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School Nurse Education
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Credits:
32
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Degree:
Master of Education
Program Description
The master’s degree in school nurse education strengthens the knowledge of school nurse practitioners to meet the growing responsibilities for this occupation. The curriculum focuses on nursing processes with school age children, management and evaluation of school health programs, leadership skills, research in the field, and legal and ethical issues in this unique nursing specialty. The program builds upon the standards of the National Association of School Nurses and reflects competency requirements outlined by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
Summer Institutes Format
This program is offered through the Cambridge College Summer Institutes format which is usually comprised of two short, intensive summer residencies in Boston, Massachusetts, and online courses throughout the non-summer months. Due to COVID-19, the 2023 & 2024 Summer Residency portion of this program will be taught remotely. Find more information about Summer Institutes at Cambridge College.
Cambridge College School Nurse Education Master’s Degree Program Highlights
School nurse practitioners are important resources not only for students but also for parents, school administrators, and community leaders. This program provides the specialized skills and training to advance in your school nursing career, delivered via an innovative learning format designed for working professionals.
- Real-world skill development. The School Nurse Education program features an independent learning project in which you’ll integrate your classroom learning and professional experiences into a meaningful whole. The project is research- and action-based, on a focused topic of your choice.
- Innovative learning format. The Cambridge College Summer Institutes format features two or three weeks of intensive study in Boston followed by distance learning and a second summer residency in Boston, to complete your master’s degree. The 2023 & 2024 Summer Intensives will be taught remotely. The remainder of classes are taken online.
- Diverse experiences. Ranked as one of the most ethnically diverse colleges in America, Cambridge College gives you the opportunity to work with other adult learners from all over the world, enriching your educational experience with diverse viewpoints and perspectives.
- Exceptional value. Cambridge College is one of the most affordable four-year private nonprofit colleges in the United States, giving you greater value for your education.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses (including school nurses) will see an employment increase of 16 percent over the next decade, which is faster than the average for most careers.
School Nurse Education Learning Outcomes
This program will help you discover your learning style and strengths. You’ll have opportunities to make sense of previous experiences and build on them to integrate new information, skills, and attitudes. At the same time, you’ll gain competencies in research and analysis, and understanding of evidence-based health program outcomes, practice protocols, and policies.
When you graduate, you’ll be ready to serve more effectively as nurses and educators of children and adults from diverse backgrounds with diverse needs. In addition, you’ll have a network of relationships with fellow learners, Cambridge College faculty, and the faculty of your own school—a ready resource for your career growth in collaborative school health leadership.
School Nurse Jobs
Graduates of this program will have the skills and training to advance in their professional roles as expert school health managers and leaders in their school systems, working in:
- Private and public schools
- Colleges and universities
- Public health departments and agencies
- Departments of health
Our graduates publish in professional journals, present at local and national conferences for educators and school nurses, develop and initiate new policies/health care protocols within their school districts, mentor new school nurse hires, and apply for and advance into formal leadership roles.
How Much Do School Nurses Make?
The average annual salary for a registered nurse, including school nurses, is $71,000, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Massachusetts is one of the top paying states in the nation for this occupations, with an average salary of $92,140. School nurse salaries can vary significantly based on your level of experience and where you work.
Example School Nurse Education Courses
As a graduate student pursuing your degree in school nurse education at Cambridge College, you’ll have the opportunity to take classes such as:
- Professional Seminar: School Nurse Education
- School Nurse Leadership in the School and Community
- Evaluation of School Health Programs
Download the School Nurse Education program sheet.
School Nurse Education Scholarships and Financial Aid
You may qualify for grants, scholarships, loans, and other types of financial assistance to help pay for your master’s degree in school nurse education. Learn more about applying for financial aid at Cambridge College.
Many companies also offer tuition assistance programs that can help to pay for education. Find information about getting your company to help.
