New Master's Program At Rush Responds To Growing Demand For Nurses Who Have Greater Responsibilities In Clinical Care Of Patients

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 28 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Rush University College of Nursing has implemented a new master's degree program, the Generalist Entry Master's in Nursing or GEM program. The GEM program prepares students for generalist practice, while also providing them with clinical leadership education that is not available in bachelor's degree nursing programs.

Rush is implementing the GEM program in response to the growing demands on nurses, who are taking on more responsibility for clinical management of patients, coordinating increasingly complex plans of care with other health professionals and assuming more accountability for improving the quality and safety of patient care.

"The work of nursing today is so complex compared to 10 or 20 years ago that it requires a higher level of education," said Melanie Dreher, RN, PhD, FAAN, dean of the College of Nursing. "Professional nurses, even new graduates, are expected to be clinical leaders in order to provide high-quality, safe patient care. The intellectual challenges they'll encounter require a more extensive education to guide clinical judgment and enable them to advocate for patients."

"Typically, the more education and the more credentials nurses have, the further away they get from the bedside. We are reversing that trend by preparing the most educated, most credentialed nurses for service at the point of care," said Dreher. "What's going on at the bedside is so critical, and our patients deserve the very best."

The GEM program will educate students in leadership areas such as evidence-based practice (using research to guide how care is provided), quality and safety improvement, clinical outcomes management, team building and delegation, communication with other health professionals and fiscal accountability. Dreher stresses that along with its leadership emphasis, the GEM program still is preparing nurses to care for patients.

The GEM program is intended for students who already have earned a bachelor's degree, including students coming directly from undergraduate programs and returning students who have been in the workforce and are making a career change. The program will replace Rush's prelicensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, which will be closed once current students complete their degrees.

The seven-quarter prelincensure GEM program began classes this June and will have cycles starting in both summer and winter each year, enrolling up to 72 students per cycle. The program includes six quarters of coursework, including classroom and clinical instruction, plus a quarter of immersion residency experience.

Since students enter the program already holding a bachelor's degree, they will take many master's level courses, including nursing theory, evidence-based practice, pathophysiology, pharmacology, physical assessment and biostatistics.

"We remain focused on clinical excellence," said Frank Hicks, PhD, RN, director of generalist education. "The GEM program includes nearly 1,100 clinical hours, more than the current accelerated BSN program. We're taking this step to provide the education nurses will need to be prepared for the future demands and needs of the health care system."

The heritage of the College of Nursing dates back to 1885, when the College's first antecedent, the St. Luke's Hospital Training School of Nursing, opened to offer diploma education to nurses. Eight programs in the Rush College of Nursing are ranked among the top 25 in the country by U.S. News & World Report magazine. The Master's in Nursing Anesthesia program is ranked third and the Master's in Nursing program is 19th. The College also received very high marks for nursing specialties earning top ten rankings on six of the eight lists; fifth in Community/Public Health Nursing, sixth in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, ninth in Adult Nurse Practitioner, tenth in Family Nurse Practitioner, ninth in Gerontological/Geriatric Nursing, and seventh in Pediatric Nursing.

The Rush College of Nursing is part of Rush University, the academic component of Rush University Medical Center, a leading academic medical center. Rush University was founded in 1972 and has expanded from one college and fewer than 100 students to four colleges and over 1,500 students. It includes Rush Medical College, the College of Nursing, the College of Health Sciences and The Graduate College.
www.rushu.rush.edu/nursing