Skill set of new MSN grads

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This came up in another thread and I thought it would be interesting to continue it. What have been your experiences with new nursing graduates from the accelerated MSN programs? Mine has been overwhelmingly negative. Not saying all new grads who go right for their MSN are deficient but the ones I have worked with have been less competent as new graduates than the ADN and LPN new graduates I have precepted. I even know a girl who just finished a Nurse Practitioner program who has never worked as a nurse! That one hasn't been able to find a job. I'm not blaming the new grad but the administrators of these programs that are selling this swamp land in Florida are doing them a disservice, imo.

I have been admitted into a BSN and CNL/MSN program and from reading the previous post I'm assuming that most of you are already nurses. So, are you nurses saying that it is wiser to get a BSN and some experience before a MSN?? Also, as a new CNL grad would I work bedside first before obtaining a CNL role??? Are CNL roles marketable??

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Misssrblake,

I am in an accel bsn program(1 year 2nd degree program) and i had considered the bsn / msn route but decided against it for reasons mentioned above. I think that you will be able to work as an RN after the first year while you are finishing. so you should be able to graduate with your msn with some RN experience.....but even with that im not sure that you wouldn't have to work as a floor RN a little moreto be have the foundation to serve in that role. kwim? Im amazed during my clinicals to see how many masters prepared nurses work on the floor, i don't think that route is necessairly the wrong route. you will be definately be able to utilize .....just maybe not right away. kwim?

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what does "kwim" mean? After the RN experience, what roles do the CNL's serve in the hospital?

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I don't know the specific answer to that as im a student too :) but kwim means know what i mean. hopefully someone else will be able to give you a detailed description. good luck!

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
I have been admitted into a BSN and CNL/MSN program and from reading the previous post I'm assuming that most of you are already nurses. So, are you nurses saying that it is wiser to get a BSN and some experience before a MSN?? Also, as a new CNL grad would I work bedside first before obtaining a CNL role??? Are CNL roles marketable??

NOT without experience to back up the degree.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
i have been admitted into a bsn and cnl/msn program and from reading the previous post i'm assuming that most of you are already nurses. so, are you nurses saying that it is wiser to get a bsn and some experience before a msn?? also, as a new cnl grad would i work bedside first before obtaining a cnl role??? are cnl roles marketable??

i have worked in two hospitals so far and have never ever met an msn new grad!! the hospitals i work hire adn and bsn new grads. i think administrators (the humans with advanced degrees that do the hiring) believe that a person without bedside work experience who sought an advanced degree in nursing is pretentious. the only msns i know that work beside received advanced nursing degrees and certs after working bedside for many years. thus, to play it safe, get your adn or bsn first, then work bedside while receiving your msn. i personally am waiting a few to many years before going back to graduate school, but if you want to go right away after graduation it should not hurt your chances for employment.

btw, my area is similar to the others who posted.. nps and clinical managers are not hirable without many years of bedside work experience. the only nps and administrators working in my community and the surrounding communities have many years of bedside work experience. one of my mentors has 20 years of nursing experience... others i know have 7-15. gl!:twocents:

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
i have worked in two hospitals so far and have never ever met an msn new grad!! the hospitals i work hire adn and bsn new grads. i think administrators (the humans with advanced degrees that do the hiring) believe that a person without bedside work experience who sought an advanced degree in nursing is pretentious. the only msns i know that work beside received advanced nursing degrees and certs after working bedside for many years. thus, to play it safe, get your adn or bsn first, then work bedside while receiving your msn. i personally am waiting a few to many years before going back to graduate school, but if you want to go right away after graduation it should not hurt your chances for employment.

btw, my area is similar to the others who posted.. nps and clinical managers are not hirable without many years of bedside work experience. the only nps and administrators working in my community and the surrounding communities have many years of bedside work experience. one of my mentors has 20 years of nursing experience... others i know have 7-15. gl!:twocents:

interesting to hear your administrators' take on it. i think mine are so in love with the magnet title that someone with alphabet soup after their name is treated like a princess even if they can't measure out an injectable med. :(

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

Wow. Reading this was kinda harsh, not going to lie. I am a direct-entry MSN (a CNL at that! Apparently, I am double screwed!) student. I am a couple weeks shy of starting my last year...........

