Georgia is a thriving state with classic southern charm, bustling cities, and a robust higher education system.
In fact, you can have your pick of master of science in nursing from schools all over the Peach State. Whether you want to get your master’s degree from a large or small school, an urban or rural school, or in-person or online, Georgia’s colleges and universities have you covered!
Fortunately, many of these programs also give you the chance to specialize, which can help you further your career even more. You can learn how to be a nurse educator, a nurse practitioner, or even a nurse midwife. And that’s just a few of the options!
BSN to MSN Programs in Georgia
Listed below are some of the popular school offering BSN to MSN programs in Georgia:
- Georgia College
- Georgia State University
- Georgia Southern University
- Mercer University
- Keiser University
- Regent University
- South University
Georgia College
School Information
Georgia College is a public, four-year liberal arts school located in Milledgeville. The school was founded in 1889 as a women’s educational center. Today, Georgia College is the state’s designated liberal arts university and has more than 7,000 students taking undergraduate and graduate courses.
Georgia College can accommodate you if a small school atmosphere is what you’re after. You can enjoy a small yet lively campus with small class sizes (17:1 student-to-faculty ratio) that allow you to have more meaningful interactions with your professors and classmates.
While taking courses at Georgia College, you will gain lifelong skills that enhance your ability to learn. You will develop an appreciation for academic inquiry and research, explore viewpoints that are different from your own, and learn new skills from highly-qualified teachers. With more than 150 student organizations on campus, you can enjoy meeting new people and trying new things as well!
MSN Program Information
The MSN program at Georgia College offers the flexibility of being a mostly online program, with only a few short on-campus requirements. Additionally, this program has the distinction of having multiple specialization tracks, including:
- Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
- Nurse Educator (NE)
- Nurse Midwife (NMW)
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
- Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP)
So, whether you want to gain practical skills for working with patients or you want to improve your academic skills to make the move into education, Georgia College has a specialization for you!
Regardless of the specialization you choose, you will take part in rigorous coursework, face-to-face training, and collaborative exercises that expand your nursing toolkit. Additionally, you must complete clinical rotations with an approved preceptor. Clinicals must be completed in the state of Georgia.
If you choose the NE, FNP, WHNP, or PMHNP track, you must also complete a 45-hour intensive training course. This hands-on class helps you build advanced assessment skills that are necessary for working with patients in a medical setting.
Georgia State University
School Information
One of the best features of Georgia State University is its location in Atlanta. With a campus in the heart of an urban center, you can take advantage of many cultural, religious, and recreational opportunities, all within a short distance of campus.
Campus life offers you the chance to learn with a diverse student body. With more than 52,000 students, Georgia State has representatives from all over the country and the world. In fact, there are nearly 4,000 students at Georgia State that come from more than 100 nations.
Of course, college is more than just having fun and meeting diverse people. At Georgia State, you can focus on your academics with like-minded classmates and well-regarded professors. Georgia State is known as an innovative school, too.
In fact, US News and World Report ranks Georgia State as the second-most innovative school in the nation. Having a forward-looking approach to education is critical for all programs, but particularly so for nursing.
While Georgia State might not be as well known as the University of Georgia, it is nevertheless a well-respected school with programs that will challenge you to learn and grow.
MSN Program Information
The Master of Science in Nursing at Georgia State University is specifically designed for RN-level nurses with at least one year of on-the-job experience.
If you already have a BSN, you can immediately begin work on completing the MSN course requirements. However, if you are an RN with an associate’s degree, you wll need to complete a few prerequisite courses before beginning the MSN program in earnest.
There are four areas of concentration from which to choose, including:
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
- Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
No matter which track you choose, you must complete at least 48 semester credits of nursing coursework. This includes 22 credits of core courses and 26 credits of courses within your area of concentration. With required research courses added in, you can expect to take about 54 credits to earn this MSN.
This degree is primarily online, though there are some face-to-face requirements (e.g., a clinical rotation that Georgia State will help you arrange).
The flexibility of online learning means you can complete this program in as little as two years. Conversely, if you need more time, you can take four years or more to complete the program requirements.
