Master of Science in Forensic Nursing Online Program
Program Objectives
The Master of Science in Nursing program is designed for registered nurses who wish to pursue advanced clinical practice in Forensic Nursing. Fitchburg State College offers both a master’s degree (36/37 credits) for nurses who have bachelor’s degrees in nursing, and a certificate program (21 credits) for nurses who already hold master’s degrees in nursing. The program is part-time, with six or seven credits taken per semester. Students develop their clinical learning objectives in relation to program outcomes. Graduates are prepared to contribute to the development of nursing science and the improvement of health care, and to pursue doctoral study.
Forensic nurses apply the forensic aspects of health care in providing direct services to individual clients, as well as consultation services to nursing, medical, and law-related agencies. They are called upon to provide expert court testimony in cases dealing with forensic trauma and/or questioned death investigative processes, adequacy of services delivered and specialized diagnoses of specific conditions as related to nursing.
Career opportunities for graduates exist in legal emergency health services, schools, correctional facilities, community health agencies, law enforcement agencies and in the treatment of perpetrators. Forensic nurses may also pursue careers as legal nurse consultants, forensic psychiatric nurses, sexual assault nurses and child/domestic abuse advocates.
Program Description
Fitchburg State College offers the program on a part-time basis through online synchronous and asynchronous courses. The graduate nursing program places strong emphasis on the development of clinical nurse specialists who are sensitive to the health needs of diverse populations. Students focus on on their clinical interests by negotiating clinical placements in those areas. Students may negotiate clinical placement sites in their home areas with the supervision and consultation of graduate faculty.
Course sequence is designed to:
- Complete core nursing courses and clinical forensic nursing courses concurrently
- Support the clinical forensic nursing courses through prerequisite cognate courses
- Cap the program with a practicum in which enrollees apply the research component
Graduates of the Master of Science in Nursing program are equipped to:
- Base advanced professional practice on the concept that humankind are unique, interacting, multidimensional beings
- Use the nursing process to guide care for a specialized client population
- Demonstrate competence in the advanced practice role
- Actively promote professional standards, ethics, and legal principles in nursing and health care
- Use a variety of strategies to influence policymaking relating to societal health needs
- Assume leadership roles with health care consumers and providers to improve the planning and delivery of health care
- Contribute to the advancement of nursing knowledge through validation and/or extension of research findings
- Integrate theories and advanced knowledge into clinical practice and professional decision making
- Demonstrate commitment to the evolving profession of nursing
Forensic Nursing Certificate Program
The Forensic Nursing Certificate Program provides an opportunity for advanced practice nurses who hold master’s degrees in nursing from accredited programs to acquire forensic nursing specialization. Forensic nursing is the application of nursing science to public or legal proceedings, and the integration of the forensic aspects of health care with the bio-psycho-social education of the professional nurse. Students are prepared to deal with the prevention, scientific investigation and treatment of victims of trauma and/or death, as well as the investigation and treatment of perpetrators of abuse, violence, criminal activity and traumatic accidents.
Announcements - February 2008
Students may now complete the M.S. in Forensic Nursing without any residency requirement. Applications being accepted for Fall 2008 matriculation for the online Master of Science in Forensic Nursing Program.
For Fitchburg State College Forensic Graduate Students Only
Announcements and Requirements
IRB Application in MS Word
Click on this link to open, save the file to your computer and complete all required form fields. Upon completion send the application to humansubjects@fsc.edu.
Then print and sign the Signature Page and forward it with any supporting materials to the Human Subjects Committee for review.
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