College of Nursing
Graduate
Dean: Jing Wang
The mission of the College of Nursing is to educate clinicians, leaders, scholars, and advanced practitioners who can enhance the quality of life for people of all cultures, economic levels, and geographic locations. The College of Nursing integrates the liberal arts and sciences with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for lifelong learning, personal responsibility, and sustained achievement in the nursing professional and the communities in which our graduates reside. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree prepares nurses for the highest level of clinical practice in the profession of nursing as a family nurse practitioner, adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner, and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
The following programs of study are offered:
- Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
- Executive Health Systems Leadership
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Nursing Certificate Programs
- Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
- Lifestyle Medicine Provider
Facilities
Nursing Simulation and Skills Lab
FSU College of Nursing's Simulation Center is located at the Duxbury Hall and Rogers building. It houses human patient simulators, medical equipment, electronic health records, audio visual recording equipment, virtual reality, task trainers, and medical supplies to offer real-life experiences to nursing students to enhance their clinical education. It provides teaching experiences where students are provided with deliberate practice of skills and simulation scenarios with adult and pediatric human patient simulators. These learning activities help learners achieve the proficiency and clinical learning necessary to meet standards of practice.
In collaboration with FSU's College of Medicine Simulation Center, nursing students complete formative and high-stakes OSCES (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations) to assess competencies and clinical skills. A student is presented with a standardized patient (a person trained to act as a real patient to simulate symptoms for a specific case presented to medical students). The students assess the standardized patient and based on the findings, make clinical decisions and procedures they would perform in a real clinical case. All these encounters are recorded and observed through AV recordings by a faculty member who will grade the students based on their performance in different domains: history taking, review of systems, physical exam, diagnosis, treatment plan, and communication.
Clinical Facilities
Acute care hospitals, county public health departments, indigent care clinics, private physicians' offices, health maintenance organizations, walk-in clinics, state-level health agencies, and educational facilities are used for clinical experiences. Students have input into the selection of sites for clinical experiences to meet their specific learning needs and practice interests.
Opportunities
Graduates of the DNP program are prepared to provide direct patient care services as family nurse practitioners, adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioners, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, lifestyle medicine provider, and executive health systems nurse leaders. Graduates are able to provide evidence-based models of care delivery, conduct research on the evaluation of outcomes of care, develop programs to promote population health, use technology and information to transform healthcare systems, and collaborate in inter-professional teams to improve patient and population health outcomes across continuums of care. Graduates of the nurse practitioner role areas may apply for licensure as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in their state of practice after passing a population specific national certification.
Scholarships/Awards
Financial assistance in the form of assistantships, scholarships, traineeships, and loans is available for qualified students through the College of Nursing or the University financial aid office.
Tuition waivers may be awarded by the graduate committee of the College of Nursing for full-time study if funds are available. Applications for financial support are considered each Fall. A variety of research and teaching assistantship funds is available each year.
Requirements
Applicants to the graduate program in nursing are expected to meet the general requirements of the University for graduate study. Established admission requirements include:
- BSN degree from a nationally accredited program with an upper division grade point average of 3.0 or higher or a Master of Science in Nursing in a relevant field (FNP, AGAC, Psy., etc.) from a nationally accredited institution/program with a 3.0 grade point average or higher.
- Official transcript from all undergraduate or graduate institutions attended.
- Graduate Record Exam (GRE) score of Miller Analogies Test (MAT)*.
- Unencumbered and unrestricted RN license.
- Three (3) letters of recommendation.
- Current CV or resume.
- Essay answering the following questions: a) Tell us about your professional work experience as a nurse and other relevant professional experiences. Include lead activities such as serving on committees, leading projects and involvement in professional associations, b) What are your career goals how will a DNP degree help you with your goals?
- Record a video answering three questions supplied. The video should not be more than ten (10) minutes long answering the questions.
- Personal health insurance.
- *GRE/MAT Waiver Criteria
- The GRE/MAT requirement will be waived for outstanding applicants meeting ONE of the following criteria:
- A completed master's degree with a 3.0 or better GPA from an accredited institution.
- A completed BSN (69 hours of nursing or RN to BSN courses) with a 3.5 or better GPA from an accredited institution.
- GRE/MAT waiver request form
- Notes:
- Applicants must provide evidence to satisfy the criteria being applied.
- Applicants with a competitive GRE/MAT score will still be able to apply to the program and will not be held to their additional criteria.
- For those accredited institutions that are competency-based (no GPA assigned) the applicant must submit a GRE/MAT score.
Note: The Florida Board of Nursing, as well as other state and private agencies used for clinical practice, requires the disclosure of conviction records for misdemeanors and/or felonies; therefore, this information will be required at the time of application. A level II criminal background check (includes FDLE and FBI) is required and must be on file at the College of Nursing before participation in the first clinical course. The cost of the background check, drug test, immunization tracker, and fingerprints is approximately $174.00 (may be more depending on name and address searches). This cost must be paid by the student. All required travel is at the student's expense as well.
Fees students are required to pay, in addition to tuition and University fees, are a Lab and Materials fee when enroll in NGR 5064C ($288.23) and NGR 6217C ($359.36). Typhon Student Tracking System ($90) and other fees related to course materials the student may need to meet learning objectives.
Statement of Professional Conduct
While enrolled in the College of Nursing graduate program, the student is expected to demonstrate conduct and behavior which conforms to the Nurse Practice Act of the State of Florida, the Florida State University Student Conduct Code, Workplace Violence Guidelines, the Academic Honor Code, and all other applicable rules and policies of the University. The College of Nursing reserves the right to refuse or discontinue the enrollment of any student whose conduct or behavior is so negative, disruptive, or destructive as to compromise the work of fellow students, the effectiveness of the faculty, and/or the ability to work positively in a collaborative environment consistent with the aforementioned policies and guidelines.
Faculty members continually assess each student's professional performance. All College of Nursing graduate students are evaluated formally at the end of each semester. Any student who, in the opinion of the faculty, fails to maintain appropriate standards, will be placed on probation or dismissed from the program after receiving written notification.
Academic Performance/Academic Honor Code
College of Nursing graduate students are expected to make satisfactory academic progress consistent with the University's minimum retention standards for graduate studies. Student and faculty responsibilities for maintaining academic honesty and integrity are outlined in The Florida State University Academic Honor Code and Student Conduct Code. The College of Nursing graduate program reserves the right to refuse or discontinue the enrollment of any student who fails to maintain the academic integrity of the program as described in these codes.
Academic Requirements
A course for which a student receives a grade of unsatisfactory or below a "B" (3.0) may not count toward any graduate degree in the College of Nursing.
Students in the graduate program are required to maintain a 3.0 grade point average in all nursing coursework each semester. Failure to do so will result in the student's placement on academic probation. During the semester in which the student is on academic probation she/he is expected to improve the nursing GPA to a 3.0 or greater. The inability to meet this expectation will require that the student be dismissed from the program.
Reinstatement
In order to be reinstated into the College of Nursing graduate program after having been dismissed for academic reasons, the student is required to do the following:
- Submit a written request for consideration of reinstatement to the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs;
- Provide written justification for reinstatement to the College of Nursing Graduate Admissions Committee; and
- Upon reinstatement the student will be expected to successfully complete a prescribed plan of study in her/his first semester while achieving a semester GPA of 3.0 or greater.