Program Overview
Are you a nurse with a bachelor’s degree who currently works in a school setting or would like to? Our School Nurse Certificate Program prepares you to focus your career on the special knowledge and skills required for the school setting.
School nurses are leaders who bridge the gap between healthcare and education to promote the health and academic outcomes of all students.
What to Expect
The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) defines school nursing as a specialized nursing practice that:
- Protects and promotes student health
- Facilitates optimal development for all students
- Advances academic success
This graduate-level certificate program will ground you in ethical, evidence-based practice. It will also prepare you to provide care coordination, advocate for student-centered care and collaborate on systems on an interprofessional level.
Program Benefits
School Nurse Program benefits include:
- Fully online
- Rolling admission with five starting points per year
- Flexibility in pace of program completion
- Innovative curriculum aligned with Scope and Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice and the NASN (Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice)
- Direct contact with the program director
- 13-16 credit hours of online coursework
- Graduate credit
- School nurse cognate for Master of Education in Adult Education through the College of Education
Learning Experience
The program consists of online coursework and a 160- to 320-hour internship in a school setting. The amount of internship credit required is determined by the type of previous experience as a nurse in a school setting.
Upon completion, you will:
- Deliver age-appropriate and culturally competent nursing care in the school setting
- Demonstrate safe nursing practices in communication and information management
- Use professional behavior skills to provide leadership in the practice of school nursing
- Integrate evidence and research nursing to contribute to quality school nursing practice
- Evaluate your own nursing practice in relation to professional practice standards and guidelines of school nursing
- Promote a healthy, safe and collaborative practice environment.
Curriculum
|
Course |
Course Description |
Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
|
SNP 525 |
Health Care of the School Community |
3 hrs |
|
SNP 518 |
Health Determinants and Academic Indicators |
3 hrs |
|
SNP 520 |
Educational Strategies for Healthcare Providers |
2-3 hrs |
|
SNP 528 |
Interprofessional Collaboration: The School Nurse and School Support Services |
3 hrs |
|
SNP 680 |
Internship: School Nurse |
2-4 hrs |
|
Total Hours |
13-16 hrs |
Admission Requirements
- Have and maintain an active unencumbered RN license
- Possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher learning
- Have a minimum 3.0 GPA in previous or current higher education
- Complete the School Nurse Certificate application
Admission to the School Nurse Certificate program is on a rolling basis, so students may apply and begin coursework during any semester. No on-campus attendance is required.
Graduate Outcome
School nurse graduates meet the Ohio Department of Education requirement to apply for the Professional Pupil Services License as a School Nurse.
Internships and Career Opportunities
All students complete a School Nurse Internship in an actual school setting with an assigned Ashland University clinical faculty member.
Contact Information
Jennifer Boles, MSN, RN, LSN, NCSN
Interim Director, School Nurse Certificate Program
279 College of Nursing & Health Sciences
jboles2@ashland.edu