I Introduction

II Philosophy, Mission and Linkages to University Mission
     College of Nursing Mission
     College of Nursing Philosophy
     College of Nursing Goals
     National Nursing Standards

III  Program Purpose (Goal), Program Objectives and Student Outcomes

IV Curriculum Structure and Development
     Instructional Strategies
     Grading Guidelines

V  Program Evaluation

VI Curriculum Evaluation

VII Appendices

I. Introduction

The Master of Science degree with a major in Nursing was established at South Dakota State University in 1980. The MS degree is available for full-time students in Brookings and for part-time students in Sioux Falls, Rapid City and online.

Prospective students choose from the following specializations: educator, administrator, family nurse practitioner, psychiatric nurse practitioner or neonatal nurse practitioner. Students may complete the program in four to five semesters of full-time enrollment, or may choose to complete the program over three years, at two courses per semester (including summers), or over four years at one course per semester (including summers). There is also an RN to MS option and two post-master’s certificates, one in nursing education and one for family nurse practitioner.

The full-time, four- or five-semester option is available only in Brookings. The part-time, three-year option is also available only on the Brookings campus. The four-year option is available  in Brookings, Sioux Falls and Rapid City. The online degree option is available only over four years. The RN to MS and the post-master’s certificates are available at all sites. 

It is the belief of the nursing faculty that advanced practice nurses are best prepared in an institution of higher education that incorporates both academic and professional components. In addition, the faculty believe that advanced practice nurses are best educated by teachers and mentors who combine expertise in academic and professional roles. 

II. Philosophy, Mission and Linkages to University Mission

 (See Appendix A: CON Quality Improvement Plan and Department of Graduate Nursing Quality Improvement Plan)

College of Nursing Mission

To improve the health and quality of life in the state, region and nation through education of nurses and other health care professionals; provide expertise to consumers, providers and health systems; and conduct research to improve nursing and health care  (Approved, February 6, 1998, College of Nursing Organization Minutes) 

College of Nursing Philosophy

The College of Nursing, an integral component of South Dakota State University, contributes significantly to the tripartite mission of the University through faculty commitment to teaching, scholarship/research and service.

The faculty believes that nursing improves the health and environments of human beings in the state, region, nation and the world through education of health care professionals in undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs.  The faculty believes that education is a self-directed, yet interactive lifelong process that empowers learners to think critically and grow toward their potentials.  Undergraduate education prepares individuals for basic entry into nursing practice while graduate education prepares nurses for advanced or specialty nursing practice.  The continuing education program offers updates for practicing nurses committed to lifelong learning.  The health science minor offers nursing and other professional students knowledge and skills to promote health, prevent disease and protect the environment which they can apply within their respective disciplines to promote health and improve the quality of life for the public. 

The faculty believes that human beings are dynamic, multidimensional, unique, maturational and autonomous.  Health is an individually defined, multidimensional, dynamic and valued way of being in the environment.  Human beings are influenced by and responsive to their environments and can choose to alter their internal and external environments to impact their health, function and quality of life.

Nursing responds to and interacts with human beings and their environments to promote health.  Nursing, expressed as a professional way of caring, uses both art and science to address all dimensions of the human being by applying research and theories.  Nursing serves as an intentional catalyst for change to promote health in evolving environments through education, leadership, as well as direct and indirect clinical interventions.
 (Approved, February 6, 1998, College of Nursing Organization Minutes)

College of Nursing Goals

The College of Nursing:

1. Educates professional nurses prepared to improve the quality of life of South Dakotans, Americans and people around the globe.

2. Expects faculty to engage in multiple dimensions of scholarship which includes discovery, integration, application and teaching to improve nursing and health care 

3. Enables students to achieve knowledge, skills and values consistent with national nursing standards

4. Facilitates interactive educational experiences designed to foster critical thinking and lifelong learning

5. Serves the people of the state through expertise, leadership, health education and health promotion

The goals and program outcomes of the MS in Nursing program are congruent with those of the College of Nursing and South Dakota State University as a whole. As a land-grant institution, South Dakota State University is charged with serving the state of South Dakota and its people through a tripartite mission: (1) serve students with providing quality undergraduate and graduate programs; (2) conduct nationally competitive strategic applied and basic research that is both scholarly and creative activities; and (3) transfer knowledge through service to the citizens of South Dakota, the United States, and globally (South Dakota State University Bulletin, 1998-2000, p. 6).

The secondary mission of the University is to (1) provide a campus environment conducive for students to develop leadership skills, (2) foster a pluralistic community that encourages diversity, international exchange opportunities, and a global vision, and (3) develop and enhance personal skills to contribute to the common good.

The linkage between the College of Nursing's mission and philosophy statements and the University mission statement is the commitment to improve the health and quality of life for the people of the state, region, and nation through education, research and provision of expertise.  It is within the land-grant mission to provide students with education through faculty who are experts in their fields of study so that students may ultimately utilize this knowledge to serve the citizens of South Dakota in the context of a global community.

