Nursing (MSN) Requirements
The Master of Science in Nursing aspires to develop a specialist in the nursing profession who fulfills the functions and responsibilities according to the law that regulates the practice and who incorporates new trends, critical thinking and cultural diversity.
The Master of Science in Nursing offers four specialty options: Critical Care, Maternal Child, Medical-Surgical, and Mental Health and Psychiatry.
The Campuses authorized to offer this Program are:
- Critical Care Nursing: Arecibo, Barranquitas Critical Care Online: Barranquitas
- Maternal Child Nursing: Arecibo
- Medical Surgical Nursing: Aguadilla, Baranquitas, Guayama
Medical Surgical Nursing Online: Baranquitas
- Mental Health and Psychiatry: Arecibo
Program Goals:
- Integrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to perform according to their area of specialty in different scenarios.
- Demonstrate competencies to conduct research and apply evidence-based practice for decision-making in solving problems.
- Apply leadership and management skills to provide high-quality nursing care as a member of the interprofessional team.
- Demonstrate ethical and legal attitudes, communication skills, critical thinking, use of information technology and information technology to promote and improve health at a lower cost.
- Integrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the role as nursing educator or administrator.
Program Objectives
- Prepare a nursing specialist with the knowledge to intervene in complex situations according to their specialty and their role in health care.
- Develop a specialist in nursing with a command of research methodology and evidence-based practice for problem solving.
- Train nursing professionals who comply with the legal ethical requirements that regulate practice.
- Train a nursing specialist with scientific knowledge and critical thinking skills.
- Prepare a nursing specialist with management and leadership skills.
- Analyze the effect of public policies on the structure and financing of health.
Competencies Profile of Graduate
The Master of Science in Nursing is designed to develop the skills that allow the student to:
Knowledge
- Demonstrate the integration of theoretical knowledge when intervening in complex situations according to the specialty within health care.
- Identify nursing interventions by promoting problem solving in practice.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the different research methodologies and their application during decision making.
Skills
- Apply the nursing process when intervening with different populations according to the specialty.
- Demonstrate communication skills when interacting with diverse populations and within the health team.
- Use advanced estimation skills when offering health care at the different levels of prevention, according to their area of specialty.
- Apply critical thinking skills when solving health problems.
- Select nursing interventions in accordance with evidence-based practice to meet the needs of the population to be served.
- Demonstrate proficiency in the use of informatics and technology to provide and coordinate health care.
- Demonstrate leadership skills to work, advise and collaborate with the interprofessional team.
- Apply skills according to the selected role in different scenarios.
Attitudes
- Value cultural diversity by offering nursing services in different settings.
- Recognize the importance of legal ethical principles in the exercise of the profession.
Admission Requirements
In addition to meeting the admission requirements established for master’s programs in this Catalog, candidates for admission must:
- Hold Bachelor in Nursing from an accredited institution.
- Have a grade point index of 2.50 or above in the last sixty (60) credit hours of academic work.
- Have a provisional or permanent and current generalist nursing license for practicing nursing in Puerto Rico.
- Be an active member of the College of Professional Nursing of Puerto Rico.
- Have at least one year of experience as a nursing professional offering direct customer care in hospitals for the Critical Care specialization.
- Send two (2) letters of recommendation from individuals who have supervised the candidate in the work setting or from the nursing faculty.
- Present the following documents:
- A health certificate.
- Vaccination certificate of Hepatitis B and other vaccines required by practice settings.
- A Certificate of No Penal Record issued by the Puerto Rico Police Department.
- Law # 300 of September 2, 1999 - Verification of Criminal History of Providers of Care Services for Children and the Elderly.
- Original and copy of current provisional or professional license, registration certificate and membership of the College of Professional Nursing in Puerto Rico.
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training.
- Updated Resume.
Note: It will be the student's responsibility to meet the requirements of the external center in order to carry out their internship. Some agencies and courses stipulate additional requirements. Students are responsible to meet any other requirement that the practice agency may require. Among these are: generalist regular license, up-to-date CPR certificate, negative doping test, and nose and throat culture, among others.
Students with a provisional license will have conditional admission. It is a requirement that the student has a permanent license to carry out the internship courses of the specialties.
Graduation Requirements
In addition to completing the graduation requirements for a master’s degree established in this Catalog, students must:
- Pass all courses with a minimum grade of B.
- Meet the required minimum hours for each course that entails practice.
- Pass course NURS 6970 – Integration Seminar.
Students or graduates of the Program may request a second certification once they have completed the requirements of the specialization or the functional role.
Requirements-for-the-Master-of-Science-in-Nursing
| Core Course Requirements |
19 credits |
| Specialization Requirements |
10 credits |
| Prescribed Distributive Requirements |
10 credits |
| Total |
39 credits |
Core Course Requirements - 19 credits
Specialization Requirements - 10 credits
Courses listed under each Specialization.
Specialization Requirements for the Specialization in Critical Care Nursing - 10 credits
Required Courses
Specialization Requirements for the Specialization in maternal and Child Nursing - 10 credits
Required Courses
| NURS 6311 | Maternal and Child Nursing I | 3 |
| NURS 6312 | Maternal and Child Nursing II | 3 |
| NURS 6920 | Practice in Maternal and Child Nursing I: Maternal-Neonatal | 2 |
| NURS 6921 | Practice in Maternal and Child Nursing I: Childhood-Adolescence | 2 |
Specialization Requirements for the Specialization in Medical-Surgical - 10 credits
Required Courses
Specialization Requirements for the Specialization in Mental Health and Psychiatry - 10 credits
Required Courses
| NURS 6121 | Mental Health and Psychiatry I | 3 |
| NURS 6122 | Mental Health and Psychiatry II | 3 |
| NURS 6931 | Clinical Practice of Mental Health and Psychiatry I | 2 |
| NURS 6932 | Clinical Practice of Mental Health and Psychiatry II | 2 |
Prescribed Distributive Requirements - 10 credits
The student will select the area of preference according to the functional role that he hopes to perform: nursing education or administration.
Functional Role in Education
Functional Role in Administration