In an effort to give more health care professionals options for adding speciality degrees on their resumes, Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) in Michigan has replaced its masters program with an advanced doctor of nursing practice degree. The school said the American Association of Colleges of Nursing called to move the program from the masters to the doctors level because it will better prepare students for clinical practice, despite being similar to a medical or physical therapy doctorate degree, according to the Saginaw News. SVSU's program will also focus on educating prospective nurses to serve in rural areas of the state, where they can typically earn between $75,000 to $100,000 per year. The school said that while most of the doctor programs are offered online to accommodate people's busy schedules, SVSU's program are a mix of traditional face-to-face courses and online work. Nursing students with bachelors degrees seeking to enter the new program will need to complete 70 credits over 9 semesters. The school said it will phase out the masters program over the next two years before it begins the new doctors program. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that job opportunities for registered nurses are expected to grow by 22% through 2018. |