The Loewenberg School of Nursing offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Science in Nursing with concentrations in (1) Nursing Administration, (2) Nursing Education, and (3) Advanced Practice Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner), and (4) Nursing Informatics.

Program objectives are: (1) ability to use theory and research from nursing and other disciplines to improve health care and the systems in which it is provided; (2) advance the profession and health care through the use of core nursing competencies* in advanced professional practice as nurse practitioners, nurse educators, or nurse executives; (3) develop professional practice sites that are ethically grounded, committed to excellence, evidence-based and valued by the consumer: (4) influence health policy to ensure the health and well-being of individuals, aggregates and communities.

*Core Nursing Competencies include: a) critical thinking, b) communication, c) assessment, d) technical skills, e) teaching, f) caring, g) management, h) leadership, and i) knowledge integration skills.

Students may not enroll for courses as graduate non-degree except by permission of the instructor and with approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Every graduate student is expected to comply with the general requirements of the Graduate School (see Admissions Regulations, Academic Regulations, and Minimum Degree Requirements) and the program requirements of the degree being pursued.

II. MSN Degree Program

1. Admission to both the Graduate School and the Loewenberg School of Nursing is required. Admission to the program will be based on competitive selection from the pool of applicants. Multiple criteria will be used when considering applicant admission including, but not limited to, undergraduate and graduate grade point averages, professional experience, applicant interview, and letters of recommendation.
   1. Admission Requirements for all MSN Applicants:
      1. Admission to the University of Memphis Graduate School
      2. Admission to the Loewenberg School of Nursing graduate nursing program.
      3. A TOEFL score of 600 (250 computer based score) for students who speak English as a second language
      4. An undergraduate minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.8 on a 4.0 scale.
      5. Letters of recommendation from three persons qualified to judge the applicant's ability to practice in an advanced role. One of these must be from an academic source.
      6. Interview with LSON graduate faculty.
   2. Students admitted to graduate coursework must have and maintain while in the program:
      1. An unrestricted license to practice as a registered nurse in Tennessee;
      2. Current CPR certification;
      3. Evidence of Heptavax, MMR, polio, and tetanus vaccination;
      4. Rubella and varicella titers;
      5. Freedom from tuberculosis as evidenced by a negative PPD or health provider examination;
      6. Evidence of current professional malpractice insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 in the aggregate.
   3. Standardized Admission Test The standardized admission test is successful completion of the NCLEX licensing examination.
   4. Admission Requirements for BSN Applicants
      1. Completion of BSN
      2. An unrestricted registered nursing license to practice in Tennessee
   5. Admission Requirements for RN/MSN Applicants with a BA/BS non-nursing major
      1. An unrestricted registered nursing license to practice in Tennessee
      2. Completion of a 13-unit RN/MSN nursing bridge sequence: NURS 3107, NURS 4120/6120, NURS 4127/6127, NURS 4110/6110; NURS 4327/6327. RN/MSN graduates will not be awarded the BSN degree.
   6. Admission Requirements for Generic MSN (non-registered nurse) applicants to MSN courses
      1. Completion of (12 hour) nursing support sequence: BIOL 2010/2011, BIOL 2020/2021, MMCS 1230/1231 with a grade of 3.0 or higher.
      2. Completion of undergraduate foundation, provider of care, coordinator of care courses with a cumulative grade point average of 2.8 or higher. The BSN degree will be awarded when these undergraduate courses and the TBR minimum general education degree requirements are completed.
      3. Unrestricted license to practice as a registered nurse in Tennessee.

   The Nurse Practice Acts in several states require that nurses hold an earned degree (AAS/BSN in nursing) or a diploma in nursing prior to successful completion of the NCLEX examination in order to obtain a registered nursing license in that state. Generic master's students who licensed via a certificate program and then continued on to obtain an MSN as the first nursing degree would not be able to be licensed in those states.

2. Program Requirements
   1. Students enrolled in the MSN program must complete 36-44 semester hours (based on concentration area) with the minimum overall grade point average of 3.0. Fifteen hours (15) are in the core curriculum with the remaining required hours in a specialty concentration.
      1. Core Curriculum:
         NURS 7000 Theoretical Foundations for Advanced Practice
         NURS 7001 Healthcare Policy
         NURS 7002 Advanced Nursing Research
         NURS 7003 Advance Role Development
         NURS 7990 Scholarly Synthesis
          
      2. Nursing Adminstration:
         NURS 7301 Nursing Administration I
         NURS 7302 Nursing Administration II
         NURS 7305 Quality Management
         NURS 7309 Administrative Residency
         
         Nursing Administration concentration students must select one of the following administrative course combinations:
         ACCT 7000 Fundamentals of Accounting and ACCT 7010 Accounting Decision Making
         ACCT 7000 Fundamentals of Accounting and NURS 7332 Resource Allocation in Nursing
         NURS 7303 Healthcare Finance and NURS 75304 Human Resource Management
          
