Master of Science in Nursing Program

Here we provide information on admission and course requirements, course descriptions and the handbook for MSN Graduate Students for you to review.

Admission and Course Requirements

Course Descriptions

Handbook for MSN Graduate Students

Every year students must provide health services with evidence of a negative PPD test or compliance with treatment. Before beginning some clinical nursing courses, students may be expected to meet additional health requirements. 

All nursing students must have the following information on file in College Health Services:

• an admission physical exam
• 1 dose of tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap)
• 2 doses of live measles vaccine (preferably MMR) or a blood titer confirming immunity
• 2 doses of mumps vaccine (preferably MMR) or a blood titer confirming immunity
• 1 dose of rubella vaccine or a blood titer confirming immunity
• 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine (Please Note: A hepatitis B surface antibody titer to confirm sero-conversion is recommended one-to-two months after the final dose.)
• provider documented proof, including date or age, of chicken pox disease or a varicella titer confirming immunity or two doses of varicella vaccine
• an initial 2-step PPD** tuberculin skin test and yearly PPD updates (or chest x-ray if PPD positive and yearly TB assessment, which is completed at College Health Services)
• flu vaccine every fall semester

*Health-care workers born on or before Dec. 31, 1956, are only required to have documentation of one dose each of measles, mumps and rubella or titers confirming immunity.

**2-Step PPD – two separate PPDs planted at least a week apart but not more than a year apart prior to entering into nursing clinical.

View Printable Version of Health and Immunization Checklist

Please Note: Students will not be admitted to the first class meeting of a nursing practicum course without having complied with the health requirements. Proof of immunization may be obtained from your physician, high school, previous college or university, military record, and/or from blood titers.

Please Note: Nursing majors should follow the guidelines on the college immunization form or call College Health Services at 401-456-8055 for further information. Once all required information is complete, students may pick up their laminated identification cards at College Health Services.​

Students of the MSN Program will demonstrate mastery of all of the Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing (AACN, 2011) and the AACN (2021) Competencies and level-2 Sub-competencies within the Ten Domains for Nursing, leading to achievement of the following MSN End-of-Program Outcomes: 

1. Demonstrate the integration, translation, synthesis, and application of established and evolving knowledge from basic science, nursing knowledge and other ways of knowing, and other disciplines that results in clinical judgment founded on a broad knowledge base. [Domain 1] [MSN Essentials I, III, IV, VIII] 
2. Manage person-centered care at the advanced nursing level across the organization/system, provider, patient, and/or population level that focuses on the individual within multiple complicated contexts, including family and/or important others. [Domain 2] [MSN Essential II, IV, VII, VIII, IX] 
3. Manage population health that spans the healthcare delivery continuum from public health prevention to disease management of populations.[Domains 3, 6, 9] [MSN Essentials VI, VII, VIII, IX] 
4. Synthesize, criticize and apply nursing knowledge, research, scholarship and evidence-based practice to improve health and transform health care. [Domains 1, 4, 5, 7, 10] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, V, VIII, IX] 
5. Incorporate principles of quality, safety and implementation science to optimize health and healthcare outcomes. [Domains 1, 5, 7] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, VII, VIII, IX] 
6. Collaborate across professions and with care team members, patients, families, communities, and other stakeholders to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience, and strengthen outcomes. [Domains 2, 6, 7] [MSN Essentials V, VI, VII, VIII, IX] 
7. Relate evidence-based methodologies, system-thinking, business and financial acumen to provide safe, quality, evidence-based and equitable care to diverse populations. [Domains 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX] 
8. Integrate information and communication technologies and informatics processes to gather data, support care delivery, and inform decision making. [Domains 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX] 
9. Demonstrate an advanced-level professional nursing identity that encompasses self-reflective practice, commitment to inclusivity and social justice, accountability, collaborative disposition and ethical comportment that reflects nursing’s values. [Domains 6, 9, 10] [MSN Essentials VI, VII, VIII, IX] 
10. Contribute to an organizational culture that promotes personal health, resilience, lifelong learning and expansion of nursing expertise. [Domains 9, 10] [MSN Essential IX]