Below is an outline of the online nursing courses required to earn the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree from Our Lady of the Lake University located in San Antonio, Texas. The curriculum incorporates the latest research to address emerging trends and challenges in the nursing profession and prepare you to meet those needs as a nurse administrator or nurse educator. The MSN degree requires a total of 33 credit hours and can be earned entirely online in about two years.
MSN Core Courses
NURS 6311Theoretical Foundations of Nursing
This course evaluates different theories and philosophies of nursing and related disciplines and determines how applicable they are to diverse healthcare settings, including education, research and practice.
NURS 6312 Nursing Research
This class prepares advanced practice nurses to use research as a tool to improve patient care. The use of different measurement and data-collection techniques, statistical procedures, data analysis, and research evaluation will all be explored.
LEAD 6321 Leadership Strategies and Processes
Using strategic planning, nurses in this course will learn to design effective organizational structures and control complex systems in organizations.
LEAD 6310 Introduction to Leadership Theories
Historical and contemporary theories regarding leadership of groups and individuals are the focus of this class, with emphasis on the application of those theories to actual leadership situations.
MSN Nurse Administration Courses
NURS 6323 Nursing Leadership Theory and Practice
This course applies advanced concepts of leadership to specific healthcare scenarios including financial management, healthcare law and policy, and managed care operations. Students will also focus on the management of culturally diverse nursing personnel in a variety of healthcare settings.
NURS 6324 Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse Leader
This class explores the role of the advanced practice nurse as an expert clinician, educator, consultant, researcher, and administrator. Students will also examine the historical, social, political, philosophical, cultural, and economic forces that helped define the role.
NURS 7614 Nursing Leadership Practicum
In this practicum, students will work one-on-one with a nurse leader in their own organization or community to apply and evaluate the concepts of nurse leadership and management in real-world practice.
HCMG 7361 Healthcare Finance
An overview of the financial management of healthcare organizations, this course explores topics including reimbursement strategies, managed care contracting financial arrangements and implications, cost control, capital budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, financial ratio analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and financial modeling.
HCMG 7380 Managed Care for Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid Populations
This course examines ongoing managed care market penetration and the strategic response of hospitals and other providers. Emerging managed care products and competing alternative delivery systems are compared to build expertise in the delivery of the full spectrum of health services today and in the future.
LEAD 6363 Oral Communications for Leaders
From effective meeting management and briefings to speeches in front of groups large and small, this class hones students’ oral presentations skills in formal and informal settings. Students will be required to make impromptu presentations using critical thinking skills while engaging in back-and-forth exchanges with professors and fellow students.
LEAD 6322 Critical Thinking and Problem Analysis for Leaders
Methods of decision-making and scenario planning are explored in detail in this course. Students will study the principles of logic, critical thinking, problem definition and decision theory that leaders use to make decisions and identify alternative solutions to common and complex problems.
Nurse Education Courses
NURS 6315 Nursing Curriculum
This course provides an overview of curriculum design in nursing education. Research related to curricular development will be explored and students will learn how to pose and answer questions about curriculum design.
NURS 6317 Teaching Strategies in Nursing Education
With an emphasis on adult learners, this class will build students’ repertoire of teaching strategies appropriate for traditional and non-traditional education settings. Service to diversified student bodies, multiple learning styles and intelligence levels, and effective integration of technology will all be explored.
NURS 6319 Evaluation Methodologies
Proper evaluation of nursing students in the classroom, in the clinical simulation laboratory, and in clinical experience is examined in detail in this course. Specific plans for evaluation are compared, such as multiple choice testing, simulation testing, and formative and summative evaluative models.
NURS 6321 Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse Educator
With an emphasis on nurse education, this class explores the historical and philosophical aspects of the advanced practice nurse as a clinician, consultant, researcher, and administrator. Students use the National League of Nursing (NLN) Essentials for Nursing Faculty to prepare themselves to be competent, knowledgeable nurse educators.
NURS 7612 Nursing Education Practicum
In this practicum, students will be paired with a working nurse educator in either academic nursing education or professional nursing staff development, depending on the student’s desired career path. Previously learned strategies for curriculum development, evaluation and research will be applied in real-world situations.
PSYC 5371G Adult Learning: Theories and Techniques
This course focuses on adult learning in non-academic settings with emphasis on program design and implementation.
EDUC 6304 Multicultural Foundations of Education
This class examines how variations in beliefs, traditions and values across cultures influence learning. Cultural diversity, linguistic diversity and exceptional learners' specific needs are reviewed, and effective communications skills and collaborative procedures are examined as part of a total educational program.
To learn more about the Master of Science in Nursing classes at Our Lady of the Lake University, call 855-275-1082 to speak with an admissions advisor or request more information.
