Vanderbilt School of Nursing - Nursing School - Nashville, Tennessee

The MN is the entry point for people with a bachelor's degree outside nursing. It is a four-semester path to becoming a registered nurse, covering the coursework and clinical hours you need to sit for the NCLEX-RN and graduate as a master's-prepared RN. If you already know you want to practice at the advanced level, the MN Prespecialty track continues directly into a specialty instead of stopping at RN licensure. Format is full-time and on campus, with clinical placements across Nashville.

The DNP is the terminal practice degree for nurses who want to shape how care is delivered rather than only deliver it. If you already hold a master's, the advanced clinical, systems, and executive leadership tracks run 36 credit hours across five to six semesters while you keep working full-time. Coursework includes 500 hours of practice integration and a DNP project, with an on-campus intensive in Nashville of roughly three to four days each semester. BSN-to-DNP entry is available in all specialties, and nurse anesthesia is its own track with a separate structure, as described below. Your DNP project is built inside your own practice setting, so the work you do in the program is work your organization keeps.

Neonatal Nurse Practitioner is one of VUSN's specialties, and it prepares you to manage the care of critically ill and premature newborns in NICUs, delivery rooms, and special care nurseries. Coursework covers neonatal physiology, pharmacology, and advanced assessment, paired with clinical hours in neonatal intensive care settings under faculty who practice in the specialty. Graduates sit for national NNP certification and step into teams making time-sensitive decisions for the smallest patients in the hospital.