Earning your BSN can lead to highly sought-after positions, more money over time and better patient care, according to Nurse Journal. If you are a registered nurse with an associate degree or a diploma in nursing who is ready to make a positive impact on your future, this program can help you advance your career.

Put your career on the fast track through the RN to BSN/MSN Nurse Executive program. Earning a BSN and MSN through this accelerated program can shorten the time it takes to earn both degrees. This is a full-time program for highly qualified RNs. Note: Students are only admitted to begin this program in the summer semester.

This program readies bachelor’s-prepared nurses to educate and develop new nurses. Given the increasing shortage of nurse faculty, there is a demand for individuals with a passion for teaching to meet that need in schools of nursing, hospitals, public health agencies and other settings. Nurse educators can adapt curriculum and teaching methods in response to innovation in nursing science and ongoing changes in the practice environment.

MSN-prepared nurses act as thought leaders and provide leadership to patients and health care professionals. Those in executive and management positions range from those who supervise individual units within a medical facility as front-line managers to higher-level nurse administrators and executives who oversee nursing operations for an entire hospital or health care organization. The MS in Nursing, concentration in Nurse Executive program focuses on navigating the complexities of the American health care system, the challenges of personnel management, quality improvement, budgeting and managing other resources. It has a significant clinical/administrative component.

Nurse practitioners fill a critical health care need for the patients they see, especially in rural areas. They are health promotion and disease prevention experts who manage and diagnose common acute and chronic illnesses while maintaining a high quality of care. The University of Alabama offers three concentration options for nurses who wish to become a nurse practitioner:

• Family Nurse
• Psychiatric Mental Health
• Family Nurse and Psychiatric Mental Health

The program's primarily online format combines online courses with face-to-face clinical experiences. Please note: Currently, only residents of the following 29 states can be admitted to the Nurse Practitioner programs at this time: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

The DNP is a practice-focused degree that prepares graduates to work at the highest level in specialty areas and to assume leadership positions in healthcare. This completely online program can be pursued on either a part-time or full-time basis.