Nursing (MSN) For BSN Holders
Faculty
Patricia Rissmiller, Associate Professor and Graduate Chair
Charlene Berube, Associate Professor of Practice and Chair of Undergrad Nursing
NIckie Burney, Director of Family Nurse Practitioner Program
Margaret Costello, Assistant Professor
Sarah Desmond, Associate Professor of Practice
Susan Duty, Associate Professor
Eileen McGee, Associate Professor of Practice
Jennifer Howard, Professor of Practice
Rebecca Koeniger-Donohue, Professor of Practice
Laura Rossi, Assistant Professor
Karen Teeley, Professor of Practice and Director of RN to BSN Program, Nursing@simmons
Sarah Volkman, Professor
Description
The program is designed for registered nurses with degrees in nursing or a related field who wish to advance their careers with a graduate degree in nursing. The MSN consists of three components – foundational courses, primary care, and research. We prepare students to deliver primary health care to diverse populations across the lifespan. You will focus on health promotion and education, disease prevention, and learn to assess and manage patients with acute and chronic illnesses.
Graduates of this program are prepared to take the family nurse practitioner certification exam, and find success in positions in primary health care and community care settings, private practice, and in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs.
The MSN for Bachelor’s nurses is offered on campus in Boston and online.
Learning Outcomes
- Critique, evaluate, synthesize and utilize theoretical, scientific and clinical knowledge as applied to the assessment and management of both primary and acute health and illness states.
- Demonstrate a personal, collegial, and collaborative approach as an advanced practice Nurse while emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention and identification of environmental factors that impact health status across the lifespan.
- Develop an understanding and appreciation of human diversity as an advanced practice professional to assure the delivery of appropriate and individualized health care across the curriculum.
- Demonstrate sound critical thinking and clinical decision making reflected in effective written and verbal communications skills, utilized by the advanced practice Nurse in a complex delivery system.
- Demonstrate personal qualities and professional behaviors which are assertive and engage in advanced practice activities that advocate for on-going change and leadership within Nursing and in the health care system.
- Apply critical thinking skills within a multidisciplinary approach to care which fosters strategies and assembles multifaceted resources to empower patients, families and communities to attain and maintain maximal functional wellness.
- Demonstrate Nursing judgments and interventions which provide culturally sensitive care for diverse populations.
- Demonstrate Nursing practices which address human differences.
- Design and implement evidence-based primary health care practices in varied health care systems
- Assume a leadership role in the management of patients, communities and larger systems.
- Initiate changes in patient care and in the health care system through negotiations with other health care professionals.
- Evaluate the efficacy of health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, and treatment interventions through the application of knowledge of health care systems, economics, policy, ethics and polities.
- Conduct clinical Nursing research designed to advance the science of Nursing.
- Advance professional growth through continued acquisition of theoretical knowledge and clinical experience, and through participation and/or leadership in professional and community
Requirements for entry into program
Applicants to the BSN-MSN program must have a current United States RN license in good standing and a BSN or BS/BA in a related field from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
Statistics Prerequisite: Applicants must have taken an undergraduate statistics course at a regionally accredited U.S. post-secondary institution within 7 years prior to the application deadline. The course must be equal to a semester in length and a grade of B or better is required. The course may be in progress at the time of application and must be completed before the start of the program.
Degree requirements
Course Sequence
Pre-Requisites
- NURP 404 Advanced Pathophysiology
- Students must pass NURP 404 to continue in the program. If a student does not pass, they will be contacted by their Academic Advisor and must provide an explanation of why they failed and how they plan to be successful going forward.
- NURP 410 Advanced Research Methods
- Students must pass NURP 410 before they can take NURP 507
- NURP 570 Health Promotion: A Global Perspective
- NURP 570 should be taken when suggested, but there are no conditions or pre-requisites for taking it.
- NURP 422 Advanced Pharmacology Across the Life Span I
- NURP 422 must be taken with or before NURP 500
- Must pass NURP 422 before taking NURP 423
- NURP 423 Advanced Pharmacology Across the Life Span II
- Students must pass NURP 422 before taking NURP 423
- NURP 450 Health Care System: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
- NURP 450 should be taken when suggested, but there are no conditions or pre-requisites for taking it.
