Direct Entry MSN

[kal5068]

Hello! I was wondering if anyone had any advice or suggestions.

I am currently a medical sales rep, while I love being in the OR, I am not a fan of the sales aspect and want to be more hands on. I've been looking into direct entry MSN programs, some even have specialties in Nurse Anesthetist, which I would love!

At first I was excited to see fast-track programs for students who already hold a bachelors degree, however my degrees are not in the science field so I would have to take multiple prerequisites. With my current job, there is no way I can take these prerequisites. I am guessing there are not programs out there that don't require all the prerequisites?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Hi and welcome to AN.

A few clarifications:

- I have not seen or heard a Nurse Anesthetist program that is Direct Entry. CRNA programs require experience as an ICU RN. For that reason, you must have already gone through the pre-licensure program, got your RN license, and worked in the ICU prior to applying.

- I've known of Direct Entry Graduate degrees in Nursing leading to CNL, NP and CNM specialization.

- All nursing programs have pre-requisites, even the traditional pre-licensure formats (ADN, BSN). You should also know that certain Bachelor's degrees don't immediately meet criteria for admission even in Direct Entry programs if they are specialized such as degrees in the Arts or Engineering.

When a student is admitted to a Direct Entry program, the expectation is that the student already completed the general education courses in Humanities, Languages, and Sciences in their undergraduate degree that are part of the traditional BSN program.

If you have missing general education courses, you must fulfill them before being admitted to the program.

- if you're interested in this route, you should speak to schools directly or post in the Post-Graduate Nursing Student Forum.