Career Opps With The Most Popular Online Masters Degrees In Nursing

If you’re like most nurses considering a master’s degree, you’re probably looking to boost your potential earnings and accomplish at least one of these goals:

• Practice in a more cutting-edge nursing specialty like informatics.
• Move into an administrative position in a hospital or other facility and reduce your “hands on” nursing tasks.
• Gain business skills that will allow you to move out of nursing completely into a new role at an insurance company, healthcare system or other organization where your nursing knowledge makes you a more effective manager.

There are a limited number of "general" masters degree programs in nursing (see listed below). Most MS or MSN degrees in this field tend to be focused on a management or clinical field. Because a more specialized degree can, potentially, give you faster entree into a new kind of job, you might consider doing some extra research to pick a very specific career path to work on. On the other hand, a general master's degree can give you a broader array of options that can be used in smaller facilities, or even in a job in the insurance industry or some other health-related field outside of direct patient care. Here are some of the most popular nursing masters, the types of job positions they will qualify you for:

Top Schools Offering General Nursing Master's Programs Online:
Kaplan University
Walden University (RN to MSN General Track)
Chamberlain School of Nursing
Click to Full List of Nursing Master's Degrees Online

Nursing Administrator Specialized Programs:
Administrators generally oversee and manage a staff of nurses, making sure all shifts are covered and that the correct procedures are followed. Masters degrees for this career track go under the titles like MSN in Leadership and Management or MSN Executive Leadership, though there are some more generalized RN to MSN "bridge" programs designed to allow nurses to avoid having to go back to school for a full bachelor's degree.
Herzing University, MS Nursing Management
Capella University Nursing Leadership & Administration
Walden University BSN MSN Leadership/Management Walden RN to MSN Leadership/Management
Kaplan University MSN Nurse Administrator
Loyola University of New Orleans MSN Health Care Systems Managment

Nurse Educator or Nursing Professor Degrees:
This degree equips you to create plans for how nurses are educated and trained in a hospital or other health care facility, or to become a professor in a nursing college. It also covers formulating policies for an organization, innovative teaching methods, research skills and using technology in teaching. Masters programs that lead to this type of career include MSN Healthcare Education, MSN Nurse Education, MSN Clinical Nurse Leadership or MSN in Contemporary Nursing Faculty.
Capella University MSN Nurse Educator
Georgetown University MS Nurse Educator
Walden RSN to MSN Education
Walden BSN to MSN Education
Western Governors University MSN Education
Kaplan University MSN Nurse Educator
Gonzaga University MSN Nurse Educator
Graceland University MSN Nurse Educator

Nursing Informatics:
Professionals in this area tend to focus on the technology systems involved in patient care, and how effectively they are being used to collect and distribute important information. That could involve reorganizing the computer system nurses are using in a hospital, designing programs that teach nurses how to use technology or helping to manage the upkeep of the tech systems at a facility. This is not, however, IT or "code developer" type work. Informatics specialists bring their clinical knowledge of nursing to tech projects to make sure they are designed to manage the information involved in real patient care and diagnosis effectively.
Kaplan University MSN Nurse Informatics
Walden BSN to MSN Informatics
Grand Canyon University MS Informatics
American Sentinal MSN Informatics

Other Nusring Master's Degrees Offered Online:
Because health care changes all the time, new kinds of masters degrees have evolved. Here are some online schools that offer less commmon types of masters degrees:
Georgetown University
- MS Nurse Midwifery / Women's Health
- MS Family Nurse Practitioner
- MS Adult Gerontology
Sacred Heart University
- MSN Patient Care Services Administration
American Sentinal University
- MS Infection Prevention & Control

Indiana State University
ISU is the state university of Indiana, located in Terre Haute. It has received high ratings for many years from Princeton Review and other publications. Right now it's one of the most progressive state schools in terms of online learning, with a variety of degree progams. It's nursing program offers up to 10 hours of credit via a "professional portfolio evaluation," a mechanism through which experienced nurses can demonstrate their knowledge to receive credit in certain areas. Indiana State offers LPN to BSN and RN to BSN programs online.
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Kaplan University
Kaplan is a large school specializing in online career training, owned by the Washington Post Company. It offers degrees in many different areas. For licensed nurses, if offers an RN to BS program, or an RN to MS "bridge" degree. Nursing master's degrees are also offered in:
- Gerontology
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- MS Nurse Educator
- Informatics
- Nursing Administration
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Georgetown University
Georgetown, located in Washington D.C., is one of the oldest and most famous private universities in the country. In the online world, it specializes in masters of science programs for nurses:
- MS Adult Gerontology
- MS Family Nurse Practitioner
- MS Nurse Educator
- MS Nurse Midwifery
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American Sentinel University
ASU is a popular choice among our readers, partly due to the great affordability of it's online RN to BSN program. RNs can enroll with no work experience, and may get credit transfer for any previous courses they have taken. American Sentinal's nursing programs have accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
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