As with other health profession schools at Columbia, enrollment is limited to those who have already earned a baccalaureate degree, either in nursing for entrance to advanced practice education, or in another field for matriculation in the first professional degree. Registered nurses without a degree can be admitted to an honors program leading to the MS degree. The advanced practice program offers the MS degree in many clinical specialties, all providing eligibility for certification as a nurse practitioner, as well as dual certification for some as clinical nurse specialists. The Doctor of Nursing Science program provides training in clinical research and health policy and requires a BS or MS degree in nursing for admission. The faculty represent the very best in clinical competence and scholarly achievement.
Nursing is in a well-earned position of ascendancy and recognition.
Having proven clinical competency in the full scope of primary care and in the care of acutely ill patients, advanced practice nurses have gained broad legislative practice authority in every state. Always a valued career, nursing is now in a position to reaffirm its clinical value while researching ways to sustain quality while containing costs and increasing access. Especially for those underserved and uninsured, nursing has a central role to play in health care reform. Providing primary care, community-based services, disease prevention, and health promotion, practicing in underserved inner city and rural areas, and assuring patient understanding of therapy are all prominent and valuable activities at which nurses excel. Coinciding with society's expanded view of nursing is the development of scholarly nursing endeavors, as demonstrated by the increase in funding for nursing research over the past few years.