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"These are students who made a career plan transition,"
Poslusny said. "They really are coming to nursing
with a well-thought-out decision that this is what they
want to do."
One of the first graduates of the DePaul program was
Susan Kinsley, MS, RN, who had a BS degree in therapeutic
recreation from the University of Iowa and was looking
for a way to enter the nursing field when she heard
about the entry-level-to-master's degree. She was accepted
in the initial class of four in September 2000 and earned
her generic master's last June, passing the nursing
exam in August.
"My childhood dream was to be a doctor, but I
decided if I wanted a family, I couldn't go to medical
school," said Kinsley, who was working as a recreational
therapist at a residential treatment facility before
entering the master's program. Today, she's a busy full-time
nurse in the burn intensive care unit at the University
of Chicago Hospitals.
Kinsley was able to graduate with the master's in two
years instead of the usual three because she had many
of the course prerequisites as an undergrad premed major.
She may decide to return to DePaul to prepare for the
specialty of nurse practitioner, but it won't be for
awhile. "I really love what I'm doing too much
to return to school right now."
At the University of Iowa College of Nursing, a professional
master's degree in nursing and health care practice
was offered for the first time last year and attracted
an initial class of 16 students with non-nursing baccalaureates.
"The nursing shortage has given us some real opportunities
to do some innovative programs and really change the
culture of nursing," said Melanie Dreher, Ph.D.,
RN, FAAN, dean of the school's College of Nursing. "I
think the timing is perfect for this program and the
first class size is just right to get the kinks out."
Dreher said that even without advertising the program,
the school received 90 inquiries. Those accepted included
students with undergraduate degrees ranging from English
to accounting, and included one Chinese physician. The
school plans to increase enrollment for the next classes
to 32, then 48 and, eventually, 64 students.
The professional master's may be completed in four
semesters, including a semester-long clinical internship
that occurs five days a week for three months. Students
then are eligible to take the national licensing exam.
At this point, they can enter the workforce or return
to school to pursue advanced nursing practice specialties,
Dreher said.
Seattle University admitted its first class of 20 students
in June and 20 more will enter this summer in an advanced
practice nursing immersion master's program for people
holding bachelor's degrees in non-nursing fields. The
curriculum consists of four consecutive quarters of
pre-licensure clinical study and coursework followed
by five additional quarters of specialty focus.
"It's very intense, but the first class is doing
very well," said Graduate Program Director Kathryn
Anderson, Ph.D., RN. "We put them right into a
nursing home setting, which was a little hard, but after
overcoming their initial anxiety, they got into it and
really enjoy the clinical component."
Kathleen Dracup, DNSc, FNP, RN, FAAN, dean of the UCSF
School of Nursing, said that even though many of the
fast-track MSN candidates don't have clinical experience
or even health care backgrounds, they've been attracted
to nursing after careful consideration and few students
have dropped out of the program. For this reason, she
encourages staff nurses to be patient and encouraging
when non-nursing MSN students show up for clinical rotation
training.
"It's been a long-held belief that before a nurse
gets a master's, they need several years of nursing
experience, but with this program we encourage students
to go straight through," Dracup said. "This
is an amazing group of students who will be leaders
in nursing. We've found them to be extraordinarily motivated,
mature and successful."
Contact John Leighty at johnsan@aol.com
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