Curriculum
The master's curriculum is organized by clinical specialty.
The first year of the Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing is described here.
All course descriptions are listed in numerical order in the section entitled Course Listings. Required courses for each specialty are listed in the description of each specialty. The charts describe schedules for full-time study. The course plan for scheduled part-time study may be obtained from the Student Affairs Office. The School reserves the right to offer course substitutions and to amend the overall curriculum.
Fall-term courses are noted by "a'' following the course number, spring-term by "b,'' and summer-term courses by "c.'' Yearlong courses have no letter designation.
Elective courses: Students may elect School of Nursing courses offered by specialties other than the one in which they are enrolled or by other schools or departments within Yale University, with the permission of the course instructor and of their specialty director.
Clinical Specialties
The Master's program is designed to prepare effective nurse clinicians and nurse scholars capable of improving practice through sound clinical judgment and scholarly inquiry.
In general, the first year in all clinical specialties includes basic clinical skill development, assessment and therapies, theories and concepts in nursing practice, and an introduction to research.
The final year provides advanced clinical management skills, role development, integration of practice and theory, concepts of leadership, consultation, teaching, change, and policy.
Students have the opportunity to take electives across specialties within the School and in other schools in the University.
The specialties offered in the Master's program are
- Adult Advanced Practice Nursing, with Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Oncology Nurse Practitioner options available
- Adult, Family, Gerontological, and Women's Health Primary Care
- Nurse-Midwifery
- Nursing Management, Policy and Leadership
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, with a Chronic Illness concentration available
- Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, with a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner option
Students may elect one of two additional concentrations once a clinical specialty has been selected.
Concentrations offered are:
- Diabetes Care
- Health Care Ethics
See these individual concentration descriptions for further information.
Each student is assigned a faculty adviser who is a clinical expert in the student's chosen field of specialization.
Within the specialty area, emphasis is placed upon the development of clinical judgment.
In addition to clinical experience, conferences with individual faculty advisers, group conferences with specialty faculty members, and courses presenting scientific data and content relevant to the specialty area provide opportunity for in-depth study.
The required research courses in the years of specialization build upon experiences and learning in the clinical area.
The courses in nursing research and statistics aid students in formulating nursing questions, selecting and developing appropriate techniques of measurement, and applying appropriate statistical techniques including computer analysis.
Through a critical review of the literature, the second-term research methods seminar assists students in identifying problems for examination and in preparing a scholarly inquiry praxis.
During the final year the student is expected to expand and consolidate knowledge and skill in the specialty and to assume increasing independent responsibility for management of patients and/or systems.
In addition to the required curriculum, elective courses are available in the School of Nursing, the Graduate School, and other professional schools within the University that provide theoretical preparation in areas of education and administration, research, advanced clinical work, or further study in related fields.
The student prepares a program of study in consultation with a faculty adviser.
All students are required to complete a scholarly inquiry praxis for the M.S.N.
degree.
Three options are available for students to meet academic requirements for the scholarly inquiry praxis.
They include the state of the science paper, the master's thesis, and the research utilization or change project.
Students choose one praxis advisor who has primary responsibility for the direction of the scholarly inquiry praxis.
Upon completion of clinical specialties, graduates are eligible to sit for certification through credentialing agencies.
Nursing research courses
The nursing research courses provide core curriculum in research methods and statistics for all enrolled master's students. The sequence of required courses taken during the first year of clinical specialization (525a/b, 529a) is designed to prepare the student to undertake a systematic investigation of a clinical problem. These required courses include emphasis on research methods and design, analysis of data, and application of principles in the development of a specific research plan. The scholarly inquiry praxis, which is to be completed in the final year of specialization (721a/b), is designed to provide a learning experience in which the student integrates knowledge of clinical management, scholarly inquiry, and leadership in the course of identifying a researchable problem. Specific information on the preparation of the written component of the scholarly inquiry praxis is provided by the associate dean for academic affairs.
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Applying to the Master's Program
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