MA Nursing

The primary goal of the MA Nursing program is to prepare qualified nurses for clinical specialization and leadership in any of the following major fields: Adult Health Nursing, Community Health Nursing, Maternal and Child Nursing, Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, Nursing Administration, and School Health Nursing. This can be attained through:

  1. Increased competence in a major field in nursing;
  2. Increased understanding of theories, research principles, methodologies and their applications, and utilization of research findings to develop and improve nursing practice;
  3. Critical thinking about current problems and issues affecting the nursing profession and the health care delivery system;
  4. Broader understanding of a related discipline as a further base for specialization in nursing;
  5. Innovative measures in the delivery of health care services; and
  6. Independent nursing practice

The BSN degree requires the completion of 161 units, 24 units of General Education courses, 13 units of tool courses, 3 units of a legislated course, and 121 units of professional courses, with additional 8 units for Physical Education and 6 units for NSTP.

The MA Nursing degree requires the completion of 36 units 30 units of which are credited to academic courses and 6 units for the thesis. Except for N241, N242, and N243 and some cognates, academic courses generally carry a 3-unit load. 

The full time student enrolls in 12 units of academic work per semester and is given a maximum of five (5) years within which to finish all 36 units of academic and the thesis, including passing the comprehensive examination. 

The courses are divided into the following: 

  • Core Courses (12 units) – these are courses required of a MA Nursing student regardless of the track
  • Major Courses (12 units) – these are courses required under each track. 
  • Electives or Cognates (6 units) – cognates are those courses which are offered by related disciplines such as in Anthropology, Education, Psychology, Public Health, Social Work, or Sociology depending on the interests of the student and which should broaden the student’s understanding of Nursing.
  • Thesis (6 units) – the final phase of the program is the thesis. It has two sub-phases: proposal defense (Thesis I) and final thesis defense (Thesis II).  Also an expectation in Thesis II is the submission of the student of a publishable paper based on his /her thesis in a peer reviewed journal. A letter certifying that an article has been submitted for peer review is required. Completion of all academic courses and successfully passing the comprehensive examination are mandatory prior to the thesis work.

Explore the curriculum of the tracks in the MA Nursing program. 

MA Nursing – Adult Health Nursing Track
MA Nursing – Maternal and Child Nursing Track
MA Nursing – Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing Track
MA Nursing – Public Health Nursing Track
MA Nursing – Nursing Administration Track

  1. GWA of 2.00 or better in all courses taken and in major courses provided there is no grade of 5.00 in any of them
  2. Completion of 36 units (24 units of core courses, 6 units of content courses and 6 units of cognates) of prescribed academic courses
  3. Residency of at least 1 academic year prior to granting of degree
  4. Passing of the comprehensive examination
  5. Satisfactory completion and submission of 6 bound copies of the dissertation
  6. Article submitted for peer review in a peer reviewed journal. The publishable articles must be based on the student’s thesis work.
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