College of Nursing Curriculum

Curriculum Overview

The College of Nursing programs prepare students at four distinct levels: (a) Master of Science, (b) Doctor of Nursing Practice, (c) Doctor of Philosophy, and (d) Post- Graduate Non-Degreed Certificate. At the Master of Science (MSN) level students are prepared to function as advanced generalists with the knowledge to sit for Clinical Nurse Leader certification. At the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) level students are prepared to function as leaders in complex environments and affect change through system re-design. Students specifically enrolled in the DNP with Clinical Specialty Certification are prepared to sit for specialty certification upon graduation. At the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level students are prepared to function as nurse scientists and senior academicians with the leadership skills necessary to influence health care systems and policy. The post-graduate certificate program is offered to students who already have an advanced practice graduate degree in nursing (MSN or DNP) who wish to specialize in a different clinical area.

The College of Nursing conceptual framework flows from the College’s philosophy and represents the fundamental conceptual underpinnings of the College’s curricula. The faculty believes that professional nursing education is built upon a foundation of knowledge in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Building on this foundation, nursing education provides requisite knowledge and skills, promotes the essential values and culture of nursing, and provides for the development of the roles of practitioner, scholar, and leader, which the faculty sees as essential to the practice of professional nursing.

Generalist Entry Master of Science in Nursing (GEM) and
Post-Licensure Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) Master of Science in Nursing

In 2008, in response to changing health care needs and recommendations by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the College began a pre and post-licensure master’s degree program that will prepare an advanced generalist who will provide nursing care and clinical leadership at the point-of-care. The Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM) and post-licensure CNL programs prepare a nursing generalist with advanced knowledge in clinical leadership and systems of nursing care management, and who will accept responsibility for designing, implementing, and evaluating plans of nursing care that result in improved patient outcomes. The graduate will be prepared to care for individuals, families, and populations across the life-span and the continuum of care.

Assumptions of the Curriculum

• The GEM curriculum delivers the necessary prelicensure didactic and clinical content to prepare a competent advanced generalist who can safely deliver nursing care across the life-span and continuum of care.
• The GEM curriculum exposes the learner to the various nursing specialties.
• The curricula are based on adult learning principles.
• The curricula subsume the Essentials of Baccalaureate and Master’s Education and incorporate the curricular framework for the Clinical Nurse Leader, as advanced by AACN.
• The curricula incorporate the Institute of Medicine’s indicators of quality health education: patient-centered care, evidenced-based practice, informatics, continuous quality improvement, team collaboration and safety.
• The curricula deliver advanced knowledge in leadership to ensure the graduate will be able to lead and manage microsystems of care.
• The curricula prepare pre-licensure students to sit for the NCLEX and both pre and post-licensure students for the CNL examination.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) with Specialty Certification

Each advanced practice DNP option generally includes graduate, DNP, and advance practice core courses, population/role cognates, DNP practica, and capstone. Graduate core courses are required of all students and include course content such as research, statistics, epidemiology, organizational and systems leadership, health promotion and disease prevention, and physical/psychological diagnosis. The DNP core coursework lays the foundation for the student to develop and implement a comprehensive capstone project. The advanced practice core provides a strong science foundation for clinical practice with courses such as physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology and diagnostics. Cognate courses support the major area of study and include courses such as applied pharmacology and specific clinical content in the area of specialization. Clinical practica provide intense study in the management of clients and/or populations.

All the DNP options include a significant number of clinical practice hours. Students have clinical experiences in a variety of settings with expert preceptors. Settings for practice are chosen in collaboration with faculty. Students are prepared to sit for certification in their specialty practice area upon graduation.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Leadership Tracks

Transformative Leadership: Systems

The DNP program in Transformative Leadership: Systems is designed is designed for the master’s-prepared nurse who wishes to gain expertise in improving outcomes and leading change at a systems level. The DNP curriculum builds on the student’s previous masters program by providing education in effective project planning, leadership, policy advocacy, and systems level thinking among other key areas.  Applicants are not required to be certified in a clinical specialty.

The DNP in Transformative Leadership: Systems is for students who wish to:

• Develop and evaluate new models of care deliver
• Improve health outcomes in a variety of health care settings
• Transform health policy
• Create and sustain change at the organization and systems levels.

Transformative Leadership: Population Health

The focus of this post-MSN DNP program is on the development of population-based knowledge and skills to enhance clinical health outcomes for patient aggregates, communities, and populations. This knowledge and skill set can be used across specialty areas to assess the health and illness needs of clinical populations and develop, implement and evaluate population focused interventions to address these needs. The program has a strong emphasis on health promotion, levels of prevention and program management for vulnerable populations.

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science (PhD)

The PhD in Nursing Science graduate will function as a clinical researcher and will have the leadership skills necessary to serve as a senior academician and influence health care systems and policy. Students may enter this program either with a BSN, MSN, or Master’s degree in a health-related field.

• The PhD program prepares health care professionals to conduct clinical research to advance the nursing care of individuals and populations. Graduates will receive the knowledge and experiences to launch and sustain externally-funded programs of research and to assume the role of a clinical scholar.
• All courses are offered online and students make annual campus visits for the first three years of the program.
• Students benefit from innovative teaching and mentoring strategies, multiple methods of curriculum delivery matched to course objective.
• The faculty are committed to working closely with students to prepare graduates for a career in clinical research; faculty help students develop and submit manuscripts for publication throughout the program.

Commitment to Full-Time Study

It is recommended that the applicant commit to pursuing full-time study to enable timely completion of the program, as well as continuity in the development of his/her research. Completion of the program within four years will be possible for many students. A part-time program of study requires an additional year of study.

Opportunity to Pursue Pre-Doctoral Research Support

Although personal assets and financial aid can provide partial support for full-time study, pre-doctoral training fellowships, as well as research and educational assistantships, are important to almost every student. Though not required, students can work with an advisor to prepare a pre-doctoral fellowship application that can provide support for tuition and living costs during the second year of study.

Terminal Program Objectives

Programs of Study

Programs of study have been developed to facilitate the development of each student’s plan of study that indicates term by term the courses for which a student should enroll. All faculty advisors develop a comprehensive plan of study for their advisees before or during the student’s first term of matriculation. A copy of the plan of study is sent to the College of Nursing Office of Academic Affairs and the University Office of the Registrar.

The plan of study must be revised when changes occur in the student’s progression and the update sent to the College of Nursing Office of Academic Affairs. The plan of study has been developed to provide the optimal course sequence and pace and minimize the possibility of advisors and advisees making course selections that are inappropriate for a given term or sequence. The plan is based on specific prerequisites and the term and frequency of certain courses offerings. Should a change in the plan of study be necessary, the projected date of graduation may be delayed.

Course offerings and their prerequisites can be viewed in the current Catalog.

Current sample programs of study can be viewed on the College of Nursing website.
 

Authorization for the CON to Operate in Other States

The College of Nursing has the ability to offer distance education in many states. Due to the variety of different state regulations and limitations there are a few states in which the college is not authorized to operate. If a student moves to another state after matriculation where the college is not authorized to operate, there is no guarantee of clinical practica placement or the ability to continue enrollment. The student’s progress in the program will be halted at that point until arrangements are made by the student to complete the program in a state in which Rush is permitted to operate. It is strongly suggested that the student check with their advisor prior to moving to see if their future state of residence is one in which they can continue their education at Rush unimpeded by state regulation.