Earning a Master’s in Nursing Programs in Oregon is the first step in moving beyond the responsibilities of an RN position to a leadership or teaching position in the field of nursing. While many master’s level nurses continue to practice, most accept leadership or nurse practitioner positions, teaching positions or specialize in areas such as midwifery, community health, nurse anesthesia, psychiatric mental health or gerontological nursing. Earning a master’s degree allows the professional nurse to move beyond being a generalist and develop a specialization. The following institutions offer accredited and high-quality master’s in nursing programs in the state of Oregon.
Oregon Health and Science University
School of Nursing
The School of Nursing at the Oregon Health and Science University offers a wealth of programs designed to respond to the national and worldwide nursing shortage. The department offers an accelerated bachelors, a three-year BSN and two community college transition programs. In addition, there are 11 master’s and post-master’s programs, a DNP program and a PhD in nursing option. The school is focusing on an inter professional initiate at the university, where team-based patient-centered care is the program standard. Students in the nursing programs will collaborate and train with students from other professional tracks, including dentistry, medicine and pharmacy, in order to train nurses to work as part of a collaborative health care team.
The School of Nursing is also undergoing a massive research initiative in cancer survivorship research, with over $6 million in funding. The university has completed over 15 studies in cancer survivorship, with the most recent one involving a study on the safety of exercise for cancer survivors.
Master in Nursing Programs
At OHSU, there is a large selection of MSN programs, including a BSN-MSN program in midwifery or psychiatric mental health, and MSNs in pediatric nurse practitioner (primary or acute care), family nurse practitioner, nurse anesthesia, nurse-midwifery, psychiatric mental health nursing, health systems and organizational leadership, nursing education and adult gerontology acute care PMCO). Each of these programs can be completed in two years, and many programs also offer an option to complete a DNP in one additional year. There are also post-master’s certificates in nurse-midwifery, psychiatric mental health or family nurse practice available as well.
The pediatric nurse practitioner track is for individuals wishing to specialize in pediatric care for children from birth to 21 years of age. This program has both a primary care track and an acute care track, while the family nurse practitioner speciality combines both acute and primary care into one program. There is also a combined track available for the pediatric specialization. Both programs allow nurses to take on some of the responsibilities once reserved for doctors, including basic medical care, disease prevention and diagnosis.
The psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner specialization is for those wishing to work with children, adolescents, adults and the elderly in a variety of mental health settings. Following the completion of this hybrid online/offline program, nurses will be licensed as a PMHNP. The psychiatric mental health nursing program has earned national accolades for its emphasis on primary mental healthcare. Students in the program receive education on the biological and neurophysiological vulnerabilities related to mental health, as well as the psychological, social, developmental and environmental factors that may contribute to mental health diagnoses.
The nurse anesthesia program is also a hybrid program, with some courses offered online. This 27 month program prepares nurses for the highly challenging role as a nurse anesthesiologist. This is one of the most rigorous programs in the School of Nursing, and it is also one of the most clinically focused. Students in the program take part in weekly lab sessions in the clinical simulation center, as well as in clinical rotations that expose students to a variety of anesthesia experiences.
The nurse midwifery program is for those interested in working with women during pregnancy and childbirth and involves more than 1000 hours of supervised clinical experience. A nurse midwife can also provide education on sexual health to members of the local community. Nurse midwives are able to deliver infants and work with healthy pregnancies, but they are also trained to detect problems that may require perinatology or neonatology experts.
The organizational leadership track is for nurses that wish to pursue leadership roles in hospitals, clinics and community organizations, while the nursing education track prepares nurses to teach at the university level, as well as in community education programs. The nursing education speciality can also be combined with the psychiatric and mental health nursing, community health nursing and adult gerontological nursing tracks. The program can be completed using a variety of formats, including distance learning, video learning and three day face-to-face intensives.
Finally, the adult gerontology program is designed for nurses that wish to specialize in treating acute care issues in the elderly population. Nurses in this field are exposed to a variety of acute-care areas of practice, including cardiology, oncology and hematology, surgery, emergency medicine, neurology, radiology, orthopedics, organ transplant, infectious disease and palliative care. Due to the rapidly increasing population of elderly adults, as well as the rising acuity of cases, there is a growing need for adult-gerontology specialists in the field of nursing.
Admissions to the program is highly competitive, with admission decisions being based on several factors, including academic and professional history.
Accreditations
The nursing programs at Oregon Health and Science Center are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (CoA-NA).
Contact
Address line 1
Oregon Health & Science University
School of Nursing Office of Admissions
3455 SW US Veterans Hospital Rd., SN-ADM
Portland, Ore. 97239-2941
[email protected]
866 223-1811
http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-nursing/pr ograms/index.cfm
University of Portland
School of Nursing
The School of Nursing at the University of Portland offers a personalized approach to nursing education, including small class sizes that allow students to receive individualized attention from expert faculty. In addition, the university offers hybrid programs, with monthly campus-based immersion weekends and online course offerings. All programs focus on integrative health using multiple modalities that take into account the holistic needs of the patient.
Recently, the University of Portland’s school of nursing implemented two significant changes in response to the guidelines from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. First, the university developed a Clinical Nurse Leader master’s degree program. Second, the university converted the advanced practice nursing programs from the mater’s level to the clinical doctoral level in order to ensure that all advanced practice nurses are fully prepared and qualified to lead nurses in a new, fast-paced and rapidly changing medical field.
Master’s in Nursing Programs
The School of Nursing offers two master’s in nursing programs: a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) master’s program and a Nurse Educator (NE) master’s program.
The Clinical Nurse Leader program is a broad-based program that covers a variety of clinical areas. Graduates from the program are qualified to oversee the healthcare of individuals, families and entire populations in clinics, hospitals, community organizations or nonprofit organizations. A CNL is responsible for evaluating client outcomes, planning and implementing care, assessing patient risk and communicates with other healthcare professionals. This program is six semesters long and can be completed in two years. The competitive application process takes into account undergraduate GPA, GRE/MAT testing scores, previous RN experience and professional recommendations.
The Nurse Educator MSN program is designed for nurses that would like to seek positions educating others about healthcare topics. Graduates from the program are often employed at colleges or universities teaching students or in community health organizations providing education to residents about important healthcare topics or current medical crises. Like the CNL program, this is a six semester, two-year program that can be completed through a hybrid program involving online learning and weekend campus-based intensives.
Accreditations
The nursing program at University of Portland is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Contact
University of Portland
School of Nursing
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.
Portland, OR 97203-5798
[email protected]
800-227-4568
Many professional nurses enjoy the challenges and rewards that come with a nursing career. With an advance degree, nurses can enjoy leadership or teaching positions that not only can increase the challenges associated with the job, but also intensify the rewards. The above Master’s in Nursing Programs in Oregon all offer unique programs in areas of specialization that are in-demand in today’s quickly changing medical field.
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