Master of Science in Nursing

During the fall semester of the second year, FNP students enrolled in Advanced Health Assessment, will have five on-campus days. Four of these days will focus on hands-on practice of assessment skills, with faculty guidance and feedback. In addition, students are introduced to simulation technology with OtoSIM and OphthoSIM. One day will be dedicated to a final head-to-toe OSCE assessment.

In a separate on-campus session held at the beginning of the Spring semester of the second year, standardized patients are utilized to provide students with the opportunity to perform sensitive female and male exams in a supportive, formative learning environment.

FNP Skills Intensives take place during the Fall semester of the third year of the program. In these sessions, students learn various skills including suturing techniques, office procedures, interpretation of chest and abdominal radiology, and orthopedic examinations.

The Student Nurses Association (SNA) is an organization for students in all levels of the nursing program to connect at group meetings and through a variety of community service projects. The group is guided by two full-time nursing faculty members.

Working one-on-one with preceptors, students engage in practicum activities that provide real-world experience to develop the skills needed for the FNP or educator role.

In addition, they'll have a laundry list of added benefits from choosing SXU as their school of choice for their degree:

• Saint Xavier University School of Nursing combines asynchronous online activities with experiential learning to produce graduates ready to practice the FNP or educator role in a variety of settings.
• The faculty are experienced professional nurses who hold doctoral degrees in nursing from a variety of colleges and universities and are passionate about teaching the next generation of nurses.
• Small class sizes allow for close interaction with faculty and student colleagues.
• Students will develop a habit of lifelong learning that will prepare them for the ever-changing nursing profession.
• With core values of service, integrity, and excellence exemplified throughout the program, students will become more effective citizens and assets to their communities.

The goals of the graduate nursing program are to:

1. Prepare registered professional nurses to meet current and future health care needs of populations through advanced nursing practice and transformative leadership, grounded in Mercy values.
2. Provide a foundation for research or practice-focused doctoral study in nursing.

The MSN program outcomes are to:

1. Synthesize and translate established and evolving advanced specialty nursing knowledge and ways of knowing, including knowledge from other disciplines, to inform practice and clinical decision-making.
2. Demonstrate leadership in designing, providing and coordinating comprehensive care that is holistic, inclusive, compassionate, evidence-based, and developmentally appropriate to protect, promote, and optimize health outcomes.
3. Implement established and evolving methods to appraise and design population health strategies across the healthcare delivery continuum from prevention to disease management through collaborative activities with both traditional and non-traditional partnerships to address health policies and social determinants of health for the improvement of equitable population health outcomes.
4. Synthesize, translate, apply, and disseminate research and evidence-based practice into advanced nursing practice specialties to improve health and transform health care.
5. Develop and lead initiatives utilizing established and emerging principles of safety and improvement science to enhance quality of care and to minimize risk of harm to patients and providers, through both system effectiveness and individual performance.
6. Engage in interprofessional relationships and intentional collaboration with care team members, patients, families, communities, and other support systems, to promote high quality, safe patient care, enhance the healthcare experience, and improve outcomes.
7. Analyze health care systems to effectively and proactively coordinate resources to
   provide safe, quality, cost-effective, and equitable care to diverse populations.
8. Apply current and evolving technologies and informatics to interpret aggregated data, inform decision making, and provide, document, and evaluate outcomes of care in the advanced management and improvement of the delivery of healthcare services, in accordance with best professional practice and regulatory standards
9. Model a professional identity that reflects advanced nursing practice specialty characteristics and values of ethical behavior, accountability, civility, respect, collaborative disposition, excellence, compassion, service, hospitality, and integrity.
10. Demonstrate evolving professional nursing leadership to foster and promote personal health, resilience, and well-being, contribute to lifelong learning, and support the acquisition of nursing expertise and leadership development in self and others across the profession. 

Choose a high-quality nursing education that is affordable, accessible and immediately applicable.

Saint Xavier University as well as the School of Nursing and its programs are consistently recognized for their educational quality.

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing and master's degree program in nursing at Saint Xavier University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Because of the rigorous standards necessary to earn and maintain accredited status, CCNE-accredited nursing schools like SXU's School of Nursing give prospective students greater confidence in the education they will receive. Earning a nursing degree from a CCNE-accredited program will also assure employers of the value of your education.

Ranked No. 2 in the Nation for Best Online Graduate Nursing Program (2025) by U.S. News & World Report.

These distinctions help give you confidence in the professional nursing development you will experience as a student at Saint Xavier University, and they will demonstrate the full value of your degree to employers, peers, and patients.

Clinical Partner Discount

The 20% clinical partner tuition discount can be taken advantage of by students enrolled in SXU's graduate program who are employed as a .5 or greater (40 hours per pay period) status in a clinical setting where our School of Nursing undergraduate nursing students are able to conduct clinicals on an ongoing, consistent basis. A consistent basis of which students are hosted by the clinical site is defined as two years or more.

• Those students working in the same identified clinical setting with a work status of .4 or less will be eligible for a 10% tuition discount.
• Please note that the above discounts cannot be combined with any other discounts.

Employer Assistance

Select organizations are eligible for tuition assistance. Speak with a graduate admission counselor for more information.