Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist MSN or CGS

Advance Your Nursing Career as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)

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Gain the elevated clinical knowledge of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) with a focus on innovating nursing practice and improving systems, processes and quality of care. Our Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist program, which allows students to take up to 100% of courses online, is offered as a Masters of Science in Nursing degree and a Certificate of Graduate Study. Get started today on the path that works best for you to become a Clinical Nurse Specialist!

Clinical Nurse Specialist Role

As defined by the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) prepared by a master’s, doctoral, or post-graduate certificate-level CNS program. CNSs diagnose, prescribe, and treat patients and specialty populations across the continuum of care. The CNS improves outcomes by providing direct patient care, leading evidence-based practice, optimizing organizational systems, and advancing nursing practice.

Responsibilities and Impact of the CNS

  • Clinical nurse specialists provide diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of patients. They also provide expertise and support to nurses caring for patients at the bedside, help drive practice changes throughout the organization and ensure the use of best practices and evidence-based care to achieve the best possible patient outcomes.
  • Clinical nurse specialists have the skills and expertise to identify health care delivery gaps. They design, implement, and evaluate interventions to improve the overall quality and safety of health care delivery.
  • Research into clinical nurse specialist practice demonstrates outcomes such as: reduced hospital costs and length of stay; reduced frequency of emergency room visits; improved pain management practices; increased patient satisfaction with nursing care; reduced medical complications in hospitalized patients

Our Program Options

Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN)

The 45-credit Masters of Science in Nursing program, which offers flexible full and part-time options, is for students who already hold a BSN.

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Certificate of Graduate Study (CGS)

The CGS option is an 18-credit program that is available to students who already hold a masters degree in nursing. Requiring only 3 clinical courses (NURS 510, 610, 620), this program is designed for masters prepared nurses looking to expand their current practice as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. Students must have completed the pre-requisites for Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and Advanced Health Assessment.

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Take Up to 100% of Courses Online!

Students in this program can participate in up to 100% of courses online via the ΞΆΓάΘ¦ Hyflex model. The Hyflex model is designed to provide the highest quality education coupled with the flexibility and accessibility needed by adult learners. Synchronous sessions are offered in both in-person and remote formats, allowing students the flexibility to participate in each class in the way that best meets their needs.

Eligible for Licensure

Students who successfully complete the Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist program will be eligible to sit for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Adult/Gerontology Acute Care CNS exam necessary for APRN licensure.

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Accreditation

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program at ΞΆΓάΘ¦ are accredited by the .

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Recent Recognition

Money Magazine recently ranked ΞΆΓάΘ¦ as ! Weighing quality against costβ€”and considering debt, employment rates, and recent graduate salariesβ€”our program received 4 out of 5 stars!

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Apply for Graduate Admission

To begin the process you will need to sign up for an account with CollegeNET. Once you have a CollegeNET account, you will be able to log in any time and see your Activity Log which shows you a personalized status page.

Program Details for MSN and CGS Programs

Admission, Retention, and Course Information

Health Requirements

Every year students must provide health services with evidence of a negative PPD test or compliance with treatment. Before beginning some clinical nursing courses, students may be expected to meet additional health requirements. 

All nursing students must have the following information on file in College Health Services:

  • an admission physical exam
  • 1 dose of tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap)
  • 2 doses of live measles vaccine (preferably MMR) or a blood titer confirming immunity
  • 2 doses of mumps vaccine (preferably MMR) or a blood titer confirming immunity
  • 1 dose of rubella vaccine or a blood titer confirming immunity
  • 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine (Please Note: A hepatitis B surface antibody titer to confirm sero-conversion is recommended one-to-two months after the final dose.)
  • provider documented proof, including date or age, of chicken pox disease or a varicella titer confirming immunity or two doses of varicella vaccine
  • an initial 2-step PPD** tuberculin skin test and yearly PPD updates (or chest x-ray if PPD positive and yearly TB assessment, which is completed at College Health Services)
  • flu vaccine every fall semester

*Health-care workers born on or before Dec. 31, 1956, are only required to have documentation of one dose each of measles, mumps and rubella or titers confirming immunity.

**2-Step PPD – two separate PPDs planted at least a week apart but not more than a year apart prior to entering into nursing clinical.

View Printable Version of Health and Immunization Checklist

Please Note: Students will not be admitted to the first class meeting of a nursing practicum course without having complied with the health requirements. Proof of immunization may be obtained from your physician, high school, previous college or university, military record, and/or from blood titers.

Please Note: Nursing majors should follow the guidelines on the college immunization form or call College Health Services at 401-456-8055 for further information. Once all required information is complete, students may pick up their laminated identification cards at College Health Services.​

MSN Program Outcomes

Students of the MSN Program will demonstrate mastery of all of the Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing (AACN, 2011) and the AACN (2021) Competencies and level-2 Sub-competencies within the Ten Domains for Nursing, leading to achievement of the following MSN End-of-Program Outcomes: 

  • demonstrate the integration, translation, synthesis, and application of established and evolving knowledge from basic science, nursing knowledge and other ways of knowing, and other disciplines that results in clinical judgment founded on a broad knowledge base. [Domain 1] [MSN Essentials I, III, IV, VIII]
  • manage person-centered care at the advanced nursing level across the organization/system, provider, patient, and/or population level that focuses on the individual within multiple complicated contexts, including family and/or important others. [Domain 2] [MSN Essential II, IV, VII, VIII, IX]
  • manage population health that spans the healthcare delivery continuum from public health prevention to disease management of populations.[Domains 3, 6, 9] [MSN Essentials VI, VII, VIII, IX]
  • synthesize, criticize and apply nursing knowledge, research, scholarship and evidence-based practice to improve health and transform health care. [Domains 1, 4, 5, 7, 10] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, V, VIII, IX]
  • incorporate principles of quality, safety and implementation science to optimize health and healthcare outcomes. [Domains 1, 5, 7] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, VII, VIII, IX]
  • collaborate across professions and with care team members, patients, families, communities, and other stakeholders to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience, and strengthen outcomes. [Domains 2, 6, 7] [MSN Essentials V, VI, VII, VIII, IX]
  • relate evidence-based methodologies, system-thinking, business and financial acumen to provide safe, quality, evidence-based and equitable care to diverse populations. [Domains 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX]
  • integrate information and communication technologies and informatics processes to gather data, support care delivery, and inform decision making. [Domains 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10] [MSN Essentials I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX]
  • demonstrate an advanced-level professional nursing identity that encompasses self-reflective practice, commitment to inclusivity and social justice, accountability, collaborative disposition and ethical comportment that reflects nursing’s values. [Domains 6, 9, 10] [MSN Essentials VI, VII, VIII, IX]
  • contribute to an organizational culture that promotes personal health, resilience, lifelong learning and expansion of nursing expertise. [Domains 9, 10] [MSN Essential IX] 

Other Information

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Rhode Island Nursing Education Center

Rhode Island Nursing Education Center (RINEC) is a Providence-based facility for baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral level nursing instruction for ΞΆΓάΘ¦'s Zvart Onanian School of Nursing and URI's College of Nursing.