Related Programs at Cambridge College
If you’re still exploring degree options, you might be interested in learning more about these programs at Cambridge College:
Curriculum
Professional Seminar and Project
8
Credits
Professional Seminar I: School Nurse Education
ESN 691 • 2 credit(s)
Professional Seminar I (PSI) establishes a learning community that addresses the problems of isolation of school nurses, as well as, identification of the future mission of the profession. This seminar provides the context in which a cohort of students can interpret their experiences and transform them into knowledge, constructs, skills, attitudes and values. The seminar is a developmental process challenging students’ existing philosophies and practices. The PSI is a model of support to students’ personal and professional lives, where current personal and professional growth issues are raised and discussed. Learning is facilitated in a supportive, risk-free environment. With guidance of the seminar leader, students will define and clarify the final project design of the independent learning project (ILP) and develop an action plan to ensure satisfactory completion.
Professional Seminar II: School Nurse Education
ESN 692 • 2 credit(s)
Professional Seminar II (PS2) is conducted entirely online. It requires students to have and apply a consistently strong work ethic and a determined action plan for progressing according to the submission deadline schedule requirements established and provided to them during PS I. During PS2, students will be required to extend their ILP topic research to complete their literature review (minimum of 10 pages) to include a minimum of 10-12 scholarly sources, and to write their reference page. They will also be required to finalize and compose their methodology and design and create the body (stand-alone intervention or initiative) of their ILP during the PS2.
Professional Seminar III: School Nurse Education
ESN 693 • 1 credit(s)
Professional Seminar III (PS III), in addition to allowing students to complete the remaining portions of the ILP, including the statement of learning/summary and conclusions, appendices, abstract and table of contents, will allow students to develop an assessment plan to use in evaluating the effectiveness of their projects. The assessment plan will specify the goals of the ILP project and establish reasonable and measurable evaluative criteria based on those goals. Students will also design a timetable for implementing their projects, along with identifying key stakeholders, those individuals who would be expected to lend support to the project and a rationale behind their motivation for such support. Students will also identify any barriers/blocks in the form of policies, regulations, people, current cultural standards/practices and traditions; and fiscal, time and space constraints, that need to be anticipated to ensure their ILPs’ success. Students will post their abstracts so that they can obtain feedback on their ILP projects from their nursing colleagues, allowing them to expand the impact of their projects beyond their own schools’ communities.
Independent Learning Project: School Nurse Education
ESN 800 • 3 credit(s)
The Independent Learning Project is a culminating learning experience that helps school nurse educators to integrate their personal and formal learning and their professional experiences into a meaningful whole. It articulates the individual’s educational and administrative philosophy. The project is research- and action-based, on a focused topic chosen by the school nurse educator. It engages the student in sustained research into educational practice and curriculum development.
School Nurse Courses
15
Credits
Principles, Process, and Practices of School Health Management
ESN 660 • 3 credit(s)
In this course, students will combine nursing theory and apply knowledge acquired in the practice setting. They will develop effective strategies using the nursing process to analyze the impact of significant medical, psychological, cultural and social problems on the population of school aged children. Consideration will be given to how the major cultural and societal issues affecting children impact the practice of nursing within the school practice setting. Students will engage in research from both a global and local perspective. Using the nursing process to define the issues, students will suggest effective short and long-term interventions, including public policy interventions to address these problems and devise an evaluation system that insures continued and progressive program improvement. In addition, students will become familiar with the eight major component categories of the Coordinated School Health Model and to recognize the importance of collaborating with professionals in other school service areas to provide effective and coordinated interventions aimed at individual children as well as the larger school population. The impact of school nursing services on student outcomes will be explored. Using the goals of “Healthy People 2020”, students will analyze the relationship between specific data in relationship to the 2020 goals and design a health promotion/health education program to address the needs of a specific student population. Emphasis will be placed on the leadership role of the nurse as she/he interacts with other professionals and political leaders within her/his community and on the state and national level.
Dealing with Grief & Loss: Role of Educators, Counselors, and Nurses
ESN 710 • 3 credit(s)
This course assists the professional school staff member in supporting students dealing with grief and loss. Course participants identify the issues that influence our society in dealing with grief and loss and recognize the physical, psychological, social and cultural manifestations of grief. Participants learn how our understanding of death and loss is influenced by developmental age, cultural and social factors. The course focuses on how issues of grief and loss are present in the school environment and explores approaches to help the students cope with loss in a variety of situations.