- NURP 507 Scholarly Inquiry I
- Students must pass NURP 410 before taking NURP 507
- Students must pass NURP 507 before taking NURP 508
- Students in NURP 507 must register for the same section and time for NURP 508. This ensures continuity with both research partners and faculty which will facilitate the completion of the project with in the designated time of two terms.
- NURP 508 Scholarly Inquiry II
- Students must pass NURP 507 before taking NURP 508
- Students must register for the same section/instructor as they did in NURP 507
- NURP 589 Informatics
- NURP 589 should be taken when suggested, but there are no conditions or pre-requisites for taking it.
- NURP 504 Family Theory Health and Illness
- NURP 504 should be taken when suggested, but there are no conditions or pre-requisites for taking it
The information below pertains to all four classes listed:
- NURP 500/500A Advanced Health Assessment Across the Life Span/Clinical Decision Making
- NURP 501/501A FNP II Primary Care Nursing of the Childbearing Family/FNP II Clinical Decision Making
- NURP 502/502A FNP III Primary Care Nursing/FNP III Clinical Decision Making
- NURP 503/503A FNP IV Primary Care Nursing/FNP IV Clinical Decision Making
Students must pass NURP 500 in order to come to Immersion Weekend (NURP 500A).
Students that do not pass NURP 500 will receive a “W” for 500A and will need to re-register for both NURP 500/500A. On line students only.
Students must take NURP 501/501A, NURP 502/502A, & NURP 503/503A in sequence.
Once students register for 501A, they must then register for 502A & 503A with the same instructor/students.
NURP 500/500A, NURP 501/501A, NURP 502/502A, and NURP 503/503A are separate but linked courses. They cover related content in two settings: mastery of didactic knowledge in the academic setting and application of didactic knowledge to practice in clinical settings.
Students must pass BOTH courses at the same time (e.g. NURP 501/501A) in order to proceed in the program.
If students fail either the didactic course (e.g. NURP 501) or the clinical placement course (e.g. 501A), they are required to retake both courses again.
If students fail the clinical placement course, the hours will not be counted as part of the required clinical hours.
If students fail both the didactic and the clinical placement courses, it would be counted as 2 failures and they would be dismissed from the program.
Immersion Weekend On line students only
Immersion Weekend is an on-campus course requirement. Students must successfully pass NURP 500: Health Assessment in order to attend Immersion Weekend. During the weekend, students will be tested on performing a head to toe health assessment in front of a Simmons Faculty member. Students who fail this health assessment during Immersion Weekend must retake both NURP 500: Health Assessment and NURP 500A: Immersion Weekend. During the weekend students will also participate in professional engagement workshops including a suturing lab and Typhon Workshop. Typhon is the required software students will utilize to log clinical hours. Once students have successfully completed Immersion Weekend and NURP 500, they will proceed to NURP 501/501A and began their clinical rotations.
Students in the on site program meet this requirement by passing NURS 500 A.
Clinical Placement
- Placements occur during the last three terms of the program (NURP 501/501A, NURP 502/502A, and NURP 503/503A). Full-time students complete their clinical placement during their third, fourth and fifth terms. Part-time students complete their clinical placement during their fifth, sixth and seventh terms.
- Clinical education covers related content in two settings: mastery of didactic knowledge in the academic setting and application of didactic knowledge to practice in clinical settings
- Students will attend their clinical placement a minimum of 16 hours per week for the entire 14-week term for a total of 224 hours per term.
- Clinical education carries a total of 18 credits.
- Online students must complete Immersion Weekend (500A) before beginning their first clinical rotation.
Licensure and Certification
Upon completion of the FNP program, you will be eligible to sit for the national board-certifying exam.
Other program information
Please consult the Nursing Student Handbook for additional information about Health Clearance, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Mandatory Clinical Orientation, Agency-Specific Requirements, Criminal Offender Record Inquiry, and other related policies.