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Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Statement of Commitment to University Mission and Values

The College of Nursing and Health Professions subscribes to the values of Lewis University’s Mission: knowledge, justice, association, wisdom and fidelity. These values are consistent with the professional values expressed in the American Nurses Association Standards of Practice and the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics and are modeled by faculty in their professional nursing practice. The College of Nursing and Health Professions supports the University’s commitment toward maintaining our campus as a Sanctified Zone, which celebrates our diverse community.

MSN Vision Statement

To develop nursing leaders with expertise in translating evidence into practice, in order to impact health outcomes for individuals, populations, and systems.

Program Outcomes

  1. Exercise leadership in the design and implementation of systems changes using theoretical frameworks, analytical skills, and informatics to enhance quality and safety in the healthcare environment.
  2. Develop collaborative approaches within a transdisciplinary environment to improve health care outcomes.
  3. Synthesize knowledge to design health promotion and prevention strategies in collaboration with individuals and populations to promote culturally congruent health outcomes across the lifespan.
  4. Utilize ethical principles and awareness of health policy and advocacy processes to influence practice.

 

MSN Specialty Concentrations

The Graduate Program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions offers the professional nurse several options for formal professional education at the Masters level.

Healthcare Systems Leadership is a 42 credit hour program leading to a Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree designed to provide the professional nurse with requisite knowledge and skills to assume leadership roles.  Graduates are prepared to function as leaders in the administration of nursing services and patient care services to improve the delivery of healthcare and the practice of nursing.  Graduates will incorporate knowledge and skills gained in the financial, economic, human resources, and organizational components of management.

Nursing Education is a 40 credit hour program leading to an MSN degree designed to provide a professional nurse with requisite knowledge and skills to assume nurse educator roles in academic nursing education programs, clinical staff development, continuing education, and community education in municipal, managed care, and private sector environments.  The Nursing Education specialization provides students with knowledge and experiences in curricular design, instructional methodology, program evaluation, and educational research that help them become valuable and highly marketable members of the nursing education professions.

MSN-MBA is a 66 credit hour program leading to a joint MSN/MBA degree.  Registered nurses interested in obtaining an MBA as well as an MSN in Healthcare Systems Leadership have the opportunity to pursue a joint degree at Lewis. The credit hour requirement for the MSN portion of the program is 36 semester hours and the requirement for the MBA portion of the program is 30 hours. Requirements for both degree programs must be completed prior to graduation in the dual degree program

NOTE: The MSN/MBA curriculum and sequence of courses are subject to change without notice or obligation. Please contact the Office of Graduate Studies in the College of Nursing and Health Professions for current information.

Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist is a 48 credit hour program to prepare the professional nurse with the knowledge and skills to assume an advanced practice role as an Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist. Graduates are prepared to function as clinical experts who provide direct care, consultation, leadership, collaboration, coaching, research, and ethical decision-making and advocacy in a variety of settings.

Nurse Practitioner Programs: These specializations prepare the professional nurse to provide health care in a wide variety of settings, including primary care clinics, hospitals, private practices, community health centers, and in the home.  The graduate will be prepared to perform physical examinations, diagnose and treat common acute and chronic illnesses, and order and interpret labs and other diagnostic testing.  Of special importance, nurse practitioner graduates will have advanced skills in patient education, health promotion, and disease prevention in the healthcare system.

Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner is a 46 credit hour program to prepare the professional nurse with the knowledge and skills to assume an advanced practice role as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.

Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner is a 46 credit hour program leading to an MSN designed to prepare the professional nurse with the knowledge and skills to assume an advanced practice role as an Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.  

Family Nurse Practitioner is a 48 credit hour program to prepare the professional nurse with the knowledge and skills to assume an advanced practice role as a Family Nurse Practitioner.  

