A new master’s entry program being introduced at Columbia University will address the growing need for advanced nurses to deliver more complex care. The program will build on and replace a previous 12-month program with a new 15-month curriculum in the School of Nursing for non-nurse college graduates to be educated as registered nurses with master’s degrees.
The new curriculum, called Masters Direct Entry (MDE), is aimed at future caregivers and researchers. The university is one of the first in the country to adopt new recommendations from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing that all new advanced practice nursing students should graduate with a doctoral degree. Columbia’s introduction of the MDE program is just one part of many changes occurring in the School of Nursing. The inaugural MDE class will begin this June, followed by Columbia students in nurse practitioner or nurse midwife programs being required to graduate with a doctor of nursing practice degree (DNP) starting next year, and students in the nurse anesthesia program being required to receive clinical doctorates beginning in 2019.
All of these new requirements are being put in place as changes in populations and healthcare delivery continue to occur. People are now living longer, largely due to the fact that chronic diseases that used to be fatal can now be managed long term for many patients. Because chronic diseases require complex care, hospitals need advanced nurses with expert knowledge to support these complicated patient needs. Hospital environments are adopting new technology, and requiring that care be coordinated through a patient’s entire hospital experience, including between the hospital and home. There is also a need to reduce health care costs while still maintaining the best patient care possible, and masters-level education will allow nursing graduates to be fully prepared for the growing demands of their quickly evolving profession.
At the end of the 15-month MDE program, the advanced nurse graduates will sit for the NCLEX and be given the option to become an advanced practice nurse by moving directly into Columbia’s 33-month DNP program or obtain a doctorate in nursing research (PhD). The new MDE curriculum focuses on evidence-based practice as a central part of being a nurse in today’s healthcare environment, focusing on research, interpreting data, and constantly applying new findings to practice. There will also be a large focus on coordination, teaching nursing students how to facilitate patient care from one healthcare environment to another. A third theme of the program will address how to provide culturally and religiously sensitive care.
Columbia’s School of Nursing has been a leader in clinical education since it first opened, and the MDE program will build on their long history of leadership, compassion, and excellent education. Education is power and the more students know, the better they can care for patients and improve delivery of care.
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