V. Clinical Nurse Leader (MSN:CNL)

The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) program focuses on improving the quality of patient care and helping professional nurses to thrive in the health care system. The CNL role has demonstrated effectiveness in improving outcomes, elevating current evidence-based practice, enhancing quality, and providing continuous leadership in the microsystem. If you have a strong preference to retain your clinical identity yet assume a role of a change agent and leader, the CNL will provide you with the required competencies for the microsystem.

It is nationally ranked and primarily online. The only course that requires time on campus is NURS:5031 Health Promotion and Assessment for Advance Clinical Practice. The amount of time on campus for that course is limited and is aggregated so travel to Iowa City is minimized. On-campus time will be required at the end of the last semester to defend your capstone project.

Students can work while they do the program. We have both a 2-year and 3-year plan of study. They are set up to meet financial aid guidelines for all semesters.

The only pre-req is an upper-level stats course. Prerequisite information can be found on the MSN- Admissions Information webpage.

The capstone project is a practice change usually completed in your work area (area of employment). Ninety nine percent of our students work full-time and have been able to complete their projects while working full-time. Since the project is a practice change, you may take time off to initiate the project launch and intermittently to monitor outcomes. Projects are identified based on a microsystem assessment which means an identified need in your work area.