Nursing Leadership, M.S.N.
Shape the future of healthcare delivery with the online Nursing Leadership, M.S.N. from WVU. Build the visionary, evidence-based strategy needed to manage high-performing teams, drive systemic innovation, and elevate patient outcomes without pausing your practice.
Request Information
Courses and Credits:
12 Courses / 36 Credits
Duration:
2 years (full-time) or 2.5 years (part-time)
Admission Terms:
Fall
Next Start Date:
Fall 2027 (Start date TBD)
Term Length:
15-week courses
Learning Format:
Online asynchronous, online synchronous, clinical placements
GMAT/GRE:
Not required
Program Overview
The healthcare landscape demands leaders who can balance compassionate care with strict organizational accountability. The online M.S.N. in Nursing Leadership from the School of Nursing equips you to step into influential executive roles with confidence. This flexible graduate program connects evidence-based leadership theory with practical, real-world application. You will gain the critical tools required to strengthen organizational performance, manage diverse clinical teams, and influence high-level decision-making across clinical, academic, and global health environments.
Drive Organizational Excellence
Prepare to lead forward-thinking healthcare environments by mastering the business, data, and human sides of modern clinical systems.
- Leadership for Modern Healthcare: Develop the ability to evaluate, apply, and sustain evidence-based leadership strategies that improve patient care delivery and organizational performance.
- Innovation and Stewardship: Learn to balance workforce engagement and quality clinical outcomes with sound financial analysis and fiscal responsibility.
- Flexible Progression: Choose the pace that fits your life with full-time and part-time study paths available.
- Tailored 500-Hour Practicum: Complete hands-on clinical placements focused on strategic planning and executive practice, utilizing a flexible model that allows you to work within your current employment site or an external organization with dedicated placement support.
What You’ll Learn
The thoughtfully sequenced curriculum bridges the gap between complex health policy and day-to-day operational execution. Through this coursework, you will learn to:
- Design Systemic Change: Apply scholarly inquiry, clinical judgment, and financial analysis to build cost-effective healthcare structures using complexity science and systems theory.
- Champion Equity and Policy: Critique regional and global health initiatives to improve population outcomes, ensuring care delivery is ethical, equitable, and inclusive of the social determinants of health.
- Leverage Health Informatics: Evaluate outcome data using modern communication technologies and statistical principles to reduce institutional risks and meet regulatory standards.
- Foster Resilience: Collaborate across interprofessional teams to cultivate new nursing expertise while modeling personal health, resilience, and lifelong professional growth.
Clinical experiences are a key component of the Nursing Leadership, M.S.N. program, allowing students to apply leadership principles in real‑world healthcare environments. These placements provide opportunities to collaborate with experienced nurse leaders, participate in organizational projects, and develop competencies essential for executive nursing practice.
How Clinical Placements Work
- Flexible, Student‑Centered Model: Students may complete clinical hours within their current workplace or another approved healthcare organization that aligns with program objectives.
- Supported Placement Process: Our clinical placement team and faculty advisors guide students through selecting appropriate sites and preceptors, ensuring experiences meet accreditation and curriculum requirements.
- Qualified Preceptors: Preceptors are experienced nursing leaders — such as nurse managers, directors, or executives — who provide mentorship and support as students develop advanced leadership skills.
- Professional Growth Opportunities: Clinical experiences focus on strategic planning, quality improvement, financial and workforce management, regulatory compliance, and strengthening organizational culture.
Requirements
- Students must complete all required clinical hours as outlined in the program curriculum.
- All clinical sites and preceptors must receive formal approval before hours may be logged.
- Additional requirements — such as background checks, immunizations, or site‑specific onboarding — may apply depending on the placement location.
Featured Courses
Review some of the courses you can take during the program. Explore the full curriculum to learn more.
Video: The Nursing Leadership Experience
Lead Beyond the Bedside
Application Steps
What You Need to Apply
Eligible applicants are required to have:
- A Bachelor of Science in nursing degree from a nationally accredited nursing program and regionally accredited college or university.
- A minimum nursing GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- A cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale on all college work attempted.
- Provisional admission may be considered if the overall GPA is 2.75-2.99 depending upon space available and other qualifications.
