ProgramDirector

Hello, Everyone, and thank you for your interest in what's going on at Rush University College of Nursing. I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the questions raised in this thread of conversation. As Director of Generalist Education at RUCON, I am in charge of the newly developed GEM (Generalist Master's Entry) program. The decision to transition to this degree (and away from BSN education) was taken very seriously by the faculty and was based on market and resources demands, but more importantly where the College felt it could best position to provide the best educated nurses for the profession and society. The GEM will prepare Clinical Nurse Leaders. These invidiuals will be prepared to provide clinical leadership at the point of care. They will have the knowledge to direct, implement, and evaluate nursing care in a microsystem (i.e., unit) of care, whether inpatient on in the community. Their leadership knowledge will focus on quality improvement, evidenced-based nursing, informatics, and ensuring systems of safety for a cohort of patients/clients. These individuals will be advanced generalists, not specialists, which is what the CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist) is. The CNS is an advanced practice nurse with specialized knowledge in the care of a particular population of patients. They have a breadth and depth of knowledge the CNL will not have. The CNL's 'specialized knowledge' is leadership: how to coordinate care, build teams, improving the quality and consistency of patient care. All of these areas have been identified by the Institute of Medicine as areas that must be addressed in the current healthcare system in this country. To that end, this program will be on the forefront of fundamentally changing the architecture of the American Health Care System. The graduate of Rush's program will be eligible for both the NCLEX and the CNL certification examination. I would be happy to speak to anyone who might have any questions about the program or our decision to change. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thanks for your time and interest!