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This study examines the state of the art in master's nursing education in the United States in light of projected national trends in the health care delivery system. The specific questions addressed are: What are the general characteristics of master's programs, including admission requirements and prerequisites, program requirements, major and minor areas of clinical concentration, functional role preparation, and career mobility options? What is the curricular organization, particularly with respect to required core courses? Is there a difference between master's programs in schools with a doctoral program in nursing and those with master's programs only? Is there a difference between master's programs with public support and master's programs with private support? Data were collected from 175 accredited master's programs in 1990. Study results and the projected trends derived from Nursing's Agenda for Health Care Reform, Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives, and Healthy America: Practitioners for 2005 provide the foundation for recommendations. Recommendations are organized around communication and curricular issues that master's nursing education needs to address as the profession approaches the 21st century.

The purposes of this study were to 1) identify the major factors that influence the retention of Black undergraduate nursing students in baccalaureate nursing programs; 2) compare and contrast the major retention problems of Black baccalaureate nursing students in predominantly White universities with those of all Black students in similar institutions; and 3) generate questions for further study in the area of student retention. The study used a convenience sample which included one private university and one public state university with baccalaureate nursing programs from the Eastern, Southern, Midwest, and Western regions in the country. Contact persons at each institution were asked to administer questionnaires to Black nursing students enrolled in the professional sequence of the curriculum, Black nursing faculty and administrators, and White nursing faculty and administrators. Data analysis consisted of a comparison between the responses of students, faculty, and administrators in 1980 and those of nursing students, faculty and administrators in 1984 to identified admission-retention barriers and possible remedies.