National Nursing Standards

Each of the specializations in the M.S. in Nursing program is based on national standards which provide guidance for excellence in teaching and in student outcomes. These standards are:

1. AACN (1996). The Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. Washington, D.C.: AACN.
2. National Association of Neonatal Nurses Subspecialty Interest Group for Advanced Practice Education (1995). Program Guidelines for Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Educational Preparation. Petaluma, CA: NANN.
3. American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (1999). Position Statement on Nurse Practitioner Curriculum. Austin, TX: AANP.
4. National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (1998). Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education. Glenview, IL: NACNS.
5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration (1998). Curriculum Guidelines & Regulatory Criteria for Family Nurse Practitioners Seeking Prescriptive Authority to Manage Pharmacotherapeutics in Primary Care. Rockville, MD: HRSA.
6. American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (1998). Standards of Practice. Austin, TX: AANP.
7. AACN (1999). Distance Technology in Nursing Education. Washington, D.C.: AACN.
8. National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (1997). Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs. Washington, D.C.: NONPF.
9. NONPF (1995). Advanced Nursing Practice: Curriculum Guidelines and Program Standards for Nurse Practitioner Education. Washington, D.C.: NONPF.
10. Nurse Practice Act (2000). South Dakota Codified Law. 
11. North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (1997). Handbook of Accreditation, Second Edition. Chicag NCA.
12. HRSA Division of Nursing (1997). A National Informatics Agenda for Nursing Education and Practice, December, 1997. Available at: http://158.72.83.3/bhpr/dn/nirepex.htm. 
13. American Association of Colleges of Nursing and American Organization of Nurse Executives (1996). Joint Position Statement on Nursing Administration Education. Available at:  http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/positions/nae.htm.
14. Western Interstate Commission For Higher Education (WICHE) (2000). Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs. Available: http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/Article1.htm

These standards and guidelines are used in the Master of Science program in the following ways:  a) for curriculum development, revision and evaluation; b) in the development of teaching and faculty evaluation strategies; c) for development, revision and evaluation of distance education strategies; d) in maintaining congruence with subspecialty certification requirements; e) for individual course development, revision and evaluation; f) for individual course objective and/or course clinical site development, revision, and evaluation; and g) in the development of program documents such as curriculum handbook, preceptor orientation handbook and student progression policies. The graduate curriculum fosters attainment of the above professional nursing standards. For example, the foundation and core courses follow the core curriculum content described in the Master’s Essentials document and the syllabi for these courses reflect this content.

The Internet program was developed using the Guidelines for Distance Education from the Commission of Institution of Higher Education-North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (1997) and based on the principles developed by the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE). Distance Education is defined in the document as a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction occurs when student and instructor are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. Distance education may employ correspondence study, or audio, video, or computer technologies (WICHE, 2000).

Consistency in technological components provides a sense of security and familiarity, as well as a sense of community as the students interact in each course.  The Internet course management software for all courses is WebCT which is congruent with the Regents of South Dakota’s University Distance Education Consortium. Computer mediated communication presents distinct challenges that relate to all facets and dimensions of the program.  The graduate faculty agree on the importance of faculty-student communication and student-student interaction. 

III. Program Purpose (Goal), Program Objectives and Student Outcomes

The M.S. in Nursing Program purpose (goal) is: To prepare nurses for advanced practice in nursing administration, clinical practice, or education. The program objectives are to: 

A. Prepare graduates who demonstrate evidence based practice and lifelong learning. 
B. Prepare advanced practice nurses who serve South Dakota in the delivery of primary health care, nursing administration, or nurse education. 
C. Prepare advanced practice nurses for leadership roles in health care.

The Student Outcomes are that the graduate will: 

1. Incorporate knowledge and theories from nursing and other supportive disciplines into advanced nursing practice. 
2. Display competence within the legal scope of practice for the chosen functional role. 
3. Evaluate, conduct, and utilize research within advanced practice nursing. 
4. Use leadership, administration, and teaching strategies to improve nursing practice and health care delivery. 
5. Assume accountability to influence health policy, address the diversity of health care needs, and advance the nursing profession.

(See Appendix B: Department of Graduate Nursing Program Assessment Data)

IV. Curriculum Structure and Development

The current graduate curriculum has been developed incrementally from its inception in 1980 to the present. The organization and sequencing of the curriculum are derived from the goal, objectives and student outcomes of the department and are based on national nursing standards. Students build on their baccalaureate knowledge and experience as RNs by beginning the program with the core courses. These courses include an introduction to advanced practice nursing and a course in advanced physical assessment. Students then enroll in courses specific to their specialization and “Thesis or Project” credits are taken upon completion of the research methods course if the student has not chosen the coursework-only option. Practicum and Internship courses are specific to the specialization chosen by the student and must be taken in sequence, after the core courses. The majority of the precepted clinical hours occur during these courses. 

