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Program Coordinator: Dr. Annmarie Samar, RN
508-929-8685
email: asamar@worcester.edu
The Master of Science degree in Community Health Nursing
emphasizes professionalism at the graduate level and through
interdisciplinary collaboration with other health care programs
at the College. The graduate of the community health nursing
program will be an advanced practice nurse with a population
wide perspective of health care. This encompasses knowledge
and skills applicable to community or defined populations
within the community.
This graduate program with a specialization in community
health nursing will educate nurses to use more preventive
and health promoting interventions, to counsel and communicate
with individuals, families and aggregate populations, and
to integrate community resources into a creative, collaborative
practice.
Graduates will be prepared to practice as expert clinicians
in a community health environment/public health sector. Students
will apply theoretical knowledge to professional practice,
incorporating areas of research, leadership, management and
education. Graduate study will prepare the student to become
an independent practitioner through immersion in coursework,
application of the research process and integration of acquired
knowledge into fieldwork and clinical practica. A community
health clinical nurse specialist influences policies and standards
that influence the delivery of care and ultimately human health
and wellness.
Through interdisciplinary collaboration students are exposed
to coursework offered jointly by the Department of Nursing
in conjunction with the departments of Business and Health
Science. All courses meet the requirements of the accrediting
body of the National League for Nursing as well as the criteria
for Advanced Practice certification by the American Nurses
Association as Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist.
The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission
61 Broadway-33rd Floor
New York City, NY 10006
800-669-1656 extension 153
Undergraduate program is fully accredited.
Graduate program has a pending initial accreditation visit
in February 2004.
Admission criteria include:
- licensure to practice as a professional nurse
- a baccalaureate degree in Nursing or completion of a bridge
component for RN’s with baccalaureate degrees in other
areas
- introductory or undergraduate courses in statistics and
research
- satisfactory scores on GRE or MAT, taken within the past
five years.
Graduation criteria include:
- successful completion of all coursework
- completion of 500 hours of clinical practicum time in
community health nursing as mandated by the American Nurses
Association for certification as a Community Health Clinical
Nurse Specialist
- successful completion of an oral and written comprehensive
examination
Program Objectives
- Enhance the synthesis of concepts and theories from baccalaureate
nursing education to lead to an integration of knowledge
for application to advanced practice nursing.
- Accelerate the interactive progress of learning by providing
an atmosphere which promotes critical thinking, freedom
of expression, independent judgment and intellectual curiosity.
- Prepare an advanced practice nurse capable of providing
a high level of expertise in the diagnosis and treatment
of complex responses of individuals, families and communities
to actual or potential health problems.
- Create an attitude of valuing learning, research, scholarship
and service as professional activities.
- Provide a foundation for doctoral study.
- Foster a sensitivity to the interconnectedness of all
individuals to the human and global community that will
enhance the care of diverse ethnic and cultural populations.
Requirements for a Master's in Community Health Nursing
Program Core
Semester I
NU 910 Professional Role Development 3 credits
NU 920 Conceptual Foundations of Nursing 3 credits
Semester II
NU 925 Nursing Research in Advanced Practice 3 credits
NU 930 Social Policy and the Economics of the Health Care
Delivery System 3 credits
Support Courses
Semester III
NU 936 Epidemiology 3 credits
NU 941 Program Planning and Evaluation 3 credits
Semester IV
NU 946 Biostatistics 3 credits
NU 951 Administration 3 credits
Specialty Courses
Semester V
NU 961 Nursing Science I Community Health CNS Theory and Practicum
9 credits
Semester VI
NU 966 Nursing Science II Community Health CNS Theory and
Practicum 9 credits
This program meets all criteria for American Nurses Association
certification as a community health clinical nurse specialist.
In order to be flexible and allow students to meet clinical
requirements, the program allows students who have completed
a minimum of 4 courses or the equivalent of 1 year to begin
clinical practicums.
Community Health Nursing Courses (Graduate)
The following courses are open only to students who have been
accepted into the master's program in Community Health Nursing.
NU 910 Professional Role Development
The role of the advanced practice nurse is analyzed in terms
of professional scope of practice, standards of practice and
components of the role. This course provides a framework for
advanced nursing practice.
3 credits.
NU 920 Conceptual Foundations in Nursing
This course concentrates on the philosophical basis of theory
development and application. Students are introduced to the
levels of theory building, concept formation and the elements
of a model while considering the values and goals of nursing
actions.
3 credits.
NU 925 Nursing Research in Advanced Practice
Students build upon previous learning of research design,
methods and process. The critical relationship of research
to nursing as a science, as well as its development as a professional
discipline is emphasized.
3 credits.
NU 930 Social Policy and the Economics of the Health Care
Delivery System
This course provides the student with the knowledge necessary
to comprehend the political, economic and social elements
that affect health and health services. The student develops
an understanding of the regulatory environment and its impact
on the delivery of nursing care.
3 credits.
NU 936 Epidemiology
Epidemiology, an environmental science, introduces the student
to those physical, microbial and chemical attributes within
and surrounding the community that influence its health. Essential
information about issues that impact on the health and well
being of the community is provided.
3 credits.
NU 941 Program Planning and Evaluation
Program Planning and Evaluation is an interdisciplinary course
to facilitate student learning in the design, development
and monitoring of multi-level strategies that promote movement
toward optimal health and social justice for diverse ethnic
populations and communities.
3 credits.
NU 946 Biostatistics
This course links statistical methods to epidemiology and
ultimately, to practice issues in diverse cultural populations
and communities. Students draw upon knowledge acquired from
the physical science to interpret and summarize statistical
data in meaningful ways.
3 credits.
NU 951 Administration
Provides the community health student with the necessary skills
to integrate appropriate business, economic, financial, leadership
and management concepts into effective strategies to effect
change in community/public health agencies and organizations.
3 credits.
NU 961 Nursing Science I
Concentrates on community/populations as the community health
graduate student focuses on the diagnostic phases of care.
The student synthesizes previous knowledge and theory to assess
and monitor the health status of selected communities in health
departments, neighborhoods, parishes or individual settings.
9 credits.
NU 966 Nursing Science II
This course provides the community health graduate nursing
student with the opportunity to evaluate the various processes
which are utilized to achieve optimal population and community
health. Selected clinical practices encourage the student
to utilize theory, research and information technology to
manage and evaluate program effectiveness.
9 credits.
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