Founded in 1903, the School of Nursing & Health Studies houses dynamic degree programs in the health sciences and aims to promote health equity and improve population health locally, nationally, and globally.
Guided by its Mission, Vision, and Values, the school offers academic programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Our faculty comprises seasoned practitioners, researchers, scholars, and teachers. Our graduates are leaders and work in academe, the government and the military, and health systems and community-based organizations, to name a few areas.
Degree Programs
Learn more about our bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral programs, and online health prerequisite courses!
To Applicants:Thank you for your interest in the School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS). As you may have read, Georgetown is planning to launch a School of Nursing and a School of Health by July 1, 2022. We expect that NHS’s current academic programs will continue on through these two new schools. We plan for the BSN, the MS in Nursing, the DNAP, and the DNP to be housed in the planned School of Nursing. We plan for the BS programs in Global Health, Health Care Management & Policy, and Human Science and the MS program in Health Systems Administration to be housed in the planned School of Health. The future organizational homes of these programs will not affect your application – admitted students will remain in the programs when the new schools are established.
Mission, Vision, and Values
Since its founding in 1903 as the Georgetown University Hospital Training School for Nurses (with a “first lecture” on the “ethics of nursing”), the school has been committed to situating its work in health care within the broader Catholic, Jesuit mission of the university. Today, the School of Nursing & Health Studies, which houses academic programs in the health sciences, continues that tradition, framing its activities with a Mission, Vision, and Values Statement.
Statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
“Supporting our collective foundational mission to advance health equity, the School of Nursing & Health Studies profoundly rejects racism, faith-based persecution, sexism and gender discrimination, ageism, homophobia, ableism, xenophobia, and transphobia. These and all other forms of bias, discrimination, prejudice, and hate directed at persons – expressed overtly or covertly at the interpersonal, institutional, and/or structural levels – threaten our collective humanity through harming both the ability of individuals and communities to truly flourish, and the promotion of equity, justice, and the common good. The School of Nursing & Health Studies, consistent with Georgetown’s Catholic, Jesuit identity, supports an academic environment that is diverse, inclusive and respectful, and we commit to building upon and promoting this work through humility and the transparent practices, policies, resourcing, and values of our academic community.”
This statement has been endorsed by the NHS Executive Faculty and NHS Leadership Team.
Research, Learning, and Community
Students, faculty, and staff at the School of Nursing & Health Studies create an active learning environment through energizing research endeavors, dynamic educational experiences, and community-based partnerships. This approach includes grant-funded efforts, faculty and student scholarly publications, an intentional focus on the development of undergraduate and graduate student scholarly activities, and enriching collaborations with colleagues in local, national, and global communities. Learn more about the “Policy on Speech and Expression” (Faculty Handbook) and the “Speech and Expression Policy” (Student Affairs).
Graduates of the School of Nursing & Health Studies, like the nursing Class of 1969 pictured above at the 50th Reunion, form a lifelong connection with the school and the university.
A new study – published by AARP District of Columbia in collaboration with the Department of Health Systems Administration at the School of Nursing & Health Studies – offers a substantive look at the health and socioeconomic disparities affecting older Black adults who reside in the nation’s capital. Dr. Christopher King, chair of the department, Dr. Patricia Cloonan, associate professor of health systems administration, and program alumna Amelia Bedri (G’20) coauthored the report.
This month, the open online course “Urban Health in Crisis: Response from Sub-Saharan Africa” launched on edX thanks to a collaboration among the University of Ghana, the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana, and Georgetown University. “Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the fastest rate of urban growth in the world and is the continent with the largest need for resources to achieve sustainable economic development,” according to the course materials. “This course will explore the challenges of addressing urban health.”
Professor Heather Bradford and Professor Melicia Escobar (NHS’04, DNP’22), leaders in the Nurse-Midwifery/Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner and WHNP Programs, have recently received various recognitions to support their work, including from the March of Dimes, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, and the Academy Jonas Policy Scholars Program.
Graduates of the School of Nursing & Health Studies celebrated their achievements at in-person and virtual events during Commencement 2021.
Nearly 120 students received bachelor’s degrees in global health, health care management & policy, human science, and nursing; close to 300 students received master’s degrees in nursing and health systems administration, and 30 students received the doctor of nursing practice and doctor of nurse anesthesia practice degrees.
