Master’s degree with nurse education concentration receives final approval from coordinating board
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| School of Nursing |
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently gave final approval to the University of Houston-Victoria’s Master of Science in Nursing degree with a nurse education concentration, paving the way for the university to graduate more nurses who can teach other nurses and patients.
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| Kathryn Tart |
“One of the greatest nursing needs in the state is for more nurse educators, and that was the predominant reason that this university decided to offer an MSN with a nurse education concentration,” said Kathryn Tart, founding dean of the UHV School of Nursing.
Although UHV had previously received initial approval from the board to offer the MSN degree with the nurse education concentration, final approval took until last month. The university began offering a MSN degree with either nurse education or nurse administration concentrations a year ago. In spring of 2010, the first nurses will graduate from UHV with an MSN.
“That graduation will be a great day,” Tart said. “We will take another step forward to better serve the region.”
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| Sabrina Davila |
Sabrina Davila, a nurse educator at Citizens Medical Center who is one of 24 students working toward their MSN with a nurse education concentration from UHV, said the program has been a great help to her. In fact, she was hired into her current job in July in part because she was in the UHV program.
“The faculty members are just very thoughtful and flexible,” she said. “They’ve made it easy for me to get a higher education while I have a full-time job.”
As a nurse educator at Citizens, Davila teaches both patients and staff members. She holds orientation sessions for new nurses and provides in-service workshops on topics such as how to safely move patients. She also educates the hospital’s patients about diabetes and other health-related topics.
“At UHV, I’ve learned how to effectively educate both patients and staff,” she said. “I get a lot of satisfaction watching people learn something new.”
Both MSN concentrations take about two years to finish and require that nursing students complete 36 semester credit hours – 12 in core areas and 24 in their concentration.
The nurse education concentration educates nurses with Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees to teach in nursing programs at community colleges and universities, or to teach hospital patients and staff. The nurse administration concentration teaches nurses with BSNs how to be successful administrators at healthcare facilities.
For more information about either degree plan or other degrees offered by the UHV School of Nursing, go to www.uhv.edu/nursing or contact student recruitment coordinator Tammy Neeley Whatley at 361-570-4297 or whatleyt@uhv.edu.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
