Master’s Entry Level (MSN) for Non-Nurses: Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM)

The GEM program comprehensively prepares students, in a two-year full-time curriculum, to be a graduate (MSN) registered nurse (RN) clinician with a focus in clinical leadership. Graduates are prepared to function at a high level in in-patient, out-patient, 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 trimester 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.

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, applicants will be evaluated 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.

Physical and biological sciences*

This category of requirements includes successful completion of specific physical and biological courses. The following courses are required, minimally, to meet this criterion:

Anatomy** (laboratory component strongly recommended)
Physiology** (laboratory component strongly recommended)
Microbiology with a laboratory component**
Chemistry with a laboratory component***

**Anatomy and physiology may be taken as two separate courses or as Anatomy and Physiology I and Anatomy and Physiology II.

***General chemistry, inorganic, organic or biochemistry courses with a lab are all acceptable to meet the chemistry requirement

It is strongly discouraged to take anatomy and physiology online. The required prerequisite courses may be taken at any accredited university or community college.

All required prerequisite courses must be completed, with a grade of “C” or better prior to the application deadline for which the student is applying. Science courses should be taken with a laboratory component whenever possible. It is highly recommended to have taken human anatomy and physiology 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 trimester hours of didactic and 1,128 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 (NCLEX). Graduates are eligible to sit for the NCLEX and the CNL certification exam.