Featured Joint MSN/MBA School
University of Phoenix (*Highly Recommended) has an online RN to BSN option which can be followed by an online MSN program in one of several fields. Specialization choices include an MSN in Informatics, a field not taught in most MSN programs, and an MSN in Health Education. There is a general MSN option and two joint degrees including the MSN/MBA and the MSN/MHA.
Joint MSN/MBA
With the widespread development of the MSN nurses have moved increasingly into medical management. That can mean oversight of an acute care ward or it can mean purely administrative duties in a clinic setting. The variety of employment options continues to grow for MSN graduates, to the point where many schools have found merit in offering a dual degree that includes the Master of Science in Nursing and the Master of Business Administration.
Purpose
The program is generally characterized as a response to the management needs developing as the result of integrated health services. Usually the business classes are taught at the business school, while the nursing program remains in the medical center or medical school operate by the university. In schools where the MBA is offered with areas of concentration, students pursuing the dual degree usually follow the Health Care Management track in business school, or whatever management option offered that is similar in scope.
Admissions
Students usually must be accepted to both schools as well, which is not always an easy task. The academic prerequisites for an MBA are very different from what the experienced RN needs heading into an MSN program. Nurses will generally need at least two years’ time working as an RN, but that sets aside the business school requirement for work that so many business schools think is critical to success. In this particular instance, the MSN defines the business and leadership roles that the student hopes to fill. This is not a program for RNs with an associate’s degree; one school or the other is going to want a baccalaureate.
Careers
Successful completion of this dual degree program provides a specialized credential in the managed health care industry and/or the health insurance field. Case management is a huge role for both providers and third party payors – meaning the medical profession and the insurers. There are some very lucrative opportunities in consulting, as both sides are trying to reduce their costs – and the key to that process is often clinical experience.
There are also management positions in many departments within an integrated health services center: in the department of nursing, in clinical management, in departmental administration and in planning & policy. Going from RN to MSN status means a step up the ladder for medical expertise and nursing administration. The MSN/MBA degree can lead to a business-oriented career in one of several healthcare sectors.