Our program and professors were straight up with us from the get go. Most of us wont be hired into the CNL role, but rather into an entry level position, just like ADN and BSN grads. I think out of the 6 years my school has had the DE-MSN/CNL program, only one or two students were hired as CNLs after graduating.

We are generalists and are expected to work at the beside. After gaining the appropriate experience, then we can matriculate into the CNL role, after a hard sell on our part, should we want. Either way, leadership skills, theoretical knowledge, and an emphasis on research and EBP and lifelong learning are favorable characteristics to have, and will surely serve our patients best interests, IMHO.

I have no interest on trying to land a CNL role after graduating. I want to get my feet wet and get a few years of experience under my belt before I even entertain that thought.

And not that anyone asked, but I chose the DE-MSN route because I already earned a Bachelors (BS in Biology). This might come off badly, but I didnt want to go back to school and receive a degree less than what I already had. I have ambitions and plans to go on even further. I am entertaining a NP certificate program in Women's Health or becoming a CNM....after several years after I graduate my current program. A MSN, to me, was a logical step in that direction. However, as I said above, my short term goals are to graduate, pass the NCLEX and work for awhile. I want to work! I want to serve and care for patients! I want to be a nurse! This is why I am doing this.

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Melmarie- many of the cnl i know how that option for the same reason. They didn't want to go back to school for another bachelors. Me, I don't really care.

Both of my clinical instructors were CNLs and both are phenomenal. They also work and are in phd/ma programs. I think any one experience is hardly indicative of a group of nurses period. Furthermre, someone said that they would see nurses who entered a masters level nurse entry program as pretentious. I think that is just the kind of negative attitude the profession doesn't need. I think it's pretentious to pass judgement on someone based just on their degree. As a profession, we can do without this crabs in a barrel attitude. We should be supporting eah other, especially new nurses who will be the future if the profession.

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Everyone has their own path in life and nursing.

I too am considering getting a masters and realize the problem of

At this juncture I see the BSN at this point too little bang for my buck and time...(I already have a masters degree)

We all have our reasons, our path, dissapointments, etc.

This tendancy of nurses judging other nurses is harmful to the soul/heart of our profession. We need to support each other against the real issues of working conditions and respect for the industry.

How can we get that experience if hiring is way down -

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I think the skills of a new grad of any flavor depend mainly on the person, not the program.

I agree, and I think that says something about the standardization (or lack thereof) across all entry-level nursing degrees (which now includes the APN level).

While there will always be individual variations, the differences amongst the clinical experiences and abilities of new nurses could be narrowed if the educational component could be standardized to a greater component than it is today.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

My experience with direct-entry MSN's from a couple of different programs has been that they are much like a new BSN grad at first. Like all new grads, they need to get some "real world" experience to become competent professionals. However, after 6-12 months of experience, they start to display some advanced analysis skills that support thier career progression into leadership positions. Their graduate level skills become apparent AFTER they have become competent as staff nurses: not before.

That makes sense as it takes both practical experience and book-learning to produce expertise. Some people start their careers with previous practical experience as CNA's, LPN's etc. or get a lot of good clinical experience in school -- and it shows in the early days in their first RN jobs. The make a good impression with their bedside skills, but they lack the academic background to advance in their careers unless they go back to school. Other people get the academic foundation first: they arrive in their staff nurse job weak in their bedside skills. But once they master those bedside skills, they can combine that practical knowledge with their strong academic foundation and progress quickly both in terms of developing expertise and also in taking on more responsibility through leadership roles.

I don't understand why so many nurses can't see that -- and make such a big deal about it. Both types of knowledge (practical and theoretical) are needed. Some people get one type first. Other people get the other type first. There is no need to depict one path as "right" and the other as "wrong." Both paths can work fine if done well. Both paths can be horrible if done badly.

... and I believe it is someone individual. Some people are simply smarter, wiser, or more clinically skilled than others. There will always be exceptions to the general trends.

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