primary goal of the CNS is continuous improvement of patient outcomes and nursing care.
Within the three domains of CNS practice, seven core competencies are:
-
1. Direct clinical practice includes expertise in advanced assessment, implementing nursing care, and evaluating outcomes.
2. Expert coaching and guidance encompasses modeling clinical expertise while helping nurses integrate new evidence into practice. It also means providing education or teaching skills to patients and family.
3. Collaboration focuses on multidisciplinary team building.
4. Consultation involves reviewing alternative approaches and implementing planned change.
5. Research involves interpreting and using research, evaluating practice, and collaborating in research.
6. Clinical and professional leadership involves responsibility for innovation and change in the patient care system.
7. Ethical decision-making involves influence in negotiating moral dilemmas, allocating resources, directing patient care and access to care.
- PSYCHIATRIC NURSES
Psychiatric nurses are are yet another Master’s degree nursing speciality, one more recent, but a growing field of medicine.
Psychiatric nurses, or Nurse Psychotherapists, have earned a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing. They often work in a hospital setting conducting individual. Sometimes they will work in group therapy with patients, sometimes under the supervision of a psychiatrist.
Increasingly, management-level nursing positions require a graduate or an advanced degree in nursing or health services administration. Administrative positions require leadership, communication and negotiation skills, and good judgment.
The Future of the MSN
The master’s degree is a high achievement. Those who earn it are very highly rewarded, both in higher salary, more job security, and higher responsibility, with prestige relative to the MSN’s greater medical knowledge and specific patient skills.
Some M.S.N. graduates act as specialists in areas that include management, community health, and geriatrics. The master’s degree also prepares students for further study at the doctoral level.
The Master of Science in Nursing offers nurses further specialization in a specific field, allowing them to advance their careers. With a graduate degree, a nurse is well also qualified to serve in a leadership role, at a health-care facility or as a member of a university faculty.
It seems absolutely certain that all advanced Nursing practice (specialties requiring a Master’s Degree)—clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, psychiatric nurse, and nurse anesthetists—will be in VERY high demand, particularly in medically underserved areas such as inner cities and rural areas.
Relative to physicians, these RNs increasingly serve as lower-cost primary care providers. Yet their skills are very high, and they serve where doctors once dominated.
In the coming health care crunch, these Master’s of Nursing will treat an ever-increasing number of patients— serving their communities with dignity and pride and caring.
The MSN may well be the magic ticket to an exponential rise in overall healthcare quality, for all people.
And for those brilliant RN’s— the dedicated nurses who move ahead and earn the MSN degree— their future is greatly enhanced, as well as their powerful new value to society itself.
For information on a career as a registered nurse and nursing education, contact:
- National League for Nursing, 61 Broadway, New York, NY 10006. http://www.nln.org
For information on baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, nursing career options, and financial aid, contact:
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 1 Dupont Circle NW., Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036. http://www.aacn.nche.edu
For information on registered nurses, including credentialing, contact:
- American Nurses Association, 8515 Georgia Ave., Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD 20910. http://nursingworld.org
For information on the NCLEX-RN exam and a list of individual State boards of nursing, contact:
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 111 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 2900, Chicago, IL 60611. http://www.ncsbn.org
For information on the nursing population, including workforce shortage facts, contact:
- Bureau of Health Professions, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 8-05, Rockville, MD 20857. http://bhpr.hrsa.gov
For information on obtaining U.S. certification and work visas for foreign-educated nurses, contact:
- Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, 3600 Market St., Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19104. http://www.cgfns.org
For information on accredited clinical nurse specialist programs, contact:
- National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, 2090 Linglestown Rd., Suite 107, Harrisburg, PA 17110. http://www.nacns.org
For information on nurse anesthetists, including a list of accredited programs, contact:
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, 222 Prospect Ave., Park Ridge, IL 60068.
For information on nurse-midwives, including a list of accredited programs, contact:
- American College of Nurse-Midwives, 8403 Colesville Rd., Suite 1550, Silver Spring, MD 20910. http://www.midwife.org
For information on nurse practitioners, including a list of accredited programs, contact:
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, P.O. Box 12846, Austin, TX 78711. http://www.aanp.org
For information on nurse practitioners education, contact:
- National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, 1522 K St. NW., Suite 702, Washington, DC 20005. http://www.nonpf.org
For information on critical care nurses, contact:
- American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 101 Columbia, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656. http://www.aacn.org
For information on registered nurses in all fields and specialties, contact:
- American Society of Registered Nurses, 1001 Bridgeway, Suite 411, Sausalito, CA 94965. http://www.asrn.org
2 Responses to “MSN – Masters of Nurturing”
Grad2B goes International!
Grad2B has recently expanded to Canada. Keep on the lookout for billboards, TV commercials, and our online promotions!
[...] MSN – Masters of Nurturing- Grad2BShare this on del.icio.usDigg this!Share this on RedditBuzz up!Stumble upon something good? Share it [...]
[...] The Nurse Anesthetist provides stand-alone anesthesia and life support during surgery (often without MD Anesthesiologist supervisionâ in fact, our military employs Nurse Anesthetists solely, without MD management.) The Nurse Anesthetist …Continue Reading [...]