MSN: Clinical Nurse Leader Online Program
Eligible to Sit for CNL Exam
Best Online Graduate Nursing Program1
Evidence-Based Practice Coursework
Flexible Online Learning
Close-to-Home Clinicals
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- Duration 2 years
- Cost per Credit $695
- Credit Hours 39
Program Benefits
- Eligible to become CNL certified
- Attend class when and where it’s convenient
- No BSN requirement for admission
- 6 convenient start dates
- International Study Abroad Experience available
Elevate Your Career as a Nurse Leader
Lead a team with SHU’s MSN –Clinical Nurse Leader specialization. You’ve mastered patient care and working as part of a team. Advance as a leader who can inform a team about evidence-based practices, tools and processes to improve patient outcomes. Reshape policy, reduce costs and identify solutions to problems within your healthcare system after a deep immersion of quality care research within the curriculum.
This unique RN-MSN degree offers five core and eight specialized courses. Complete your degree in two to six years, at your own pace, and then be eligible to sit for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing CNL Certification Exam.
CNL Career Outlook: Roles Across Health Care Settings
When you pursue a CNL program online, you’ll prepare to build a career ensuring patients receive safe, high-quality care with the newest health care technologies and techniques.
In 2021, 46 percent of CNLs surveyed were employed at Acute Care Inpatient Facilities. Other top employers included Healthcare Facilities (13 percent), Outpatient Clinics or Surgery Centers (6 percent), Schools of Nursing (9 percent) and Long-Term Care Facilities (2 percent).2
Upon completing your CNL program and certification, you can qualify for a variety of roles in addition to Clinical Nurse Leader, including Nurse Administrator, Nurse Educator, Risk Management, Quality Care Coordinator, Patient Navigator, CNL Academic Faculty, Community Health, and other roles utilized in the facility in which you choose to work.
Clinical Nurse Leader:
$ 101,431 /YEAR3
As a Clinical Nurse Leader, your responsibilities would include leading collaborative patient care, as well as mentoring other nurses, educating patients and their families, and analyzing data and assessing patient risks and outcomes. This role and estimated CNL salary requires the CNL certification from the AACN.
Careers and SalariesCurriculum: Immerse Yourself in Clinical Leadership
The clinical nurse leader program’s online curriculum offers in-depth exploration of nursing leadership. Through nine courses, comprising 27 specialization credit hours, you will gain skills in pharmacology, advanced pathophysiology, communications, information management and more.
You also have the option to expand your worldview and pursue your passion for nursing by taking a 2 week term at SHU’s Tralee, Ireland campus. MSN Clinical Nurse Leaders students can complete part of their capstone hours while being mentored by nurse leaders at University Hospital Kerry, in nearby city of Tralee, Ireland. Opportunities include collaborating with Irish nurses, administrators, physicians, and other members of the healthcare team and learning about the local Irish culture.
Students admitted after January 1, 2024, to the CNL program will have 420 hours of role immersion to ensure you meet the requirements to sit for the AACN’s CNL Certification Exam.
Course Spotlight: NU 550 – Family and Community Context for Health Care
Gain a better understanding of family, primary care and community theories in the context of advanced practice nursing and clinical leadership roles.
Preview CoursesCourse Spotlight: NU 611 – Care Management & Resources Across the Continuum
Examine the Clinical Nurse Leader’s (CNL’s) responsibility for the management of healthcare across the lifespan and continuum of care while remaining cognizant of the global environment in which healthcare is provided.
Graduate Student Learning Outcomes
At the end of the program, the student will be able to:
- Translate into action knowledge from the philosophical and theoretical traditions of nursing science and other disciplinary perspectives to facilitate the ethical integration of evidence-based practice to advance nursing scholarship.
- Lead collaboratively within the interprofessional team to develop and evaluate plans of care with evidence-based, person-centered care principles promoting quality and safety outcomes.
- Collaborate with strategic partners to implement health policy while advocating for equitable and sustainable population health care.
- Integrate complex systems-based practice to develop innovative and evidence supported equitable solutions to improve health outcomes across the lifespan of diverse populations.
- Apply best practices of informatics and communication technologies in diverse care settings to collect, analyze, and synthesize data to promote quality and safe health care outcomes.
- Demonstrate professional behaviors reflecting current regulations, policies, and practice integrating professional concepts including ethics, compassion, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Model leadership within the nursing profession that embraces self-care, a spirit of inquiry, advocacy, change, mentorship, and service to others.
More Options for Your MSN
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a question we don’t cover here, request more information or call 877-791-7181.
Sacred Heart University’s online MSN program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The CCNE is an autonomous accrediting agency that ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate, graduate, and residency programs in nursing. It demonstrates to potential students and future employers that their school meets specific high standards and adequately prepares nurses for practice at a particular degree level.
For nurses who are evaluating prospective programs, the accredited status tells them that the education they receive will provide them with the knowledge to practice at the next level in their nursing career. It’s also significant for students who may want to continue to further education, as most master’s degree programs will not accept candidates whose BSN has not been conferred from an accredited university or program.
The deadline is four weeks prior to the start date unless the program has reached capacity. We encourage you to apply early and secure your spot in the program if you’re considering the upcoming term.
There is no licensure for this program. The online MSN in Clinical Nurse Education will make you eligible to sit for the Nurse Educator Certification from the National League for Nursing.
You’ll complete 36–39 credits to earn your MSN, depending on the specialization you select.
We like to keep our class sizes small. Sacred Heart’s nursing programs typically have 15-28 students per online course.
You can earn a Master of Science in Nursing with Sacred Heart University within two years.
Sources:
- Best Online Master’s in Nursing Programs. U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved July 23, 2021, from https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/sacred-heart-university-ONUR0289/nursing.
- Commission on Nurse Certification (2021). Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) Commission on Nurse Certification (CNC). Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/CNL/CNLStats.pdf.
- Ziprecruiter.com (2022 November). Clinical Nurse Leader Salary. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Clinical-Nurse-Leader-Salary-in-Chicago,IL#:~:text=As%20of%20Oct%2027%2C%202022,Chicago%20is%20%2495%2C739%20a%20year.