Nursing master’s program at WSU relaunches to meet community needs and to prepare future health leaders

After a pause in admissions, Washington State University has relaunched its Master of Nursing program with a redesigned curriculum that now offers two tracks in clinical systems leadership and nurse educator, aiming to meet growing healthcare needs and student expectations.

The update matters, because today’s nursing students will become the providers responsible for caring for the region in the years ahead, at a time when health systems face staffing shortages, rising demand for care and a field where change happens quickly.

The program reopened in July 2025, and by August, eight students had applied and begun the first cohort under the redesigned curriculum. Students can choose between two tracks: clinical systems leadership or nurse education, as well as two program lengths: a traditional two-year option or an accelerated one-year track.

Linda Eddy, Academic Director and Associate Dean of the College of Nursing and a professor at WSU Vancouver shared that the nursing program taught out the students from the old program and had not accepted new students since 2023, until July. The program now includes a competency based curriculum and was redesigned in a way that was “wanted from our community and consistent with our nursing accrediting body.”

The former Master of Nursing in population health program has been restructured into the Master of Nursing with two tracks: clinical systems leadership, for those entering health care systems, and nurse education, for those pursuing teaching roles in academic settings. 

“Nurses, being as programmatic as we are, want to know what’s next for their careers and how they can make an impact while wearing the nursing cap they earned with blood, sweat and tears,” said Josh Hamilton, clinical professor in Spokane and chair of the College of Nursing. 

Hamilton added that the former population health program was too broad, making it harder for students to see a clear path forward. 

“Population health was already stitched into what we do as nurses,” he said. “The weakness was that it wasn’t an immediately applicable focus.”

The nursing program’s advisory committee, made up of leaders from regional health care systems and academic institutions, played a key role in urging the curriculum changes. The group provides the university with recommendations to better prepare graduates for the workforce and its shifting demands.

“They wanted more focus on innovative technology and data-informed analysis,” said Eddy. “In other words, being able to use technology and data to answer health care questions.”

The new nurse educator track addresses another pressing need.

“We need more nurse educators,” Eddy said. “The new track will be helpful both in Washington and beyond.”

Eddy noted that greater emphasis on leadership, as well as advanced care and evidence-based teaching is crucial to prepare strong clinical leaders and nurse educators that can be flexible, evaluate and adapt quickly.

“Nursing, or medicine, isn’t going to change until leadership changes,” she said.

Angela Brittain, clinical assistant professor and director of the Nurse Faculty Loan Program at WSU Vancouver said that while some federal scholarship programs have been cut, students can still find opportunities listed on the nursing scholarship webpage.