Post-Graduate Certificate Programs: The Graduate Program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions offers a Certificate of Advanced Study in Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and Family Nurse Practitioner, post-graduate non-degree certificate programs in Healthcare Systems Leadership and Nursing Education, and a post BSN certificate program in school nursing.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the College of Nursing and Health Professions graduate programs is based on individual qualifications of the applicant without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, national or ethnic origin, or disability. Students in the MSN program must meet Health and Clinical requirement by the end of the first semester of enrollment.  In addition, all incoming students born after January 1, 1957 and taking six or more credit hours per semester on the Romeoville campus, must have an updated immunization record sent to the Center for Health and Counseling Services.

 

Requests for exceptions to any of the stated admission criteria must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Scholarship, and will be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants to the MSN/MBA dual degree program must meet admission requirements for both the MSN program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions and the MBA program in the College of Business. 

Admission Criteria for Applicants to the Healthcare Systems Leadership and Nursing Education programs with a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing:

• Graduation from a BSN program, accredited by Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) (formerly known as National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

• Current licensure as a Registered Nurse(RN) in Illinois or state of practice.

• Official transcripts from all previous academic programs.

• Successful completion of:

  1. A statistics course
  2. A nursing research course If not, equivalent course(s) must be taken prior to or concurrent with the first graduate-level nursing course.

• Two Letters of Recommendation: one from a nurse with a master’s or doctoral degree in the specialty for which you are applying; the second from your current supervisor or manager. Letters from persons deemed to have a conflict of interest will not be accepted, e.g. relatives or persons in a reporting position to the applicant.

• A current résumé or curriculum vitae.

• Essay (maximum 500 words) addressing the following:

  1. How your work experiences prepared you for graduate studies
  2. How graduate study will facilitate achievement of your short and long term professional goals
  3. How the Lewis University Mission integrates with your personal and professional identity

Admission Criteria for Applicants to the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Family Nurse Practitioner Programs with a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing:

In addition to meeting all requirements for admission to the MSN program as delineated above for the NE and HSL programs except the essay, the applicant must meet additional specific requirements for the AGCNS or NP programs:

• Official transcripts documenting applicant has earned a C or better in:

  1. Undergraduate Pharmacology course
  2. Undergraduate Health Assessment course
  3. Undergraduate Pathophysiology course

If not, equivalent courses must be taken prior to enrollment in the first specialty core course.

• Essay(maximum 500 words) addressing the following:

  1. The skills and qualities the applicant will bring to the Nurse Practitioner/Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist role
  2. The most important things to learn in order to be a successful Nurse Practitioner/Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist
  3. How the Lewis University Mission integrates with your personal and professional identity

Applicants with a Registered Nurse license and a Non-Nursing Baccalaureate Degree:

• Meet all requirements for admission to the desired track in the graduate program in nursing as delineated above, except having a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. If not, equivalent course(s) must be taken prior to or concurrent with the first graduate-level nursing course.

• Graduation from a state approved associate degree or diploma-nursing program.

• Graduation from a state approved non-nursing baccalaureate degree program with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.

• Successful completion of:

  1. A statistics course
  2. Concepts of Professional Nursing course –4 semester hours (L5306 in the Lewis University RN/BSN program)
  3. An Evidence-Based Practice course –3 semester hours (L5301 in the Lewis University RN/BSN program)
  4. Promoting Healthy Communities course –5 semester hours (L5432 in the Lewis University RN/BSN program)

International Graduate Student Applicant All international student applicants should contact the Lewis University, International Student Services Office for additional details and the most current web links for resource support.

