News: Complete Your Degree as a Nurse Online with Kaplan University's Nurse Practiti

A degree in nursing from Kaplan University addresses the challenges and scenarios real nurses work through on a daily basis. Kaplan University's Master of Science in Nursing (MSN program) is based on relevant material to help ensure our students are prepared for their careers. Our online nursing degrees are based on flexible coursework; students enrolled in the Kaplan University School of Nursing program are already nurses and there is no easier way to cater to the ever-changing schedule of a nurse than attending university online.

We offer our students the courses to help develop their career through program offerings such as an RN-to-MSN option and nurse practitioner certificates.* Nurses don't just work in hospitals. At Kaplan University, we understand the different capacities in which nurses work and have developed our nursing school online to accommodate all capacities of nursing.

We see our nurses follow through with their training in programs that help students progress from their RN to an MSN program online. After years of hard work, our nurses look back at their time spent with Kaplan University and know it was a key element in getting them where they wanted to be.

* At this time, the nurse practitioner certificates are available only in the following states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Vermont.

"It's important to Kaplan [University] to make sure that the students have the skill set and the abilities to function well in the world of nursing. We want our graduates to be considered the employees of choice so if they're in a position or applying for a position, when the employer looks, 'Oh you graduated from Kaplan [University].' They know there is a certain currency and a certain relevance to the information and the knowledge they've gained. All of our online students are already nurses so they're out there working in a variety of fields all over the country. We ask our nurses, we ask our students that are in our bachelor's and our master's program, what do they think? What's important to them?

We try to think outside the box. Not all nurses work in the hospital. Nurses in the community, nurses in informatics, nurses in education—because when you find something that you're passionate about, that's when you've learned.

Their method of teaching was phenomenal. It was so phenomenal that when I went to take the boards I knew I passed the board. Why? Kaplan [University] taught me how.

What makes the Kaplan [University] School of Nursing so unique is the ability to offer the beginning nurse Vocational Nursing diplomas, Practical Nursing diplomas, and then to be able to be with them all throughout their career as they advance and progress with additional diplomas, certificate and degree programs to meet every need.

We give them opportunities to build their own professional portfolio throughout the nursing program we encourage the students to hold on to the things that they did well and to refine their skills. All of that are things that are absolutely embedded in the curriculum because we're all about students' success. Our students are challenged; they are working adults, they have families, and they have responsibilities, perhaps for children or older relatives. The personal touch is when the students know that the faculty care about them, that the advisors care about them and that people follow up.

I initially went with Kaplan [University] because I had a lot of returned calls from them and a lot of encouragement. Being that it was an online school I was nervous about, "What if I need help?" "What if I have a question?" All of the instructors that I had said call me if you have a question, email me if you have a question; I really needed that extra little push to get me started.

Our students feel like they really develop a personal relationship with the faculty. We see that when they graduate they're always interested, if they attend the graduation, to know if their admission advisor is there because they really bond with these people.

My most memorable experience was speaking to one of my professors and I said to her, "I can't do this anymore." She said to me, "you have come this far, you can do this, you are master's potential, finish it." That stuck in my head. I could pick up that phone or send her an email and she was there.

When the student feels that everybody cares about them being successful it makes a huge difference.

Kaplan [University] gave me the confidence and the incentive to move forward. They showed me that, come to Kaplan [University] and we will give you your future that you want.

Across the country, when we talk to hospitals that employ Kaplan [University] graduates, what we find is that they are impressed with the quality of their knowledge base and they're impressed with the quality of their skills and their professional demeanor. The school is preparing the leaders of nursing for tomorrow and that's an important mission. I love this place; I love Kaplan [University]."