RN to MSN Bridge Programs in Michigan

Opportunity is there for the master’s educated nurse in Michigan. According to the Michigan Center for Nursing Survey of Nurses 2008, 7% of actively working nurses in Michigan hold a master’s in nursing. The master’s in nursing is a pathway to advanced nursing roles including advanced practice, nursing faculty, nursing informatics, nursing education, nursing administration, nursing leadership/management and many other areas. An RN to MSN program can help prepare registered nurses with an associate degree in nursing or a nursing diploma to advance up the nursing career ladder. The MSN is also a required step prior to applying to any doctorate level nursing program. Find the RN to MSN programs offered in Michigan listed below along with accreditation and contact information.

RN to MSN Online Programs Offered in Michigan

RN to MSN programs can often be completed in about 3 years and are extremely focused. Students cover all baccalaureate nursing education and clinical requirements prior to entering the master’s in nursing curriculum and clinical experience. Some programs award a BSN as well as the MSN and others will just present the graduate with an MSN. To maintain their school’s or program’s accreditation, all curriculum must be completed. Currently, three schools based in Michigan offer an RN to MSN option and a varying number of schools offer online RN to MSN programs in Michigan. All programs are listed below. Learn about the RN to BSN programs in Michigan, which can be completed in as little as 1 year.

The Michigan Nursing Corps have been working on plans to help address the significant shortage of nurses the state will be and is facing. One of their strategies is to pull more master’s educated nurses into the nursing faculty ranks. To do this they provide financial support to nurses that decide to pursue a master’s in nursing with an education specialization that will prepare them for nursing faculty positions. Nurses must commit to 5 years in a faculty position to receive this support. Opportunity for master’s educated nurses does not only rest in nursing faculty positions. As the health systems in Michigan and the rest of the country move toward more cost-effective methods of health care, the advanced practice nurse is predicted to fill many patient care roles, replacing medical doctors in some settings.

Nurse manager positions will also hold opportunity for master’s educated nurses. Currently many nurse managers report their highest education to be an associate or diploma in nursing. According to a study by Kramer, Schmalen & Maguire, 2004, leadership and management skills are most often learned in master’s in nursing curriculum and not necessarily before that. This means that many of the current nurse managers have no taught conflict resolution or management skills. Job dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction with first line managers has been a consistent complaint by many registered nurses and reason why some registered nurses are leaving the profession. Retaining nurses is of particular concern and one way to address this concern is to place master’s educated nurses with the necessary skills in these front line nurse manager positions.

The bottom line is that opportunities do exist for the master’s educated nurse and nursing faculty can help find specialization tracks that fit your strengths and career goals. Learn more about the schools offering RN to MSN programs in Michigan by requesting information using the contact methods listed by each school.

Schools Based in Michigan Offering an RN to MSN Program

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