Dear Prospective Student,
Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to learn about our Master of Science in Nursing program. Whether you are a seasoned clinician ready to advance your practice or a dedicated nurse seeking to broaden your impact, I want you to know that you have found a place where your ambitions will be taken seriously — and supported every step of the way.
"We believe the future of healthcare is shaped by nurses who are not only skilled clinicians, but fearless advocates, lifelong learners, and compassionate leaders."
Our MSN program was designed with the realities of working nurses in mind. Flexible scheduling, expert faculty who remain active in clinical and research settings, and a curriculum built around the complex challenges you face every day — these are not just selling points. They are the commitments our faculty made when we sat down together to build this program from the ground up.
You will have the opportunity to specialize in areas including all areas of Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership & Administration, and Community and Public Health Settings— each grounded in evidence-based practice and aligned with the 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials and competency-based education. Our graduates go on to lead interdisciplinary teams, transform care delivery in underserved communities, teach the next generation of nurses, and shape health policy at every level.
I would encourage you to explore this site, attend one of our virtual information sessions, and reach out to our admissions team with any questions. We review applications holistically — we are not simply looking at transcripts; we are looking for the person behind them. If nursing is your calling, we want to hear your story.
We are proud of what our students and alumni have built, and we are excited about what you might contribute to this community. On behalf of the faculty and staff, I look forward to welcoming you to our campus.
Sincerely,
Anne E. Lama, DNP, MSN Ed, APRN, RN, FNP-C, ACUE Director, Master of Science in Nursing
Assistant Professor
Department of Nursing
College of Natural Sciences
California State University San Bernardino
The CSUSB Master of Science in Nursing Program: Meeting the Needs of the Community
The Department of Nursing offers a graduate program leading to a Master of Science in Nursing. The program is designed to prepare nurse educators who are leaders in the practice of population health promotion. Graduates are prepared to teach, practice, lead, and serve in culturally diverse, pluralistic communities, delivering expert nursing care in various settings including academic, clinical, and community-based environments. Graduates will work collaboratively with other health care providers and participate effectively in interprofessional health care delivery. Students complete the degree in two-and-a-half academic years.
The program is offered in a new, fully online format for Fall 2026, with online delivery of course lessons in an effort to equitably serve graduate students from both the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley.
Clinical practicums are arranged to correspond with practicum learning objectives. Every attempt is made to place students in practicum locations as close as possible to students’ cities of residence. The majority of CSUSB’s formal affiliation contracts are with agencies and facilities located in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The new MSN curriculum for Fall 2026 is aligned with the 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials and the National League for Nursing (NLN), American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), and the Quad Council Coalition of Community/Public Health Nursing (QCC-PHN) competencies. The program will launch in Fall 2026.
- Integrate knowledge from natural, human, and nursing sciences to advanced nursing practice.
- Demonstrate person and/or population-centered advanced nursing care that is compassionate, respectful, holistic, just, and equitable.
- Apply the science of population health, in collaboration with a wide range of community partners, including government entities, to prevention and management of disease as well as health promotion for populations for the attainment of health equity and improvement of health outcomes.
- Utilize research and evidence-based practice theory and competencies, including dissemination of scholarship, to promote patient/population health, and transform healthcare.
- Incorporate quality and safety theory and competencies as core values of nursing practice, to lead quality improvement efforts and minimize the risk of harm to patients/populations through both system effectiveness and individual performance.
- Collaborate with patients, families, members of the care team, and other stakeholders to optimize health outcomes and healthcare experience.
- Utilize leadership skills in systems of healthcare, advocating for equitable care, incorporating legal and ethical principles, fiscally responsible health policies, in the care of diverse populations.
- Use information and communication technologies and informatics processes to investigate, plan and deliver care that promotes patient/population health in accordance with best practice and professional and regulatory standards.
- Exhibit behaviors consistent with the development and refinement of a professional identity characterized by advanced practice reflective of nursing's ethics and values.
- Demonstrate reflective practices and engagement in self-care supportive of lifelong learning, professional development, and assertion of leadership.
Effective Fall 2026
The master's degree program in nursing at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
We invite you to attend a virtual MSN Information Session to learn more about the program!