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Master's Entry Clinical Nurse Leader Program

The Master's Entry Clinical Nurse Leader program takes into account your educational, career, and life experiences as well as your critical thinking ability and maturity as you prepare to become a leader in nursing and health care. The curriculum prepares individuals with undergraduate or graduate degrees in other disciplines to become Registered Nurses who provide direct patient care and who lead at the point of care.    If you are already a baccalaureate-prepared RN interested in the Clinical Nurse Leader program, click here.

This Clinical Nurse Leader program educates individuals to provide leadership at the point of care. The school admits students each summer into a 24-month, full-time program leading to a master's of science in nursing. The CNL is an advanced nursing generalist, and will be prepared to direct care at the unit level. This could be direct care in an inpatient hospital unit, in an outpatient environment, or in a public/community health setting.

The graduate will be prepared to collect and evaluate patient outcomes, assess cohort risk, and use decision-making authority to change care plans when necessary. The CNL will function as part of an interdisciplinary team by communicating, planning, and implementing care directly with other health care professionals, including physicians, pharmacists, social workers, and advanced practice nurses.

The Master's Entry program is not intended to prepare individuals for a specific job title as a "Clinical Nurse Leader;" graduates will likely obtain various professional positions from different employers. It is also anticipated that new CNL grads will be hired as novice nurses in whatever position they seek. It is expected that graduates will more rapidly rise to positions as Clinician, Team Leader, Patient Care Coordinator, Outcomes Manager, Client Advocate, Systems Analyst/Risk Anticipator, etc. One of the objectives of the Master's Entry CNL program at the University of Virginia is to provide graduates with clinical experiences in different healthcare settings as well as professional skills/abilities that can be used in different environments.

This program is a full-time program that leads to a MSN degree after 24 months.   The  May 2013 cohort will graduate in May 2015. 

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Clinicals
• Licensure & Certification
• Admission Requirements
• Downloads, Program of Study, and Links
• The admissions application is available on your My Grad UVa page.  If you have not created MyGrad UVa page, then please click here to create your MyGrad UVa page. 
• For More Information

Clinicals

Clinical experiences include rotations in a variety of sites to help the student develop skills with acute, chronic, and preventative care of persons with medical- surgical, obstetric, and psychiatric needs. In addition, students also rotate through community/public health and pediatric specialty sites. In the final spring and summer semesters, students identify a clinical focus area for completion of an extended clinical practicum, followed by the CNL residency practicum. Clinical experiences will be offered at the University of Virginia Medical Center, at other facilities and settings in the Charlottesville area, and at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salem, Virginia. 

Unlike the clinical opportunities for other programs, all of the clinical training in the Master's Entry program is conducted on a 1:1 precepted model.   While most nursing programs have clincial groups (8-10 students and one faculty member at a time), the MECNL program is one-to-one for the full program (1000 clinical hours).

Licensure & Certification

Graduates of the program are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to be licensed as a RN. Graduates would also be eligible to sit for the Clinical Nurse Leader certification examination.

Graduates of the Direct Entry MSN program have done very well on the NCLEX examination in recent years.    The NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate in 2009 and 2010 was 100%.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the School of Nursing is competitive and based on evaluation of all portions of the application.

To be considered for the Clinical Nurse Leader Master's of Science in Nursing, applicants must submit a completed application and the following materials by October 1 for the cohort entering in May 2013:

• Have a baccalaureate or master's degree from a nationally accredited school.
• Have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in undergraduate study.
• Successfully complete the following prerequisite courses before enrolling:
  Human Anatomy & Physiology within the past 5 years (labs not required).
  A course in life span development (birth to death)
  A course in statistics at the graduate or undergraduate level within the past 5 years
• The GRE is required only for those with an undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.25 or lower from your first bachelor's degree*.
• Submit three satisfactory academic and professional recommendations. If possible, one should be from someone in healthcare.
• Submit a copy of your resume or curriculum vitae.
• Have prior work or volunteer experience in healthcare. Exposure to nursing is recommended.
• Be available for an interview if requested; this might be a phone interview with members of the admissions committee.

Application deadline for all materials (application and supporting documents): October 1

*Certain applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. The School of Nursing accepts GRE scores that are more than 5 years old. If you have your 'older' scores, you may submit a copy of the Student Report. Students who have already completed a graduate degree do not need to submit GRE scores. The Institutional Code for the University of Virginia is R-5820.

International applicants have additional admissions requirements.  Click here for information about these additional requirements for international students.

Downloads, Program of Study, and Links

• Informational Flyer on the Master's Entry Program
• Program of Study for MSN in Master's Entry CNL program
• My Grad UVa page
  

For More Information

For additional information on admission to and programs of study at the UVa School of Nursing, please fill our our online form. You are also welcome to call the Office of Admissions at (434) 924-0141 / (888) 283-8703.

Questions on admissions and financial aid should be directed to Clay Hysell, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, email hysell@virginia.edu