Nursing Education
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What can you do with a master’s degree in nursing?
Earning your Master of Science in Nursing is a pivotal step toward increasing your lifelong earning potential, expanding your career opportunities, and advancing in leadership roles.
Customize your nursing master’s degree by choosing from five areas of emphasis, including Forensic Nursing, Health Advocacy, Nurse Administration, Nurse Education, and Nursing Informatics.
Rebecca Moore '11 '13 MSN
Nursing Education
Driven by a want to help others, Rebecca came to MMU for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees to live out her dreams.
Courtney Rust '16, '19 MSN
Forensic Nursing
Now helping the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office care for its inmates, Courtney Rust launched her career in the MSN program.
Haley Fernandez '16 MSN
Nurse Administration
Haley Fernandez '16 MSN completed the MSN program at Mount Mercy University and talks about the experiences she made during her time in the program.
Earn your nursing master’s degree on your schedule
Enjoy the flexibility to earn your master’s degree in nursing with a format that helps you balance work, school, and all your other responsibilities.
- Take one course at a time
- Enjoy manageable 5 week blocks
- Meet on-campus or online (on-demand) once each week
- Complete your nursing master’s degree in just 16-21 months
MSN Helps Her Land New Gig (0:44)
Courtney Rust ’16, ’19 MSN shares how her MSN equipped her to take on this new role.
Forensic Nursing Outlook: Growth (1:10)
As a corrections nurse, Courtney Rust ’16, ’19 MSN sees growth for the forensic nursing field.
What can you do in our Master of Science in Nursing program?
Our personalized nursing master’s degree combines classroom learning with hands-on clinical experience. Work alongside professors who are practicing professionals. Gain beyond-the-classroom learning in our Clinical Simulation Laboratory (CSL).
Customize your nursing master’s degree by choosing from five areas of emphasis, including Forensic Nursing, Health Advocacy, Nurse Administration, Nurse Education, and Nursing Informatics.
What will you learn in our Master of Science in Nursing program?
Analyze research, policy, systems, and practice using critical inquiry. Acquire knowledge related to health promotion, disease prevention, population-based nursing practice, education, management, and leadership. Graduate with your master’s in nursing prepared to lead, teach, advocate, and practice at an advanced level with individual patients, families, and communities.
The program not only taught me the basics I need to know in forensic nursing, but it also improved my professionalism, effective communication, critical independent thinking, and problem solving.
Customize your master’s degree in nursing
Choose from five areas of emphasis to meet your professional interests:
- Forensic Nursing—Develop, promote, and implement protocols and systems related to complex health concerns while responding to victims and perpetrators of trauma, injury, accidents, neglect, abuse, exploitation, and all forms of violence.
- Health Advocacy—Design, implement, manage, continuously improve, and lead innovative health care population management programs.
- Nurse Administration—Lead and manage complex 21st century health care organizations.
- Nurse Education—Design, implement, and continuously improve educational initiatives in academic and health care settings.
- Nursing Informatics*—Develop, implement, and lead interdisciplinary health information technologies with knowledge and skills in system design and analysis, databases, consumer informatics, clinic decision support, knowledge representation, interoperability, and population health informatics.
*Nursing Informatics applications are due April 1 for fall admission and November 1 for spring admission. Applicants must meet admission criteria for both Mount Mercy and University of Minnesota.
Get started on your nursing master’s degree
Apply by November 1 to start in January or June 1 to start in August. Choose your practicum location with faculty approval. Our graduate admissions team is here to help you reach your educational goals and answer your questions.- Complete your application
- Request official transcripts from all institutions previously attended. Email to gradprograms@mtmercy.edu or mail to:
Graduate Programs
Mount Mercy University
1330 Elmhurst Drive NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-4797
- Current and valid registered nurse (RN) license
- NOTE: Nursing courses with a clinical component may not be taken by a person:
- Who has been denied license by the Board
- Whose license is currently suspended, surrendered, or revoked in any U.S. jurisdiction
- Whose license or registration is currently suspended, surrendered, or revoked in another country due to disciplinary action
- NOTE: Nursing courses with a clinical component may not be taken by a person:
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited nursing program, other undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, or an equivalent degree from an accredited institution outside of the United States
- Undergraduate record should reflect ability to be successful in graduate studies
- If undergraduate degree is not a BSN, students may be admitted with a BA or BS, an associate degree in nursing, and the Mount Mercy RN-BSN courses, NU 470 Population Based Nursing, NU 471 Professional Aspects of Nursing, and NU 472 RN-BSN Practicum Seminar completed with a minimum grade of B (B- not acceptable)
- An undergraduate statistics course with a minimum grade of C (C- not acceptable)
- A student may be admitted at the discretion of the program director prior to completing this prerequisite
- A student may be admitted at the discretion of the program director prior to completing this prerequisite
- Two letters of recommendation addressing professionalism, clinical skills, critical thinking, and communication skills.
- All MSN students must meet administrative requirements, including criminal background check, health insurance coverage, immunization status compliance, CPR, and malpractice liability insurance prior to completion of the first MSN course
- All non-native English speakers are required to take TOEFL or equivalent English language proficiency assessment and complete an interview with the program director
- Nursing Informatics students must meet admission criteria of Mount Mercy University and University of Minnesota School of Nursing
- NOTE: Per government policy, international students are unable to attend fully-online university programs in the United States. Unfortunately, we are unable to admit international students to this program