(Non-resident, non-citizen of USA):

  1. Submit an international application (www.lewisu.edu/international/apply) and an affidavit of support with a financial bank statement of $25,000 United States Dollars. The option to check your bank account balance via our secure fast FundsV tool. The link is used for verifying bank statements (student’s or sponsor’s account) https://www.fundsv.com/g/lewisu.
  2. Request a credential evaluation from an agency officially recognized by Lewis University as a valid and reliable service of foreign educational credentials to complete an assessment of all credentials earned outside of the USA and submit a formal report directly to the CONHP Graduate program.
  3. Submit a copy of your passport page with your full name and picture.
  4. Provide official documentation indicating successfully passing the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) qualifying exam to receive CGFNS certification. (CGFNS Website: www.cgfns.org)
  5. Evidence of an active professional nurse’s license in the student’s own country as well as in the state where coursework will be completed.
  6. Submit official documentation of an English language test:
    1. TOEFL 79 internet-based, or 550 paper-based (www.toefl.org); or
    2. IELTS 6.0 (www.ielts.org ); or
    3. ELS Language Center level 112 (www.els.edu ) or EF Language Center level C1-3 (www.ef.com )
  7. Meet all other admission requirements for the Graduate program of interest as delineated above. Full admission to the graduate program is required before starting graduate coursework and/or full time student enrollment. For questions, please contact the Office of Adult and Graduate Admissions or the International Student Services Office.

(USA Resident/Citizen Applicant with academic credits from institution(s) outside the USA)

  1. Request a credential evaluation from an agency officially recognized by Lewis University as a valid and reliable service of foreign educational credentials to complete an assessment of all credentials earned outside of the USA and submit a formal report directly to the CONHP MSN program.
  2. If basic nursing education was received outside the USA, provide official documentation indicating a successful pass rate for the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) Qualifying exam to receive CGFNS certification. (CGFNS Website: www.CGFNS.org)
  3. Submit official documentation to indicate an earned score of at least 550 as required on the TOEFL exam with a minimum subscore of 5 in the test of written English. (www.toefl.com)
    1. Meet all other admission requirements for the MSN program of interest.
    2. For questions, please contact the Office of Adult and Graduate Admissions.

Admission Criteria for the MSN/MBA Program:

For entry into the MSN/MBA Program with MSN specialization in Healthcare Systems Leadership: applicant must meet the admission requirements for both the MSN and MBA Programs. 

Provisional Admission

An applicant with an undergraduate GPA between 2.75 and 3.0 and having met all other admission criteria may be provisionally admitted to the MSN program.  A grade of less than a B during the provisional admission will result in dismissal.  If after completing six graduate level credit hours in the MSN program, the student has a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher the student will be fully admitted to the MSN program.

Transfer Credit and Grade Point

A maximum of nine semester credits of graduate-level coursework from regionally accredited institutions may be accepted for transfer if the courses are applicable to the student’s area of specialization as determined by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Scholarship. Only courses carrying a grade of B or above will be considered. Grades from courses accepted for transfer credit are not calculated into the cumulative grade point average.

Academic Standing

A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 must be maintained in order for a student to remain in good academic standing and to continue progression in the program.

Curriculum Implementation 

The core curriculum for students in all MSN Programs and specialty courses for Healthcare Systems Leadership and Nursing Education Programs is accelerated and offered in 8 week sessions. Nurse Practitioner specialization courses are offered in a traditional 16 week format.

 

MSN courses may be offered on any Lewis campus site, at selected cohort sites, or online.  Other than specific cohort program contracts, there is no guarantee that the entire MSN curriculum will be offered in entirety at any one location.

NOTE:  This curriculum and the sequence of courses are subject to change without notice or obligation.  Please contact the Office of Graduate Studies in the College of Nursing and Health Professions for current information.

Program Completion Time 

Students admitted into the Healthcare Systems Leadership, Nursing Education, Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner Programs must meet all requirements for the degree within a period of five consecutive years from the time of enrollment in graduate coursework after admission to the program.  Students admitted into the MSN/MBA program must meet all requirements for the degree within a period of seven consecutive years from the time of enrollment in graduate coursework. It is expected that students will begin taking courses in the semester immediately following date of admission.

Tuition and Fees

Published regularly by the Offices of the Bursar and Registrar, current tuition and fees can be found in the University Course Schedule.

Students are responsible for all fees related to background checks and health and clinical documentation in preparation for clinical experiences.