Master’s Entry in Nursing (MSN) for Non-Nurses: Clinical Nurse Leader

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The MSN Clinical Nurse Leader program, designed for Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM) students, comprehensively prepares students in a two-year full-time graduate curriculum to be a registered nurse (RN) clinician with a focus in clinical leadership. Graduates are prepared to function at a high level in inpatient, outpatient, and community settings. The GEM program gives the student a broad overview of all of the major specialties in which nurses work, as well as a variety of settings across the health care continuum. In the GEM program, students take core graduate courses that are applicable in their progression to doctoral education in either a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) specialty or the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science (PhD) program.

Students are considered for admission to the GEM program after completing baccalaureate education at another accredited college or university. The GEM curriculum consists of 74 term hours of graduate coursework in nursing and related sciences. Students are eligible to take the NCLEX for RN licensure and Clinical Nurse Leader certification examination upon graduation. GEM students are expected to complete the MSN requirements on a full-time basis in six terms.

Terminal Objectives:

Use communication techniques that reflect an understanding of the dignity and respect afforded to all persons
Deliver competent, holistic, and contextually appropriate patient-family-population-centered nursing care
Synthesize the knowledge of nursing science, social science and humanities in the promotion of health, prevention of disease, and delivery of care across diverse populations and health care environments
Demonstrate the ability to work with interdisciplinary teams to optimize nursing care delivery
Demonstrate leadership behaviors within and across systems at all levels of prevention
Recognize the impact of the micro and macro system environments on health care delivery
Demonstrate professional values in nursing practice

Master of Science in Nursing

Required Prerequisite Courses

As a profession and a discipline, nursing promotes and protects human health and well-being and is grounded in a strong, liberal arts, undergraduate education that includes the arts and humanities, as well as the behavioral, social and physical sciences. Recognizing that different undergraduate majors have varying requirements, evaluation of applicants will be based both on their success in meeting the requirements of their undergraduate programs and on the breadth and depth of their educational preparation for entry into nursing.

Nursing practice and scholarship have great application in our society, ranging from the acute care of individuals to the management and promotion of the health of whole communities and even nations. The College of Nursing welcomes and is enriched by applicants from a spectrum of disciplines and professions.

All required prerequisite courses listed below must be successfully completed with a grade of C or better by the application deadline for which the student is applying. We recommend but do not require that you complete a laboratory component for each of these courses:

• General chemistry I*

• Human Anatomy**

• Human Physiology**

• Microbiology

*We do not accept Introductory Chemistry, Basic Chemistry, Fundamentals of Chemistry or Foundations of Chemistry. Only one term of General Chemistry is required.

**Anatomy and Physiology may be taken as two separate courses or as Anatomy and Physiology I and Anatomy and Physiology II. We strongly discourage applicants from taking Anatomy and Physiology online unless offered through a traditional community college or university. We recommend but do not require that applicants completed a Human Anatomy and Physiology course within the last three years.

Graduation Requirements

Direct Entry Master’s (MSN) for Non-Nurses: Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM) Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) Program requires a minimum of 74 term hours of didactic and 1,308 clock hours of clinical instruction. Candidates are given a comprehensive examination in the final term of the program in preparation for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, or NCLEX. Graduates are eligible to sit for the NCLEX and the CNL certification exam.

Academic Program Curricula

Master’s of Nursing Science (MSN)
Area of Focus: Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM)

Term 1

NSG - 500 Socialization Into Nsg Semr Credit(s): 1
NSG - 501 Role of Professional Nurse Credit(s): 3
NSG - 501P Role Professional Nurse Practicum Credit(s): 3
NSG - 510 Pathophysiology Credit(s): 3
NSG - 525 Health Assessment Across the Lifespan Credit(s): 2
NSG - 525L Health Assessment Across the Lifespan Lab Credit(s): 1

Subtotal: 13

Term 2

NSG - 502 Nsg Mgt:Common Hlth Alt/Lifespan Credit(s): 3
NSG - 502P Nsg Mgt:Common Hlth Alt-Practicum Credit(s): 3
NSG - 511 Pharmacology Credit(s): 3
NSG - 522 Applied Epidemiology Biostats Nursing Credit(s): 3 *

Subtotal: 12

Term 3

NSG - 503 Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing Prac Credit(s): 3
NSG - 503P Psych & Mental Health Nrs Practicum Credit(s): 3
NSG - 518 Palliative Care for Nursing Credit(s): 2 *
NSG - 523 Research for Evidence-Based Practice Credit(s): 3 *
NSG - 524 Health Promotion in Individuals & Clinical Populations Credit(s): 3

Subtotal: 14

Term 4

NSG - 504 Women’s Hlth Across the Life Span Credit(s): 3
NSG - 504P Women’s Health Nursing Credit(s): 1
NSG - 505 Public Health Nursing Credit(s): 3
NSG - 505P Public Health Nursing Practicum Credit(s): 2
NSG - 521 Organizational & Systems Leader Credit(s): 3 *

Subtotal: 12

Term 5

NSG - 506 Nsg Management of Complex Hlth Credit(s): 3
NSG - 506P Nsg Management of Complex Prac Credit(s): 3
NSG - 512 Clinical Leadership & Proj Development Credit(s): 3 *
NSG - 536 Principles of Case Management Credit(s): 3

Subtotal: 12

Term 6

NSG - 507 Preparation for Professional Practice Credit(s): 1
NSG - 513 Clin Project Implementation Credit(s): 5 *
NSG - 514 Immersion: Clinical Practicum Credit(s): 5

Subtotal: 11

Total: 74

* Currently offered online with in-person meetings

Note: Students must complete a minimum of 100 professional development hours to meet the CNL competencies.

IPE - 502 Interprofessional Patient Centered Teams Credit(s): Non Credit
Interprofessional Patient Centered Team course is a pass/no pass course. Students will use experiential team based learning to apply knowledge, skills, and values of the IPEC competencies. The Fall cohort will be automatically enrolled in Term 1 and 2. The Spring cohort will be automatically enrolled in the Term 3 and 4. Workshops will be held Wednesday afternoons. Participation requires approximately 20 hours of student time.