GENERALIST ENTRY MASTERS (GEM) IN NURSING
WITH A FOCUS IN CLINICAL LEADERSHIP
The GEM program is designed for students with a non-nursing baccalaureate degree or higher. Students receive a generalist education in nursing at the graduate level and are conferred a Master's degree upon graduation. Students are eligible to sit for RN licensure and Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) certification.
In today's health care environments, from acute to chronic to community settings, nurses are taking on more responsibility for the delivery of quality patient care. It has become clear that the traditional way of educating nurses needs to be re-thought. Though postgraduate entry into nursing is not new, more recently colleges of nursing have begun offering a new kind of postgraduate master's entry program in which students are prepared, not for specialist practice, but rather as clinical leader generalists. While similar to bachelor's programs in that they prepare graduates for generalist practice, direct entry master's programs include the comprehensive clinical leadership content that most bachelor programs are unable to include - evidence-based practice, quality improvement, clinical outcomes management, team building and delegation, inter-professional communication, informatics and fiscal accountability. Because students have earned a bachelor degree or higher already, similar to schools of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, a graduate professional education is the logical next step in the preparation of qualified professional nurses.
Contemporary nursing practice is very complex and sophisticated and becomes increasingly so each day. The intellectual challenges professional nurses encounter in providing high quality, safe care for patients require extensive education to guide clinical judgment. The Institute of Medicine has called for the education of all health professionals to include patient-centered care, evidence-based practice, information technology, inter-professional communication and quality improvement. The master's generalist programmatic focus on clinical leadership provides the fitting context in which to learn and apply these important concepts. Thus, nurses prepared at the master's generalist level will actively improve the quality of client care across the continuum of health care.
Yes! What could be more interesting, challenging and rewarding than caring for people and their families during the most critical time of their lives? Reference to the "bedside nurse" sometimes does not take into consideration that safe, effective and comprehensive management of a patient requires the organization and coordination of a team of providers, educated at many levels. The Institute of Medicine report on quality and safety speaks to the need for astute, critical thinking and multifocal clinical intervention, requiring more education for those managing the care of clients and patients. Hospital nursing leaders acknowledge that there is a need for nurses to take charge of the clinical management of a patient, coordinate care with other health professionals and effectively advocate for patients.
Though the current accelerated program is for bachelor's prepared non-nurses, the content is bachelor's level and taught in a compressed format (4 quarters). Master's generalist courses will be taught at the graduate level over 6 quarters with an additional quarter of residency experience. Students will take many of the same courses that are typically offered as core for master's specialty programs, for example, nursing theory, evidence-based practice, pathophysiology, pharmacology, physical assessment, and biostatistics. Students will continue to receive a strong clinical grounding across a continuum of health care settings.
Absolutely! It is difficult to imagine that quality health care employers would not want the best educated clinician they could find to provide leadership at the point of care, where the impact on quality and safety is felt most keenly. The experience of the existing master's generalist programs thus far reveals a high demand for these graduates, prepared for high level clinical practice. Employers that hire these graduates report they are superior patient advocates, excellent problem solvers and are committed to high quality care at the bedside.
Once we graduate the classes that enroll in Fall 2007 (7-quarter) and Winter 2008 (4-quarter), we will only offer the proposed GEM program.
The first cohort of students in the program is expected to start in Summer 2008, the second cohort in Winter 2009. The program will be 6 quarters in length with one additional quarter spent in a residency experience.
January 2, 2008
A minimum of a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
Cumulative and prerequisite science GPAs of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
Submission of official transcripts from all institutions of higher education previously attended
Acceptable GRE scores (the GRE is waived if cumulative GPA is 3.25 or greater)
Personal interview with faculty
Three professional letters of recommendation
Applicants who did not complete 4 years of college in the U.S. must submit acceptable TOEFL scores
Human Anatomy
Human Physiology
Microbiology
Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry (with lab)
Normal Nutrition
Introductory or General Psychology
Human Growth and Development or Developmental Psychology
Statistics
All prerequisite courses must be completed prior to enrollment.
The Office of Admissions may be contacted at:
Phone: 312-942-7100
E-mail: Rush_Admissions@rush.edu
On campus Information Sessions are held on the second Wednesday of each month starting at 4:30 PM in room 994 of the Armour Academic Center located at 600 S. Paulina. Information on all programs will be available, as well as housing and financial aid information. No reservations are necessary, but please feel free to call or e-mail in advance if you have special needs or questions that you would like answered at the session.
Additional information may be found on the GEM fact sheet under Programs of Study on the Rush College of Nursing website.