Legal Responsibilities & Ethical Issues for School Nurses
ESN 725 • 3 credit(s)
This course is an analysis of federal, state and municipal legal mandates which affect school health programs. It will include a review of professional standards and an examination of the ethics of care, advocacy, equity, confidentiality, responsibility, accountability, and other ethical issues, which affect the school health program, school children and their families, and the school nurse.
School Nurse Leadership in the School & Community
ESN 780 • 3 credit(s)
Overview of the professional roles of the school nurse. Introduction to leadership theory, process and outcomes with special emphasis on critical thinking, decision-making, and change. Examination of interdisciplinary initiatives within the school and community. Introduction to the National Association of School Nurses and state associations.
Evaluation of School Health Programs
ESN 750 • 3 credit(s)
Theory and practice of program evaluation with emphasis on how to focus an evaluation, design a program evaluation, use quantitative and qualitative methods in evaluation, assess program implementation, measure attitudes, measure performance and use tests, analyze data, and communicate evaluation findings. Special topics include needs assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and an introduction to grant and proposal development.
Electives
9
Credits
Electives must be in health, family & consumer sciences, instructional technology, counseling psychology, school guidance, special education, or teaching skills and methodologies. If courses in these areas are not available, other courses in education may be taken as electives with program chair’s approval.
Core Faculty
(617) 873-0212sandra.bridwell@cambridgecollege.edu
(617) 873-0849james.horn@cambridgecollege.edu
Senior Instructor
(617) 873-0279Peter.Ash@go.cambridgecollege.edu
(617) 873-0770William.Hoyt@go.cambridgecollege.edu
(617) 873-0347Patricia.Johnson@cambridgecollege.edu
617-873-0292John.Papadonis@cambridgecollege.edu
617-873-0181doris.vangorder@cambridgecollege.edu
Pages
Admissions
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Admission Test:
No standardized graduate school tests required for admission into non-licensure programs.
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Admissions Office:
1-800-829-4723
- Application Form:
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Application Fee:
$50 ($100 for international students; $100 for EdD)
Program Requirements
Applicants must have Registered Nursing License (RN) and submit the completed RN License Requirement Form and be prepared to show license to the program chairperson when class begins.
Health Requirements for Massachusetts Students
The Massachusetts Health Department and Cambridge College require the following of students in Massachusetts:
Immunizations – All students in Massachusetts are required to get certain immunizations before you can register for your first term. See form
Health Insurance – In Massachusetts, undergraduate students taking nine or more credits/term and graduate students taking six or more credits/term must enroll in the College’s health insurance plan. Students who have insurance with comparable coverage may request a waiver. See information and enroll or waive.
School Requirements
See Admissions Requirements for School of Education
International Students
International students need to provide supplemental documentation:
- Official demonstration of English language proficiency
- Supplemental documentation for issuance of I-20
- International transcripts, evaluated by an accepted evaluation service
Transfer Credit
Graduate program applicants, please complete the transfer credit request form if you wish to have prior course work evaluated for transfer. Learn more.
Undergraduate program applicants, once you are accepted, your official transcripts are evaluated for transfer credit.
Tuition
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Credits:
32
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Cost per credit hour:
$609
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Application Fee:
$50 ($100 for international students; $100 for EdD)
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Health Insurance Fee:
$3,962 - Required for Massachusetts students only. See waiver details on Tuition & Fees page.
Note: Rates are as of July 2022, and are subject to change without notice. Rates apply to all students, unless otherwise noted.
Financial Aid
Cambridge College offers financial aid to students in our degree programs who are enrolled at least half time. Undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 6 credits each term. Graduate and doctoral students must be enrolled in at least 4 credits each term. Learn more
Grants, Scholarships and Loans
Cambridge College welcomes the opportunity to support your efforts to pay for college. Federal, state and local resources in the form of grants, scholarships, loans and work-study, including Cambridge College Scholarships, are available to help defray the cost of tuition. Learn more
Getting Your Company to Help
Many companies have tuition assistance programs, designed to help their employees with their professional development. Learn more
Take the Next Step Toward Your Master's Degree in School Nurse Education
Take the Next Step Toward Your Master's Degree in School Nurse Education
Student
Success
Richard Jarvis
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