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Hello everyone, my name is Polly and I have just finished up my 3rd semester in my Master’s Entry - Masters in Nursing Science. This marks the halfway point of my two-year program! For those of you who are interested in applying to a ME-MSN program or are currently in one, I hope this can help you. 

In order to apply for an ME-MSN program, you must have a bachelor’s degree in something else. Many may wonder if MSN’s get paid more than BSN’s but they do not. All new grad nurses will get the same pay when they first start. What really differentiates a master’s level nursing program is its emphasis on clinical leadership as well as public health. This can help in the future if you want to go into nursing leadership. Throughout my program, we have a bunch of clinical leadership classes ranging from healthcare outcomes, to nursing research, to educator role, and more. You should expect to have a lot of research papers and presentations! 

Here are some strategies that have helped me succeed in my CNL classes as well as my MSN Program: 

1. Think like a leader: It might be obvious from the “CNL” part but when you take quizzes, exams, or answer free response questions for your leadership classes, you must think like a leader. You need to analyze each question and answer it in a way that will benefit the microsystem. Be inclusive, always hear other people out to understand what needs to be changed in the microsystem to help improve health outcomes.
2. Plan out and start on your papers early: For all my CNL courses, I have been bombarded by research papers, leadership papers, and group projects. I would advise you to start on them early! Although they might seem like simple papers, sometimes when you finally read the instructions, you’ll realize how much work you must put into it. These papers are usually all research based and require you to critically think and apply solutions to current problems.
3. Understand other Healthcare Professions: I think it is super important to understand most of the healthcare professionals' roles and scope of practice. You will often need to know what each role can and cannot do. This applies to HESI questions as well as NCLEX questions. Be able to delegate work to the appropriate professionals.
4. Know your Change Theories: Change theories come up a lot in CNL courses because they want you to implement these theories into projects that can be initiated in the hospital. I think it is super important to learn the change theories for you to apply it in your coursework. I’d highly advise watching a short YouTube video on them.
5. Be positive and don’t over think it: I think one thing that I changed about myself during my nursing journey is to be more positive about my grades and not to overthink my answers when I take an exam. Go with your first instincts and don’t doubt yourself because you are correct.   

These tips may be more generalized, but I hope they can help you all regardless of BSN or MSN. Just remember to never lose hope and always strive for your best if you want to succeed. There will always be someone out there supporting you from a distance.