Georgia Southern University
School Information
Georgia Southern University is a four-year public college in Statesboro, Georgia. While it’s not the same size as the state’s larger schools, like the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, it still has over 27,000 students. What’s more, the student body represents states across the nation and countries around the globe, so you can benefit from a learning community that’s incredibly diverse.
Though Georgia Southern got its start nearly 120 years ago as an agricultural school, today, it’s much more than that. You can choose from almost 150 different majors and programs for bachelor’s and master’s degrees and post-graduate studies.
As with many of the schools on this list, Georgia Southern is also an affordable college, especially for Georgia residents. Undergraduate tuition is less than $7,000, so you can get the education you need to pursue your career goals without breaking the bank.
MSN Program Information
If your future goals in nursing include being an educator, the MSN program in nurse education from Georgia Southern University might be worth a look.
This is a 36-credit online degree that you can complete in five semesters if you attend full-time. The 36 credits focus on both nursing and education topics, including teaching methodologies and theories, curriculum design, and developing assessments for nursing education. Upon graduation, you’ll have all the frameworks you need to begin teaching the next generation of nurses.
In addition to the 36 credits of coursework, you must also complete 320 hours of clinical applied practice in nursing education. These hours take place in a precepted primary care setting and give you the opportunity to develop your nursing assessment skills.
Additionally, this program requires that you participate in patient care and delivery experiences in a clinical setting. You have the freedom to choose where these hours are completed and the population with whom you work.
A final component of this program is the nursing education capstone. This summative assessment helps you integrate what you learn in the classroom and in clinicals. You are responsible for developing a series of educational activities for nursing students that includes an instructional design, a full curriculum, and an assessment of learner outcomes.
Mercer University
School Information
Mercer University is well-respected for its academics. But one area is particularly well-known: healthcare. Mercer has a network of 10 teaching hospitals throughout the state. These hospitals provide essential experiences for students in medical school, nursing programs, and related programs.
Aside from its medical campuses, Mercer University has four academic schools throughout the state. The primary campus is in Macon, with satellite campuses in Atlanta, Columbus, and Savannah. Mercer also has two regional learning centers in Henry County and Douglas County. In other words, no matter where you are in Georgia, a Mercer campus is likely nearby!
Yet, despite having so many campuses, Mercer University is still a small learning community. There are around 9,000 students at the school, most of which come from Georgia. However, there are students from 46 other states and 53 different countries worldwide. That means you can enjoy small class sizes and a diverse campus at the same time.
MSN Program Information
Mercer University’s MSN program focuses on three primary areas of nursing: nursing leadership, advanced practice, and research. You will gain expertise in each of these areas while also focusing on a specific track: family nurse practitioner, adult gerontology acute care, or adult gerontology primary care.
This program gives you the flexibility of being offered in part-time and full-time tracks. If you study full-time, you can complete your studies in two years. If you study part-time, a timeframe of three years should be expected.
As a result of your studies, you will gain skills related to the following:
- Decision-making in nursing practice
- Nursing ethics
- Population-based health promotion
- Healthcare evaluation
- Nursing Leadership
All told, you will need to complete 44-48 credits of coursework to graduate. Likewise, you must complete 600 hours of supervised clinical practice. These hands-on learning experiences occur throughout the duration of the program.
If you desire a greater level of education, you can enroll in one of Mercer’s post-master’s certificate programs upon graduation with your MSN. Mercer offers certificates in the same fields – gerontology and family nurse practitioner – which enables you to add skills to your toolkit without getting another master’s degree.
MSN Work Opportunities in Georgia
As with any other state, there are plentiful career opportunities for nurses in Georgia. At the time of this writing, there are more than 6,000 RN jobs in Atlanta alone. This speaks to the critical need for well-qualified nurses in Atlanta and throughout the state.
Of course, while there are many job openings for nurses, there are also a lot of nurses vying for those jobs. This means that advancing your education with an MSN is crucial to helping you stand out among the crowd. For example, if you apply for a nursing position with an MSN, you will have a leg up on candidates with just a BSN or an associate’s degree with an RN.
Moreover, if you specialize in your master’s studies, you will have an even greater ability to separate yourself from other applicants. Each of the programs listed above has unique specialization options that you can use to help you take a significant step forward in your career.
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