Instructional Strategies

Instructional strategies are chosen by the faculty of record for each course and may include any or all of the following: Written, online, take home, or proctored examinations and quizzes, class participation, laboratory performance with live models, preceptor evaluations, journals, logs, diaries, research, critique, and term papers, clinical performance evaluations, self-evaluations, debates, class presentations, computer slide presentations, poster presentations, group assignments, role plays, videotaped interactions, site visits by course faculty, didactic lecture, group discussion, individual study, small group seminars, web-enhanced materials, all-Internet classes, online discussion, chat rooms, online testing, directly supervised clinical practicum and precepted clinical practicum. 
Students are required to pass the departmental written examinations in their final semester of course work. Students in the educator, administrator or clinical nurse specialist specializations are required to produce a thesis or a project. (See the current Graduate Student Handbook for a discussion of the differences between these two options). The project option requires more elective credits. The student defends the proposal and defends the completed thesis or project at the final oral defense required by the University. Students in the nurse practitioner specializations may choose to complete a coursework-only option. 

All course syllabi follow a standard format and each course in the program has a “history binder” in the department office. These binders contain all of the past syllabi and a narrative between different versions to explain why each class was changed, as far back as we can ascertain from historical documents. All sites use the same syllabus for each class, but may include different clinical sites, assignments, and workbooks in order to meet the same course objectives while being taught at different sites in the state or online. In addition to the syllabi available in the binders and organized by course, course materials are also on file by semester, so that each file contains all of the syllabi that were used that semester in graduate nursing courses at all sites.

Grading Guidelines

Every syllabus contains the following statement: “Students will be evaluated by the academic and professional judgment of the faculty member(s) assigned to teach this course.” Every syllabus is required to contain at least the following sections: course description, course objectives, requirements of the course, the SDSU Academic Dishonesty Policy, the departmental attendance policy, instructional methods, learning experiences and methods of evaluation. The “methods of evaluation” section tells the student exactly how she or he will be evaluated. Both formative and summative evaluation strategies must be used in each course in order to provide the student with ongoing feedback regarding performance. There are no surprise failures at the end of a course in which the student had no idea he or she was not meeting expectations.

It is the policy of the department of graduate nursing that graduate nursing faculty use the grading scale that best reflects appropriate levels of achievement in their course. All graduate nursing students must receive a “B” or better in all nursing or required nursing support courses to progress in the program. A “B” average is acceptable among all elective courses. Appeals may be made in accordance with the SDSU appeals policy.

Graduate faculty may choose to evaluate students based on a system of points, or may choose to use a qualitative evaluation method based on behavioral descriptions of “A” or “B” behavior, or may choose to utilize both methods. These descriptions must appear in the syllabus. Grading in each course must be consistent among the faculty who teach the course at all sites during that semester and are designed to be congruent with the course objectives. The Graduate Curriculum Committee and the Graduate Nursing Faculty must approve any changes to the methods of evaluation in an individual course. Faculty make on-site visits to all students and preceptors at least twice each semester. The forms used by graduate faculty are based on the national guidelines and can be found in Appendix C. 

V. Program Evaluation

The College of Nursing Quality Improvement Strategic Plan mandates a cycle of review for the department. Program goals are derived from College goals and undergo review on an annual basis. The department head conducts exit interviews with each student leaving the program. Employer and alumni surveys are conducted every year at 1, 3 and 5 years post-graduation.  The Graduate Faculty attend a retreat every summer to review the program assessment data collected by the Department Head during that year. The data are reviewed by the graduate faculty against national standards, internal goals and objectives, plus feedback from external communities of interest as shown in the Department of Graduate Nursing Quality Improvement Plan diagram (See Appendix A). Recommendations may or may not be produced to change any part of the plan in the quality improvement cycle.  The yearly data are also compiled and submitted to the SDSU Assessment Committee every three years.  See Appendix B for the most recent data in the current three-year cycle. 

VI. Curriculum Evaluation

Faculty members are responsible for the curriculum and the curriculum evaluation process. The curriculum is accountable to internal and external stakeholders, and assures continuous quality improvement through annual review according to the cyclical Graduate Nursing Quality Improvement Plan (See Appendix A). 

Students evaluate every graduate course every semester using the standard SDSU forms. The department head summarizes student evaluations of individual courses and gives the summaries to the faculty who taught the course. These summaries are re-submitted at the end of each year to the department head in the yearly faculty evaluation process. Consistent comments with regard to faculty or curriculum issues are clarified with students in the exit interviews by the department head. Summaries of the exit interviews are presented to graduate faculty at the annual retreat for consideration along with all of the other program evaluation data. 

The curriculum evaluation plan is based on national standards and is documented in Content Maps. These maps have been generated by the Graduate Curriculum Committee and reflect the departmental goals and objectives. See Appendix D for current Content Maps and Appendix E for Credit, Classroom, and Clinical hour summaries.

All appendices are available in the Department Office, NFA 217

Appendix A: College of Nursing Quality Improvement Plan And 
Department of Graduate Nursing Quality Improvement Plan

Appendix B: Department of Graduate Nursing Program 
Assessment Data: June 2000 to May 2003

Appendix C:  Forms Used by Faculty

Appendix D: Content Maps for Specializations

Appendix E: Credit, Classroom and Clinical/Laboratory 
Hour Summaries According to Specialization

Appendix F: Program of Study For Each Specialization, 
RN to MS Option And Post-Master’s Options

Appendix G: Progression of Courses In the Master of Science Program 
For Each Specialization