      3. Nursing Education:
         NURS 7203 Curriculum Design in Nursing
         NURS 7209 Education Residency
         
         Nursing Education concentration students must select one of the following education course combinations:
         NURS 7201 Theories of Nursing Education and NURS 7202 Educational Strategies for Nursing Education
         NURS 7244 Evaluation Methods in Nursing Education and 7242 Educational Strategies for Nursing Education
         
         Students in this concentration also must complete one of the following clinical course combinations:
         NURS 7501 Advanced Adult Health Nursing I and 7503 Advanced Adult Health Nursing II
         NURS 7511 Psychiatric Nursing Care I and 7513 Psychiatric Nursing Care II
         NURS 7522 Critical Care I and 7523 Critical Care II
         NURS 7541 Women's Health and Perinatal Nursing I and 7543 Women's Health and Perinatal Nursing II
         NURS 7631 Pediatric Nursing I and NURS 7633 Pediatric Nursing II
          
      4. Advanced Practice (Family Nurse Practitioner):
         NURS 7101/02 Advanced Health Assessment/Advanced Health Assessment Clinic
         NURS 7103 Advanced Pathophysiology
         NURS7104 Advanced Pharmacology
         NURS 7601/02 Family Nurse Practitioner I/ Family Nurse Practitioner I Clinic
         NURS 7603/04 Family Nurse Practitioner II/ Family Nurse Practitioner II Clinic
         NURS 7605/06 Family Nurse Practitioner III/ Family Nurse Practitioner III Clinic
         NURS 7059 Advanced Practice Residency
          
      5. Nursing Informatics:
         NURS 7401 Informatics and Information Management
         NURS7402 Health Care Information Systems
         NURS7403 Analysis/Design of Health Care Information Systems
         NURS7404 Evaluation of Health Care Information Systems
         NURS7405 Health Care Data Analysis Techniques
         NURS7407 Informatics Applicatons Practicum I
         NURS7409 Informatics Applicatons Practicum I
          
   2. Before being recommended for graduation, every candidate for the master's degree in nursing is required to either pass a final comprehensive examination or complete the oral defense of a thesis. The written examination will place emphasis on the student's area of concentration and will be administered by selected nursing faculty each semester. The candidate must be registered in the semester the comprehensive exam is taken.
   3. When the student elects to complete a thesis, the candidate must enroll for thesis credit each semester until the thesis is completed. Students must register for thesis credit in the semester in which they defend.
   4. Family Nurse Practitioner students must complete a minimum of 500 clock hours to meet the academic and practicum requirement for national certification.
   5. All requirements for the MSN degree must be completed in 5 calendar years.
   
    
3. Retention Requirements
   1. Students in the Loewenberg School of Nursing graduate program must comply with all retention standards of the University of Memphis Graduate School.
   2. Graduate students must maintain a 3.0 GPA ("B"). Grades of "D" and "F" will not apply toward any graduate degree, but will be computed in the GPA. No more than 7 hours of "C-", "C," or "C+" will be applied towards meeting degree requirements.
   3. Academic disqualification from the graduate nursing major will occur when the student:
      1. fails to maintain a 3.0 GPA in graduate school.
      2. fails to earn a grade of "B" (3.0) or better when repeating a course.
      3. willfully misrepresents patient data or clinical practice.
      4. willfully places any patient in physical or emotional jeopardy.
      5. is placed on probation by the Tennessee Board of Nursing.
      6. fails to disclose a felony conviction.
      7. fails to disclose disciplinary action or diversion by the Tennessee Board of Nursing.
      8. fails to complete all degree requirements within five years of entering graduate nursing coursework.

III. Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Post-Master's Certificate

The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certificate program provides a formal program of study for master's-prepared nurses interested in taking the national certification exam to practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner. In order to be eligible to take the exam students must "successfully complete graduate didactic and clinical requirements of a master's nurse practitioner program through a formal graduate-level certificate or Master's level NP program in the desired area of practice." The FNP Certificate program offers a formal program of study to meet this need for students who already have the Master of Science in Nursing degree without requiring them to complete a second master's degree.

A. Prerequisites

The following prerequisite courses must be completed at the master's level with a grade of "B" or better prior to admission.
Advanced Health Assessment, 3 credit hours
Advanced Health Assessment, Clinical or Lab
Advanced Pathophysiology, 3 credit hours
Advanced Pharmacology, 3 credit hours
 

B. Program Requirements (21 credit hours total)

NURS 7601/02 Family Nurse Practitioner I/Clinic (3/2 credit hours)
NURS 7603/04 Family Nurse Practitioner II/Clinic (3/4 credit hours)
NURS 7605/06 Family Nurse Practitioner III/Clinic (3/2 credit hours)
NURS 7059 Advanced Practice Residency (4 credit hours)
 

C. Retention Requirements

Retention Requirements are the same as for the MSN.