Family Nurse Practitioner Bridge Program—(AD to MSN)

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2024 American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) board exam results:

• 91.30% of MCPHS FNP and CAGS FNP students who took the ANCC board certification exam passed on the first attempt which is above the national average.

2025 American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) exam results:

• 92% of MCPHS FNP and CAGS FNP students who took the ANCC board certification exam passed on the first attempt which is above the national average.

MCPHS accepts nursing students into its programs from the following states:

Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C.

Admission into a nursing program is dependent on program availability in the state where the student is physically located at the time of matriculation. If a student moves to a different state after matriculation, continuation within the program will depend on the availability of the program within the new state where the student is physically present. It is the student's responsibility to notify the University of a change in physical presence. Program availability is subject to change.

MSN Student End of Program Learning Outcomes (EPLOs)

1. Demonstrate expert clinical reasoning and decision-making by integrating comprehensive assessment, diagnostic acumen, and evidence-based therapeutic management to deliver safe, culturally sensitive, and compassionate patient-centered care across diverse populations and practice settings.
   Domains 1: Knowledge for Nursing Practice, and 2: Person-Centered Care (AACN Essentials, 2021)
2. Collaborate with interprofessional teams to drive system-based practice using advanced communication, leadership skills, and knowledge of social determinants of health to optimize care coordination and enhance patient and population health outcomes.
   Domains 3: Population Health, 6: Interprofessional Partnerships, 7: Systems-Based Practice, and 10: Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development (AACN Essentials, 2021)
3. Critically appraise, synthesize, and apply current research and evidence-based guidelines to inform clinical practice and policy, enhancing patient care and improving health outcomes at individual and population levels.
   Domain 4: Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline (AACN Essentials, 2021)
4. Cultivate a robust professional identity by integrating effective communication, lifelong learning, mentorship, compassionate care, and ethical practice to enhance the standards of advanced nursing practice.
   Domains 9: Professionalism, and 10: Personal, Professional and Leadership Development (AACN Essentials, 2021)
5. Propose quality improvement initiatives that enhance clinical practice, patient safety, and healthcare delivery systems by employing reflective, data-driven strategies for continuous personal and organizational development.
   Domains 5: Quality and Safety, 7: Systems-Based Practice, and 8: Informatics and Healthcare Technologies (AACN Essentials, 2021)

Download the MSN Graduate Student Handbook [PDF].

All graduate students must have abilities and skills in the following areas: cognitive, communication; observation; motor function and endurance; and behavioral. Reasonable accommodation may be made for some disabilities. However, students must perform independently, with or without accommodation.

• Cognitive: Intellectual, Conceptual and Quantitative Abilities
• Follow policies and procedures of MCPHS and the cognitive requirements of the clinical sites hosting the faculty and students for learning.
• Comprehend and follow assignment directions, rubrics, and course syllabi developed by faculty
• Demonstrate ability to achieve course and program outcomes.
• Demonstrate ability to comprehend, integrate, and apply knowledge.
• Develop and refine problem-solving skills crucial to practice as a nurse.
• Access, analyze, and synthesize subjective and objective data to develop nursing diagnoses and comprehensive plans of care.
• Engage effective problem solving and accurately prioritize patient needs in a prompt and timelyfashion.
• Utilize current evidence, clinical judgment, and patient preferences to systematically assess, analyze, implement, and evaluate healthcare interventions.
• Promote safe, culturally competent, quality care across the lifespan.

Communication

• Must be able to communicate effectively with patients, families, and members of the healthcare team through oral, written, and interpersonal means.
• Must be able to obtain information, describe patient situations, and perceive both oral and non-verbal communication (including ability to understand normal speech without seeing the speaker’s face).
• Must be able to speak, comprehend, read, and write in English at a level that meets the need for accurate, clear, and effective communication. Examples include but are not limited to giving clear oral reports; reading watches or clocks with second hands; reading graphs; reading and understanding documents printed in English; writing legibly in English; discriminating subtle differences in medical terminology.

Observation

• Must be able to observe a patient accurately. Examples include but are not limited to listening to heart and breath sounds; visualizing the appearance of a surgical wound; detecting bleeding, unresponsiveness or other changes in patient status; detecting the presence of foul odor; and palpating an abdomen.
• Must be able to detect and respond to emergency situations, including audible alarms (e.g., monitors, call bells, fire alarms).

Motor Function and Endurance

• Must have sufficient strength and mobility to work effectively and safely with patients and carry out related nursing care.
• Must be able to complete assigned periods of clinical practice, including up to 12-hour shifts, including days, evenings, nights, and weekends.
• Must be able to respond at a speed sufficient to carry out patient assignments within the allotted time.
• Must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads.

Behavioral

• Must possess mental and emotional health required for total utilization of intellectual abilities.
• Must be able to respond and function effectively during stressful situations.
• Must be capable of adapting to rapidly changing environments and respond with flexibility in uncertain situations.
• Must be able to interact appropriately with others (patients, families, members of healthcare team) in various healthcare contexts.

The AD-MSN Bridge Year Experiential Clinical Hours provide students with the opportunity to apply leadership, management, delegation, population health, and informatics principles in a real-world setting. Through completion of a Community-Based Health Education Project, students will demonstrate the role of the BSN-prepared nurse in leading, planning, implementing, and evaluating a community-based health education intervention.

Students will complete a faculty-mentored, community-based experiential learning project focused on health education for a defined population. Students may partner with a variety of community-based organizations, including but not limited to senior centers, assisted or independent living communities, public health departments, community health fairs, nonprofit organizations, emergency preparedness programs, and other agencies serving defined populations.

This experiential learning activity involves direct interaction with individuals or populations and is supervised and evaluated by course faculty.

Required Experiential Clinical Hours

All students in the MSN FNP, MSN PMHNP, AD-MSN FNP, AD-MSN PMHNP, CAGS-FNP, and CAGS-PMHNP are required to complete a total of 750 direct patient care hours under the supervision of an approved preceptor and assigned clinical faculty member.

Students are expected to evenly distribute their clinical hours from the beginning of the semester through the final week as outlined in the course schedule, to ensure a balanced and comprehensive clinical experience. Clinical attendance outside the semester calendar requires prior approval from the Program Track Director and is determined on a case-by-case basis. Each student’s clinical schedule is subject to approval by the clinical faculty and course coordinator.

Please note that Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioners typically work Monday through Friday during business hours. Students in the FNP track should be prepared to complete their clinical preceptorships during this timeframe.

Note: The Required Experiential Clinical Hours are completed during the Bridge Year. These hours do not apply to the 750-hour preceptorship requirement in the MSN portion of the curriculum

Non-Massachusetts Residents/Out-of-State Experiential Clinical or Preceptorships

Students who do not reside in Massachusetts or intend to complete their clinical rotations outside of Massachusetts may find additional state-specific restrictions or procedures that impact their ability to attend clinical hours. Students are required to keep the Clinical Coordinator for the Graduate Programs and the Program Track Director informed if they will be completing their clinical rotation in any state other than Massachusetts or their home state of record as reflected in their Student Account at the time of application. Students must notify the Student Services Specialist or Track Director if they will be moving to another state to ensure that their program's delivery will not be impacted.

Clinical Clearance Requirements

For students to attend their clinical preceptorships, all clinical onboarding requirements must be completed by the dates established by the Clinical Operations Coordinator for the Graduate Programs.

Additional Information

Please review the MSN Graduate Student Handbook [PDF] for additional AD-MSN Bridge Year Experiential Clinical Hours and MSN clinical preceptorship information.