Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Statement of Commitment to University Mission and Values
The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree prepares a professional nurse with the knowledge and skills to assume an advance nursing practice role in a variety of settings. The MSN program offers several concentrations including:

• MSN-Healthcare Systems Leadership
• MSN-Nursing Education
• MSN-School Nurse
• MSN- Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
• MSN- Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
• MSN- Family Nurse Practitioner
• MSN- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
• MSN/MBA
  
  

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.

Healthcare Systems Leadership is a 36-credit hour program leading to a Master 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.

School Nurse is a 34-credit hour program leading to an MSN. School nursing is a specialized practice of professional nursing that advances the well-being, academic success, and life-long achievement of K-12 students. MSN prepared school nurses provide leadership in advancing the practice of school nursing and apply advanced nursing theory to improve school wellness and improve the educational process. To that end, School Nurses facilitate positive K-12 student responses to normal development, promote health and safety, intervene with actual and potential health problems, provide case management services, and actively collaborate with others to build K-12 student and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy, and learning.

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.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner is a 49-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 a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. In the program, the students will learn how to perform physical examinations, diagnose and treat patients with common psychiatric and mental health disorders, and order and interpret labs and other diagnostic testing. The student will also be prepared to provide psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.

MSN-MBA is a 63-credit hour program leading to a dual 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 dual degree at Lewis. The credit hour requirement for the MSN portion of the program is 33 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.

Post-Graduate Certificate Programs: The Graduate Program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences offers a Certificate of Advanced Study in Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric Mental health Nurse Practitioner. There are 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 Sciences 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 the 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 6 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 Sciences and the MBA program in the College of Business.

Admission Criteria for Applicants to the Healthcare Systems Leadership, Nursing Education, and School Nurse 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/country of practice.
• Official transcripts from all previous academic programs.
• Minimum of 3.0 cumulative GPA from BSN degree, minimum of 3.0 GPA for ADN (if applicable), and minimum of 3.0 cumulative GPA from post-BSN, graduate-level coursework (if applicable). Minimum of 3.0 cumulative GPA from MSN and post-MSN coursework for entry into post-Master's specialty in HSL or NE programs.
• Successful completion of:
  • A statistics course.
  • A nursing research course.
    
    • If not, equivalent course(s) must be taken prior to or concurrent with the first graduate-level nursing course with a grade "B" or above. If a student does not receive a grade of "B' or above in a bridge course, the student may not repeat the course and will be dismissed from the program.
• 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.

NOTE: School Nurse students must take and pass the Illinois state board of education content area test in school nursing (236).

Admission Criteria for Applicants to the Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, 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, HSL, and School Nurse programs (except the essay), the applicant must complete an 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.

• 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 with a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA from an ADN degree.
• Graduation from a state-approved non-nursing baccalaureate degree program with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.
• Successful completion of the following bridge courses with a grade of "B' or above:

1. A statistics course - 3 semester hours
2. Concepts of Professional Nursing course – 4 semester hours (NURS 30600 in the Lewis University RN/BSN program)
3. An Evidence-Based Practice course – 3 semester hours (NURS 30100 in the Lewis University RN/BSN program)
4. Promoting Healthy Communities course – 5 semester hours (NURS 43200 in the Lewis University RN/BSN program)

1. Submit an international application (www.lewisu.edu/international/apply)
2. Request a credential evaluation from an agency officially recognized by NACES (http://www.naces.org/members.html). You must request a Course by Course evaluation of your previous education. Alternatively, Lewis University has partnered with One Earth Evaluations to provide students with a faster and more affordable Transcript Evaluation service.
3. 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)
4. 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.
5. 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)
6. 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.

1. Request a credential evaluation from an agency officially recognized by NACES ( http://www.naces.org/members.html ). You must request a Course by Course evaluation of your previous education. Alternatively, Lewis University has partnered with One Earth Evaluations to provide students with a faster and more affordable Transcript Evaluation service.
2. 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 sub score 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 Graduate Admissions.

Admission Criteria for the MSN/MBA Program:
For entry into the MSN/MBA Program with MSN specialization in Healthcare Systems Leadership the 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. Additional preparatory courses may be required during provisional admission. Full admission is contingent upon earning a grade of "A" or "B' for the first four graduate courses in the program. If this is not met during provisional admission it will result in dismissal. If after completing four graduate level courses in the graduate studies in nursing 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
MSN Students - A maximum of 9 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 or the lead faculty of the equivalent course(s). 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. No courses taken at another institution after a student has matriculated at Lewis University, whether admitted or not, will be accepted in transfer for credit towards the graduate degree or certificate in nursing at Lewis University.

Certificate of Advanced Study Students - A maximum of 10 credit hours comprising the total certificate program may be accepted in transfer under the following conditions:

Only coursework with a grade of "B" will be accepted. 

Students in the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Study) programs may transfer in Health Assessment and Advanced Pharmacology if they have taken within the last 5 years or have been in active practice within the last 5 years. Course titles may need to be exact.

Active practice is defined as a minimum of 1000 verified clinical practice hours within the past 5 years.

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 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 Sciences for current information.

Program Completion Time
Students admitted into the Healthcare Systems Leadership, Nursing Education, School Nurse, Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Nurse Practitioner Programs must meet all requirements for the degree within a period of 5 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 7 consecutive years from the time of enrollment in graduate coursework. It is expected that students will begin taking courses in the semester immediately following the 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.