Confused by direct entry Masters in Nursing

I know someone who is doing a direct entry masters and I just don't get it. How can you have a masters in nursing when you have no experience or previous education in nursing? She's learning the same stuff I did....only getting a masters degree.

Do these people get the same RN jobs as ADN or BSN holders or management positions even though they have no experience?
I am working with a new grad nurse (<1 year licensed) on my unit that did this. She had a 4 year degree in respiratory therapy and decided that she wanted to be a nurse, so she went straight into a direct entry masters. She is staff. I think that most that go through this type of program will initially go into staff roles to get some experience in. However, she is going to have a lot more opportunities down the line with an MSN -- which is the benefit for all that do these programs.

Direct-entry Master's programs are supposed to include the MSN content as well as the basic introductory-level content within them. They are designed to provide people who already have the "thinking and analytical skills" provided by a Bachelor's Degree in another field with an introduction to nursing and also the key knowledge and skills provided by Master's programs. (Such as research and evidence-based practice, theory analysis, education, and advanced practice content.)In most cases, graduates are strongly encouraged to get some direct patient care experience as staff nurses before seeking leadership roles in the hospital (such as management or educational roles.) Some programs prepare their graduates to be Nurse Practitioners and those graduates might skip the staff nursing roles and go right into their advanced practice roles.Don't forget ... physicians, lawyers, PA's, etc. are all educated at the graduate level. They get degrees in other fields, then enter their programs for their practice role at a graduate level. If those professionals can have entry-level graduate degrees, why can't a nursing program be designed that way?Like anything else ... the quality of the graduates depends on the quality of the particular program they attend and the quality of the individual person.

I'll have to disagree with the previous P, as I know that most DENs who don't have experience are not the best.That comes from REAL WORLD, and not just academia--having done both and seeing real life results, I think that direct experience is an imperative to the making of a good "expert."No apologies--just calling it the way I see and KNOW it.

I'm a DEMSN grad and our curriculum was just was described by llg - graduate level work integrated with the core nursing topics. Our program was 66 semester units and approximately 1200 hours of clinical - with no GE material since we all held previous BA/BS degrees.

Quote from JoPACURNI'll have to disagree with the previous P, as I know that most DENs who don't have experience are not the best.That comes from REAL WORLD, and not just academia--having done both and seeing real life results, I think that direct experience is an imperative to the making of a good "expert."No apologies--just calling it the way I see and KNOW it.

Thanks for the replies. llg- you make a good point: "Don't forget ... physicians, lawyers, PA's, etc. are all educated at the graduate level. They get degrees in other fields, then enter their programs for their practice role at a graduate level. If those professionals can have entry-level graduate degrees, why can't a nursing program be designed that way?" Not sure why I wasn't thinking about that.

Quote from JoPACURNI'll have to disagree with the previous P, as I know that most DENs who don't have experience are not the best.That comes from REAL WORLD, and not just academia--having done both and seeing real life results, I think that direct experience is an imperative to the making of a good "expert."No apologies--just calling it the way I see and KNOW it.

I am currently in a direct-entry master's program. It's a generalist MSN and does not lead to an NP or CNS degree. They make it very clear that at a clinical level, we are new-grad nurses when we're through. They love telling us that research shows it takes on average 5 years of bedside practice to become an "expert" in a specialty, and that entry-level bedside nursing is our next stop. We will be competing for new-grad positions with ADN, and BSN prepared nurses after graduation.However, as mentioned above, we all hold degrees in other fields (which I personally think is an incredibly bonus to bring into the healthcare field...the stories and past experiences of my fellow students are just phenomena!l) and we are trained in advanced evidence-based research, leadership, nursing theory etc. at the Master's level. So clinically we're newbies, but we've go a much larger knowledge base to pull from academically once we've generated some bedside clinical expertise. Our graduates are known for moving up the ranks (so-to-speak) at a faster pace because of this.The programs that go directly to NP or CNS - they usually do their core RN training, and then work part-time as an RN while doing their APN coursework for about 2-3 years. Some programs make their direct-entry NP/CNS candidates take a step-out year where they work full time as an RN before going on to their AP coursework. I know some exceptional graduates from programs like this (one currently is the heart-transplant NP at a highly regarded fancy-schmancy ive-league hospital...and she never felt like she was ill-prepared going the accelerated/direct-entry route.)I think the main thing to recognize is there are many routes into nursing, and many different types of students. I don't think any particular way of entering nursing is better than another. It's true that the quality of the program also has a lot to do w/ the types of grads they churn out. I'm sure there are plenty of direct-entry MSN graduates who are aweful just as much as there are direct-entry grads who are exceptional. The same can be said of students graduating from ANY program be it ADN, BSN, or beyond.

Quote from ♪♫ in my ♥based on your limited experience.based on my limited experience, our demsn grads are very good and have met with excellent reviews from both the clinical sites and as new-grad nurses. we are not purporting to be clinical experts... for that matter, we're not purporting to be operations experts - anymore than a newly minted mba is an expert...

Nursing is the only field where there is constant....disagreements on what way one should enter. I do not understand this at all. The end result is a RN license isn't it? I am going to get in where I fit in. Another thread was arguing that entry should be BSN because you have more knowledge so what's wrong with those entering with a MSN isnt that MORE knowledge?

After more than a few years as a nurse, wantabeanurse35, I gotta agree with you. Change is the only constant!I have never worked with a DEMSN nurse before because where I live (central IL) there are no jobs for very experienced nurses, let alone ANY type of new grad. However, I would like the experience to better judge and to discuss how they think they are doing and what pitfalls/pluses they have experienced.