波尔州立大学

Ball State’s master of science (MS) in nursing gives you three directions to follow, depending on your career aspirations.

Offered entirely online, our program lets you choose one of three concentrations to fit your career path: nurse educator, nurse administrator, and family nurse practitioner.

Concentrations

Nurse Educator

Nurse educators take their experience in nursing and their talent for teaching to the classrooms of colleges and universities, trade schools, and community colleges; plus some opportunities are found in general medical and surgical hospitals. Common job responsibilities include:

• planning a curriculum for undergraduate courses
• lecture on various topics
• prepare class syllabus and other course materials
• encourage and moderate class discussions
• assign and grade homework while also overseeing students’ lab and clinical work

Nurse administrators

Nurse administrators play a critical leadership role as they lead teams and units of nurses while also factoring in the costs of delivering patient care. As a part of that role, nurse administrators work with policy, management, finance, and human resources in settings such as hospitals, laboratories, and long-term and nursing care facilities.

Common job responsibilities include:

• manage and supervise work of nursing personnel
• work to raise level of care and efficiency of care
• create budgets, approve expenditures, manage costs
• supervise hiring of new staff
• document use of facility services and resources

Family Nurse Practitioner

In an advanced practice role, nurse practitioners practice in private practices, schools and colleges, hospice centers, community clinics, Veterans Affairs facilities, and private and public health departments.

Common job responsibilities:

• diagnose and treat acute illnesses, infections and injuries
• write prescriptions for medications, including dosage and frequency
• order and interpret diagnostic tests
• educate patients about managing their health and design patient treatment plans