Characteristics of graduate adult health nursing programs

This descriptive study explored the current characteristics and emphases of graduate programs which offer adult health nursing curricula. All NLN-accredited master's programs offering the adult health focus were requested to send selected demographic information and materials/bulletins normally sent to prospective students. The Conrad and Pratt model for curriculum decision-making was used to organize results related to environmental input and curriculum design variables. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze admission requirements, types of study permitted, length of program, type of courses (core, electives/cognates, specialty) and completion requirements. Results indicated that adult health graduate programs have multi-tracks. Students were generally attending part-time. Full-time study completion time was four to six semesters. Evening and one day per week offerings were frequently found, as were numerous innovative strategies. Prevalent admission requirements were: graduation from an NLN-accredited BSN program, current licensure, specified GPA, GRE scores, health assessment and statistics courses, professional references and possible personal interview. Most programs required core courses in theory/conceptual frameworks, issues, roles, statistics and research. Electives/cognate courses and thesis/non-thesis options were present in most programs.