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Registered Nurses: Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree
Accelerate Your Learning Through Our Streamlined, Online Program
If you are a registered nurse with an unencumbered RN license, you may pursue both a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree and a master of science in nursing (MSN) degree through American Public University’s RN to MSN online program.
Receive Transfer Credit For Your RN License
Qualifying students may apply up to 90 total transfer credits toward this 147-credit nursing program. This includes the 30 transfer credits that the University awards for a current active, unencumbered RN license.
The University may award additional transfer credit for the following:
- Academic credit, including community college coursework
- Military service and education
- Professional training and certification
- Credit earned by examination
- Government training
- Public safety training
- Prior learning through professional experience
View our transfer credit policy page for more information.
Complete Undergraduate and Graduate-Level Nursing Courses
This 147-credit MSN bridge program combines BSN program and MSN program curricula. You’ll deepen your knowledge of nursing science, nursing theory, and advanced nursing practice.
As you progress through your undergraduate courses, you’ll gain a broad overview of professional nursing practice and how nurses can help promote meaningful change within the larger healthcare field.
Graduate-level courses, which comprise the master’s degree portion of this program, illustrate the function and importance of community and public health nursing. You’ll dissect impactful findings in nursing research and the resulting implications as they pertain to public health.
This Nursing Program Awards a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree—For Fewer Credits
A typical bachelor’s degree program consists of 120 credits, while most master of science in nursing programs require 36 credits. Pursuing each degree separately, therefore, requires a total of 156 credit hours.
However, American Public University’s accelerated RN to MSN online program makes it possible for registered nurses to earn both degrees for a total of only 147 credits.
Additionally, as students progress through their BSN studies, three undergraduate courses are replaced with three master’s-level courses. These three master’s-level courses are charged at the undergraduate tuition rate, saving students time and money.
Students are also granted up to seven years from the start of their first nursing (NURS) course to complete this program, allowing time to take a break from coursework, if needed.
A BSN degree is conferred upon successful completion of 120 credits, allowing students to achieve an academic milestone should they need to pause their studies.
Deepen Your Nursing Education With a Concentration in Community and Public Health Nursing
Nurses who serve in community and/or public health largely focus their efforts on the well-being of populations. They work to support health promotion and disease prevention measures. Community and public health nurses may advocate for underserved populations, high-risk groups, or even the general public.
Build on Your Clinical Experience and Become an Agent of Change
The community and public health nursing degree concentration equips RNs with a “bird’s-eye view” of health care within our society. Students in this MSN program analyze the value evidence-based practice brings into the professional nursing field. Classes provoke discussions around health promotion and opportunities to help alleviate health disparities in today’s climate.
Nursing and health innovation are examined through the lens of social justice advocacy. Learners will consider public health needs, healthcare policy, and potential solutions to meet the growing need for accessible, quality care in our post-pandemic world.
American Public University is part of American Public University System, which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Additionally, these programs hold specialty accreditation. The baccalaureate degree program in nursing and the master’s degree program in nursing at American Public University System are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (www.ccneaccreditation.org).
Why Accreditation Matters
Nursing education programs, inevitably, vary from one university to the next. Pursuing your master of science in nursing at an accredited institution helps ensure the advanced education you receive is in alliance with comprehensive and rigorous standards set forth by the accrediting agency.
CCNE’s assessment and evaluation strategies focus on key aspects of nursing education, which include curriculum development, faculty credentials and qualifications, program objectives and outcomes, and educational resources provided to the University’s students.
CCNE accreditation further signifies our University’s ongoing commitment to quality improvement and academic integrity.
Curriculum Highlights
The Community and Public Health Nursing concentration is designed for the socially conscious RN. You’ll evaluate healthcare systems while paying close attention to health care policies. Your studies will also focus on how social determinants of health influence the health and wellness of a community or population, examining the degree to which patient care can be advanced. Health assessment strategies and methods for determining a population’s unique needs are explored as well.
This curriculum helps to foster critical-thinking and decision-making skills. You’ll study ethics in nursing, informatics, technology, epidemiology, and the role of the master’s-prepared nurse as a community leader.
As you progress through this accelerated RN-MSN program, you’ll first complete your BSN before you begin working towards your MSN graduate degree.
Why Earn Your Degrees in Nursing Online?
American Public University’s BSN and MSN programs are structured with working professionals in mind. While some coursework does require in-person activity, most nursing courses are completed online and have no set login times. Similarly, general education courses and electives for this program are completed entirely online.
Our Online Class Structure
Online general education and elective courses begin monthly, and online nursing courses begin every other month.
Students enrolled in online classes at American Public University will complete weekly assignments and routinely engage in discussion forums with classmates and faculty. Courses have no set login times and can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.
"On weeks when we don’t have discussions, the students are doing different types of assignments. We try to blend those, so they’re not just writing an essay every other week. We have students go out and do interviews. They may be, literally, visiting service centers. They may be doing a windshield survey in the community and driving around to see how their community fits in with social determinants of health. We try to have a good variety throughout the curriculum of the different assessments that we use,” according to Dr. Stacey Malinowski, associate dean and chief nurse administrator.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Bachelor’s-level nursing education at American Public University takes a holistic approach to the discipline. You will begin studying the Community and Public Health concentration when you begin taking courses for your master of science in nursing.
Community health nurses typically work outside of a hospital setting. These nurses focus on the health care of individual patients within specific communities or groups.
A community health nurse may work for the state, a county health agency, a doctor’s office, or even a local public school system.
The American Public Health Association offers the following definition for public health nursing: “Public health nursing is the practice of promoting and protecting the health of populations using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences.”
Public health nurses focus proactively on the health care of the general public. They apply nursing research to health promotion initiatives and work to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Public health nurses may work with individual patients on occasion, but their primary focus is on achieving—and maintaining—wellness among larger populations.
A public health nurse may work for a local or state agency, or a federal agency, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
An RN-MSN program enables a registered nurse with an unencumbered RN license to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in less time than it would take to pursue each degree separately.
For American Public University’s program, actual time to completion will be based upon transfer credit evaluation and eligibility and the number of courses taken per session. The University reserves the right to accept or deny credits according to the policies outlined on our transfer credit webpages.
An RN to MSN degree program may be suitable for an individual who currently holds an active, unrestricted RN license and would like to acquire advanced education. A master of science in nursing degree program provides the opportunity to gain specialized knowledge of the nursing field.
If you hold an associate degree from successful completion of an ADN program–and you possess a current, unencumbered RN license–then you may be eligible to enroll in an RN-MSN program.
The answer depends on the university and program you choose to attend. Some universities offer RN-MSN degree programs that do not award a separate bachelor of science in nursing (BSN).
American Public University recognizes the hard work and dedication of students in our RN-MSN program by conferring a BSN degree upon successful completion of 120 credits. (The MSN is subsequently awarded after successful completion of the entire 147-credit program.)
No. The NP designation signifies that someone is a nurse practitioner. As the American Association of Nurse Practitioners®1 explains, “To become an NP, one must be a registered nurse (RN), hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), complete an NP-focused graduate master’s or doctoral nursing program and successfully pass a national NP board certification exam.”
Nursing professionals may wish to consider several types of nurse practitioner specialties, including the FNP (family nurse practitioner), PNP (pediatric nurse practitioner), and PMHNP (psychiatric nurse practitioner), among others.
1American Association of Nurse Practitioners® is a registered trademark of American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Inc.