- An active, unrestricted RN license in at least one state at the time of application.
- One year of work experience in nursing.
- Letters of good standing if required
- Required for transfer students or those that have taken courses in another graduate program but did not complete the degree.
In addition, students must satisfactorily complete background checks and drug screens upon admission.
How to Apply
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until July 1 for a Fall term start date. Acceptance is dependent upon space available in the program.
Applications for WVU’s online programs are processed through the University’s central portal. Follow these steps to set up your account and submit your application.
- Check the prerequisites: Review ‘What You Need to Apply’ to confirm your eligibility and get your application materials ready.
- Create your account: Visit the portal, create your account and start your application.
- Pay your application fee: Complete the required payment within the portal.
- Submit: Carefully review your details and submit your application.
Candidates for admission are evaluated on the entire admission packet. The WVU School of Nursing accepts new MSN students on a rolling admission basis and will review all qualified applications based on admission criteria. While unofficial transcripts are accepted for application review, official transcripts are required before an admission decision can be finalized. We strongly recommend submitting your official transcripts as soon as possible to help ensure a smooth and timely admission process.
Acceptance is dependent upon space available in the program with the most qualified applicants being accepted at the time of review. Decisions will be emailed to students. Accepted students will receive information regarding orientation and course registration. Students will be evaluated based on the following:
- Nursing GPA
- Work Experience
- Overall GPA
Please note that full-time and part-time placements are based on space availability. The most qualified applicants will receive priority for full-time placements. Class size and progression plans may be limited based on available faculty resources and space.
Enrollment in nursing courses is based upon readiness, availability of space and other essential resources.
Clinical rotations with approved preceptors in the final year of your program must be arranged with course faculty. Due to potential preceptor limitations, students may have to travel out of their local areas to their clinical sites and are required to provide their own reliable transportation.
In programs with limited capacity and competitive admissions, the most qualified students are selected among those that meet the minimum requirements. If an application for admission into a graduate program is denied, the applicant may request the reasons for refusal of admission by writing to the specific graduate program coordinator. Note that meeting the minimum requirements for admission into a graduate program does not ensure admission. An applicant may appeal to the graduate program coordinator for reconsideration if the applicant can document either factual errors in processing the application or that the decision was arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory in nature. Appeals must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the admission denial. If the matter is not resolved satisfactorily within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the appeal by the graduate program coordinator, the applicant may appeal to the dean of the college or school. The decision of the dean, as the provost’s designee, shall be rendered within 20 calendar days of the receipt of the appeal and is final.
Tuition, Fees, and Aid
Cost per credit hour is listed on each program page. Rates are reviewed annually and subject to change.
Tuition and fees are usually not the only educational expenses you may have while pursuing a degree. You may have other costs such as books, supplies, and living expenses. Please visit WVU’s Estimate Costs and Aid website for how to plan for other potential expenses.
- Complete the FAFSA
- Check Employer Benefits: Inquire about potential tuition assistance or reimbursement programs.
- Review Waivers: Understand the specific restrictions on University tuition waivers.
Learn More
Careers and Employment
The online Nursing Leadership, M.S.N. will prepare you to take on advanced roles that support team performance, strengthen healthcare operations, and improve patient outcomes. You will learn leadership strategies grounded in evidence-informed practice, giving you the tools to handle the challenges of modern healthcare and contribute to positive change in a variety of settings, including rural and underserved communities.
You will study topics such as organizational leadership, healthcare finance, quality improvement, policy, and systems thinking while completing supervised practicum experiences. These hands-on opportunities will help you apply what you learn and prepare you for roles such as nurse manager, clinical coordinator, director of nursing, or academic faculty member.
What can I do with a Nursing Leadership, M.S.N. degree? Explore potential careers, employment environments, and academic pathways:
- Director of Nursing
- Nurse Manager
- Clinical Nurse Leader
- Continue education to a Nursing Practice, D.N.P degree
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’d like to dive deeper into the program’s curriculum and student experience, connect with:
Phillip Engelkemier
- Email: Phillip.Engelkemier@hsc.wvu.edu
- Phone: 304-293-1927
